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Mort Goes to Camp: St. Louis Rams

Steve Spagnuolo on his first year as the Rams' head coach

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Mort Goes to Camp: St. Louis Rams

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• Mort Goes to Camp: St. Louis Rams

  Mort Goes to Camp: St. Louis Rams

  Steve Spagnuolo on his first year as the Rams' head coach

  Learn More » Report a bug » Feedback »

• Manning Looks Good As Camp Opens

  Manning Looks Good As Camp Opens

  Bob Holtzman talks about Peyton Manning's health, Jim Caldwell's first camp as head coach and Donald Brown agreeing to a contract on Sunday
  Tags: NFL, Indianapolis Colts, Peyton Manning, Donald Brown, Joseph Addai

ROOKIE HEYWARD-BEY STRUGGLES (11:49 p.m. ET)
Oakland coach Tom Cable insists he is not concerned about wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, even as the Raiders' first-round draft pick struggles through the first few days of training camp.

Heyward-Bey dropped four passes on Monday in Oakland's first full-contact practice, one day after dropping a trio of throws as owner Al Davis looked on.

"He understands his job is to catch footballs and for him it is just a process of gaining confidence and getting comfortable every day at this level," Cable said. "And he is doing that by leaps and bounds. I am really not worried about it. He is just pressing. He just wants to impress you. That is what it is."

The seventh overall pick in the NFL draft, Heyward-Bey has been the most closely watched player in Oakland's camp this year. He missed the team's first practice while his agent hammered out the details on a five-year deal that will guarantee Heyward-Bey at least $23.5 million, then joined the team for a light workout later that same afternoon.

On Monday, Oakland donned full pads but the results weren't what the offense had been hoping for. Quarterback JaMarcus Russell missed open receivers on a few throws, backup Jeff Garcia sat out with a strained calf muscle and Heyward-Bey had more drops than he did catches.

"I wouldn't say I'm pressing, I'm just trying to work through the kinks," Heyward-Bey said. "That's football. It happens. They tell me all the time, 'Forget about that.'"

-- The Associated Press

MERRIMAN TAKES IT EASY ... KIND OF (10:22 p.m. ET)
While his teammates practiced Monday morning, Shawne Merriman took a dip.

It was part of coach Norv Turner's plan to give the star outside linebacker an occasional morning practice off on days when the San Diego Chargers practice twice.

"Whatever they have planned for me, I'm cool with it," said Merriman, who was sidelined for all but the opener last year after having surgery on two torn ligaments in his left knee. "Even though I'm not practicing, I'm still doing things on the side. Like I had a vicious pool workout today on the side."

Vicious?

"It's hard. It's one of the best workouts you can do without taking a pounding. You're still getting all your movements and stuff like that. I still have my strengthening and more specific stuff. I'm cool with it. It's a bunch of cardio stuff, of course, but you get a chance to do some lateral movements, work on explosion. It takes a little bit off the pounding when you come down."

Merriman, who participated in the afternoon practice in pads, said his knee is fine.

"It's not the knee that's the question right now, it's getting back in the groove of things, getting the mechanics back right," he said. "Just the little things like that, getting your hips and your groin and everything. Your sense of play direction, you know, getting the feel of the plays, seeing it at that fast pace. It's a bunch of those things that you have to get back used to. Everything else is going to come."

-- The Associated Press

ROTH MISSES FIRST 2 DAYS OF CAMP (9:32 p.m. ET)
Miami Dolphins linebacker Matt Roth missed the first two days of training-camp drills with an illness that had yet to be diagnosed, coach Tony Sparano said.

Roth's agent, however, said the problem was a groin injury.

Roth was placed on the physically unable to perform list with a non-football illness after he failed a conditioning test at the start of camp.

"Matt did not do as well in the conditioning test," Sparano said. "We talked about what was going on. ... He did not feel right, and so we sent him for blood tests. That work came back negative, and that is where we are right now."

Roth jogged and watched the first two days of workouts from the sideline but wasn't made available to reporters. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said on his weekly television appearance on WSVN-TV that Roth was sidelined with a groin injury.

When asked about Rosenhaus' comments, Sparano said: "All I can tell you is what I know. I believe Matt Roth when Matt Roth is telling me that he is sick."

Rosenhaus didn't respond to messages seeking comment.

-- The Associated Press

HENDERSON HAPPY TO BE BACK (6:15 p.m. ET)
Minnesota Vikings middle linebacker E.J. Henderson is healthy and ready to pick up where he left off when he was injured in the fourth week of last season.

Henderson was playing the best football of his career when he tore ligaments in his left big toe and dislocated another one in a loss to Tennessee. He missed the final 12 games of the season and the playoff loss to Philadelphia.

Henderson had surgery to repair the ligament damage and says he is feeling fine, with training camp under way. On the first day, the quiet leader pulled the defense together and encouraged his teammates to practice at a championship level.

"He just talked about what he sees in each guy and just really challenged them to work hard every single day and have a championship attitude," defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier said.

The speech surprised head coach Brad Childress, who hardly heard a peep from Henderson in his first three seasons as coach.

"He's not a guy that's running [his mouth] all the time," Childress said. "He's a guy that, when he speaks, you listen."

-- The Associated Press

SAINTS' BUSH SITS AGAIN (6:07 p.m. ET)
New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush missed his third practice of training camp with swelling in his left knee. It's the same knee Bush needed to have surgically repaired last season.

"I don't think it's anything significant, but it's significant enough that I don't want it to prohibit him from more than just a practice or two," coach Sean Payton said.

Meanwhile, first-round pick Malcolm Jenkins, the 14th overall pick out of Ohio State, missed his fourth day of training camp because of his contract holdout.

"You want your first-round pick in camp, so I don't know that it's ever easy to swallow," Payton said. "The key is getting all your best players in and having the competition, but right now we practice with who's here and we're really just missing one guy."

Contract negotiations between the Saints and Jenkins' agent Ben Dogra have left team general manager Mickey Loomis "pessimistic" about a deal being reached.

-- The Associated Press

DAN ROONEY MISSING FIRST CAMP SINCE '30s (5:19 p.m. ET)
With no Dan Rooney around, there hasn't been a Steelers training camp like this since the year Max Schmeling knocked out Joe Louis, "Gone With the Wind" was published and Jesse Owens won four Olympic gold medals in Adolf Hitler-controlled Germany.

The Steelers players reside in Rooney Hall during their three weeks at Saint Vincent College, an hour's drive east of Pittsburgh. A Rooney remains in charge of the Steelers, the only six-time Super Bowl winner.

Only it's not Dan Rooney, who is now the U.S. ambassador to Ireland, a full-time position that allows him little time for football and none for training camp.

Several players said it hit them that the Pro Football Hall of Fame owner wouldn't be around when they sat down for their annual start-of-camp team meeting on Friday and Dan Rooney didn't address them. Instead, Art Rooney II, Dan's son and the team president for six years, gave the talk.

"Mr. Rooney's such a big personality who's really encouraging to everybody," safety Troy Polamalu said. "For him to not give us a speech, that was different."

Running back Willie Parker and other players plan to call Dan Rooney on a regular basis to tell him how they're doing.

"Yeah, we miss him, but he's with us," Reed said. "He's just not here."

-- The Associated Press

TEMPERS FLARE AT JETS CAMP (4:21 p.m. ET)
Punches were thrown while tempers flared at a rough-and-tumble practice at New York Jets training camp. And coach Rex Ryan couldn't have been more pleased.

"Hey, we had a little rock 'em, sock 'em robots out there," Ryan said with a grin.

Thomas Jones took a swing at James Ihedigbo and a few Jets players quickly jumped in to break things up early in the practice session.

Round 2 came a few minutes later when Howard Green got into it with Brock Christopher, and several players stood around the skirmish and shouted at each other.

Then came Ahmad Carroll and Nevin McCaskill getting into a shoving match, and Darrelle Revis playfully jumping on the pile.

"That was interesting," Ryan said. "It always happens in camp this time of year. You've been through a few days and you're tired of getting hit and you're tired of doing all this kind of stuff."

-- The Associated Press

MANNING, BROWN ON FIELD FOR COLTS (12:58 p.m. ET)
Three-time MVP Peyton Manning and Donald Brown were on the field for the Colts' first training camp practice on Monday.

Manning made it onto the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology field for the first time since August 2007. He missed all of training camp last season after having knee surgery.

Brown, the Colts' No. 1 draft pick, practiced one day after agreeing to a contract with the Colts. Unsigned players are not permitted to practice.

New coach Jim Caldwell said he was pleased to have everyone in camp on time, avoiding potential distractions.

-- The Associated Press

LIONS TIGHT ENDS BANGED UP (12:55 p.m. ET)
Detroit Lions tight ends Brandon Pettigrew and Casey Fitzsimmons missed Monday's training camp practice with injuries that could keep them out a few days.

Pettigrew, the 20th pick in the NFL draft, tweaked a quadriceps muscle Sunday afternoon before Fitzsimmons suffered a high ankle sprain. He walked around the training facility Monday with a boot on his left leg.

Coach Jim Schwartz said he didn't believe either injury was serious.

-- The Associated Press

'NEW-LOOK' JAGUARS (9:07 a.m. ET)
Former Jacksonville running back Fred Taylor called last year's Jaguars the worst club he ever played on and coach Jack Del Rio questioned team chemistry on the way to a 5-11 season.

David Garrard, Maurice Jones-Drew and many of their Jacksonville teammates are looking to change all that -- arriving at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium for training camp Sunday with beards -- all as a part of their "movement" to create camaraderie.

"You don't feel the vibe? We're starting something new," Jones-Drew said. "It's just something to get everybody to buy in in a way."

The Jaguars were far from tight-knit last season, and players partially blamed their record on locker room issues and sagging morale.

-- The Associated Press

KICKER SUISHAM FIGHTING FOR JOB (9:04 a.m. ET)
Shaun Suisham was called some less than flattering things a year ago -- inaccurate and inconsistent, to name a few -- during a season in which he led the league in missed field goals. He made 26 of 36 attempts, a 72 percent accuracy rate that ranked last among kickers with more than 10 attempts.

The Redskins re-signed him, but, unlike last year, they brought in some competition for training camp. Dave Rayner, who has played with five teams in four NFL seasons, will get a shot to dethrone the incumbent. Along with right tackle and No. 2 receiver, kicker is expected to be one of the most competitive position battles during the preseason.

"It's something that I'm anxious about myself," special-teams coach Danny Smith said. "It is going to be a competition. It's not an old guy that's established taking on a young guy, it's not another leg in camp and those kind of things. We made a decision on the long snapper [Ethan Albright], we made a decision on the punter [Hunter Smith], but we're far from making a decision on the kicking."

Suisham seemed unfazed when he was helping win games early last season and never looked rattled when he hit his wayward patch, so it's not surprising to hear him take his latest challenge in stride.

"I'm not even going to talk about last year," Suisham said, "but I don't feel as bad as maybe some people about it. I feel like I'm a good kicker and I'm looking forward to this upcoming season. Dave seems like a nice guy. He's been with a lot of teams, and he's still around. Obviously he's got talent. But to me this boils down to me concentrating on my thing and making my kicks, and I don't anticipate going anywhere."

-- The Associated Press

BRONCOS' HILLIS A HARD HITTER (8:59 a.m. ET)
Peyton Hillis is healthy again and he wants the ball. Linebacker Tim Crowder found that out firsthand when the Denver Broncos' versatile fullback, who's getting increased snaps at tailback, delivered the biggest hit of training camp so far.

In a 1-on-1 tackling drill, Hillis leveled Crowder, who stayed down for 90 seconds while waiting for the feeling to return to his arm and the cobwebs to clear his head.

"It hurts me to see a guy laying there," said Hillis, who apologized to Crowder. "It breaks my heart because you never know what's going to happen. You never know what kind of injury a guy has. I'm glad he came up all right."

A day later, Crowder was still somewhat stunned by the blow.

"My point of view was that it was a drill set up for failure for the defensive players," Crowder said Sunday. "They tell [the ball carrier] to make one move, and he didn't make one move. So, I had to throttle down. He got me, he ran me over."

-- The Associated Press

GONZALEZ EXCITED TO WORK WITH RYAN (8:52 a.m. ET)
Tony Gonzalez will practice Monday for the first time in full pads since the Falcons traded for him on April 23.

A 12-year veteran with 10 Pro Bowl invitations, Gonzalez doesn't exactly look forward to the first day of wearing pads every summer. But the chance to play alongside quarterback Matt Ryan, the AP 2008 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, excited him enough to agree to a trade from Kansas City, the only team he's played for.

Simply put, Gonzalez considers Ryan the missing link to longtime goals still unaccomplished: winning a playoff game, a conference championship and a Super Bowl.

Ryan's ability to read defenses quickly, run the no-huddle and throw accurately separate him in Gonzalez's eyes.

"He knows exactly where everybody's going," Gonzalez said. "He knows where to put that ball, and he works hard. I think that's really the difference in what a great player is. Somebody that works hard. That's what separates some guys like Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Those guys are constantly in the [film] room trying to get better, on the field and off the field."

-- The Associated Press