NFL needs to nix its current format for OTAs | Bob Brookover
Lots of Eagles were marked absent from Tuesdays voluntary workout at the NovaCare Complex, which just served as more evidence that NFL OTAs are becoming obsolete.
Jim Schwartz is in paradise. He's free to teach. No pads, no pressure, and no scoreboard. That confession came Tuesday, when the Eagles defensive coordinator was asked about Fletcher Cox's decision to spend last week with his family instead of on the practice fields at the NovaCare Complex.
"We're excited about coaching the guys who are here," Schwartz said. "Quite honestly, it's my favorite time of the year. It's all about improvement. It's all about individual improvement without the pressure of having a game come up."
The players, especially the veteran ones, do not appear to agree with him. We know this because many of them have chosen not to appear this week.
Cox returned Tuesday, but the list of absences for Week 2 of the Eagles' voluntary workouts grew. Tackle Jason Peters, punter Donnie Jones, and defensive end Marcus Smith were joined by running backs LeGarrette Blount and Darren Sproles, defensive tackle Tim Jernigan, cornerback Ron Brooks, and defensive end Alex McCalister. Some said they were tending to family matters, and others are out for personal reasons.
Quite honestly, I don't care.
The world and the NFL was a better place when nobody cared who was marked absent in May, which is why the players and owners should sit down during their next collective bargaining sessions and map out a different set of rules for this time of year.
Schwartz, a Maryland native, used a baseball analogy to explain why he loves these voluntary practice sessions. He said Baltimore Orioles pitcher Jim Palmer once explained why he always had an inflated ERA in spring training. Palmer would work on a particular pitch rather than worrying about the result of the at-bat.
"He had enough confidence that it didn't matter that he gave up six runs in an inning," Schwartz said. "He was working on that individual thing. Our guys are going through the same individual thing now. They're working on their individual skills. We're working as a defense to try to improve, add some new wrinkles, and try to get all that stuff together."
Schwartz, however, was missing one big point. Palmer did not work on refining his craft during offseason OTAs that preceded spring training. He worked on them in spring training. Six weeks was enough - and a lot of people argue today that it is too much - to get ready for 162 games. A similar amount of time should also be enough for NFL players to get ready for a 16-game season.
Jason Peters, at 35 and with 169 regular-season games under his belt, does not need to learn any new techniques from offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland. He is much better served by resting his 330-pound body. Rest is better than reps for veteran running backs Blount and Sproles, too.
Once upon a time, May was mostly a dark month for the NFL. A check of the Inquirer and Daily News archives uncovered five total stories written about the Eagles in May before they went on their 1980 run to the Super Bowl. We had more than that on our website Wednesday morning, and that is not entirely a bad thing because it may have kept you from getting to the most recent bad news about the Phillies. Of course, there is no other kind of Phillies news.
Even a decade later, with blustery Buddy Ryan in charge, May was mostly quiet. I counted 19 May stories about the Eagles that year.
ESPN, the NFL Network, and all the cable sport commentators would be sick if they did not have OTAs to babble about. The coaches, as Schwartz confessed, love them because it allows their offseason X's and O's to come to life. But they are not the best thing for the players.
It is understandable that the coaches want some offseason time to implement their schemes, which is especially important for teams with new staffs. It is also understandable that teams like to have their players around as much as possible in the months leading up to training camp.
But that should all be voluntary, and it should all be closed to the media. It is obviously more important for young players to learn new schemes and NFL techniques, and if they choose not to attend offseason workout programs they do so at their own peril.
One week of mandatory minicamp in June should be enough for veterans with at least three years of experience. If you want to have an extra week of mandatory minicamp for players with fewer than three years of experience, that would be OK. It would help them get ready for training camp, but no on-field workouts should take place before June.
May OTAs are no more necessary than the four preseason games that are played in order to extort money from the fans. Nothing that happens in May is the best thing for the majority of guys you will see on the field when the games start to count in September, and more and more players are starting to figure that out.
@brookob