Bears' Carimi Could Suffer From Lost Practice Time
CHICAGO (WSCR) The current NFL work stoppage is effecting many facets of the league. But when it comes directly to football activities, the loss of organized team activities may be the hurting the rookies the most.
"After those OTAs and mini-camps, you go in there and watch the film," former NFL player and current NationalFootballPost.com writer Matt Bowen said on the Laurence Holmes Show. "The next morning, before you even go out on the field, you watch the film again, so you don't make the same mistake twice. I mean, that's the correction period, that's the teaching part that you miss."
Veteran players are already knowledgeable of the schemes and techniques they'll use throughout the season. As a result, the OTAs aren't as valuable. It's the inexperienced players, or players who struggled through the previous season that would benefit most.
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For the Bears, it's without a doubt the offensive line that needs the most work. When you add to the equation a rookie, Gabe Carimi, the missed practice time is more troubling.
"I love Game Carimi, one of my favorite players in this draft becuase he's physical, strong, has a nasty attitude," Bowen said. "I think if you're going to get into a fight, anywhere, you want to bring that guy with you."
Carimi was one of the highest-rated prospects in April's NFL Draft for the reasons that Bowen listed, but the jump to the NFL can be as difficult mentally as it is physically.
"He's going to be coached differently in the NFL than he was at Wisconsin," Bowen said. "It's going to be different techniques, especially within that system of Mike Martz, those five and seven-step drops. He might have not seen those, consistently, up in Madison.
"So how does that effect the offensive line? How do they throw that together really quickly? And do we see the first round pick starting on opening day?"
Those are question that, hopefully, can be answered sooner rather than later.
