00:00Commander's minicamp's going on.
00:02And Dan Quinn, I find this interesting.
00:05I'm not saying good or bad, but I find it interesting.
00:08How he's running minicamp.
00:11You're seeing the second, third, fourth stringers
00:15getting a lot more work in this minicamp session
00:18than maybe people would expect.
00:21Dan Quinn explained it as such.
00:24The difference for minicamp will be I'm really pushing
00:26some of the guys who haven't got a lot right now
00:28to see where they're at.
00:30All of us know it's not a question of if,
00:32but when you know you're going to need this type of depth.
00:35So I really want to shine a light on it
00:37to see how competitive the group can get
00:38leading into training camp
00:40so we can absolutely push one another at a higher spot.
00:43And exercises like this over the next three days
00:46kind of reinforces that to say, this is the standard.
00:49This is the execution we're expecting.
00:51And it'll provide, I think we have a lot of competition
00:53in a lot of spots.
00:54So moments like this are important for the assistants
00:56also to say, this is what I see, this is where we go.
00:59And then you go into the season, be able to tell Durante
01:01and David Blau, this is exactly where I think he can go.
01:05What do you make of this last portion of the off-season workouts?
01:11Minicamp is the final portion of what is like about six weeks
01:16of off-season work.
01:17Yeah.
01:18Largely going to the depth pieces and not kind of the starters.
01:23Because, like, right now you want to find out what you have.
01:25Because once training camp comes around,
01:27you're getting the starters ready to play.
01:30You're not necessarily getting the backups considerably,
01:33I mean, ready to play.
01:34They are practicing like everybody else,
01:36but they are not getting as much time as the starters are.
01:39And you're pushing for that first game thing at that moment.
01:42But right now I can start finding out which guys do I need to even
01:46waste my time with once training camp comes.
01:49If we're out there without pads on and you can't get it,
01:53you probably won't be getting much when we put pads on either.
01:56The guys that are out there hitting the ground running
01:58and doing things in a quick pace,
02:00I know I can bring those guys up.
02:02And you start bringing them along,
02:03now you know where the competition is going to be.
02:07Like, people always consider if it's eight guys in one position,
02:11all eight of them are competing.
02:13No, two of them already played themselves out of it.
02:16Six of them are competing.
02:17You get what I'm saying?
02:18The other two guys, you know, hey, get on their side,
02:21give them a look.
02:22You know what I'm saying?
02:23That happens all the time.
02:24So I don't see anything wrong with that.
02:27And they are lifting that intensity,
02:30trying to get the guys along with how we talked about
02:33have to have the intensity based off of their schedule.
02:35They got to start now.
02:36And they're now making these guys practice at a high clip
02:39because yesterday they were going for it.
02:41So the biggest thing DQ talked about
02:44is the guys that haven't gotten much work through OTAs
02:46because you are installing new offense, new defense.
02:49Like, there's a lot of moving parts right now.
02:51He said, I want to see where they are.
02:54Alignment, assignment.
02:55And so for the players who don't get the most reps
02:57and they say, oh, man, if I got more opportunities,
02:59this is your chance.
03:01How are you going to respond to it?
03:02What does that look like?
03:03So it's about competition
03:07and performing well snap after snap.
03:11But for dudes that don't get a lot of work,
03:14do they then lock in with the mental reps
03:18is what the coaches always say.
03:19This is, in a way, it's kind of like a quiz or a test
03:25for the dudes that haven't been on the field a ton
03:27for the coaches to know how locked in are they.
03:29If I've been saying, hey, man, you getting it?
03:32Yeah, I coach you.
03:33I'm checking it out.
03:34And then I throw you in there and you can't do it.
03:38That's a step back, right?
03:39Yeah.
03:40And you can't say, oh, well, if I got more work,
03:42then I would know because you're getting the work.
03:44I'm giving you the work.
03:44But right now, like you said, in the OTAs that have been going on,
03:49some guys probably wasn't getting it.
03:52But right now, I'm going to see if you've been getting it.
03:55Which guys are only doing their stuff when they're here?
03:59Which guys taking their work home?
04:01I said when I got to the pros, I told people,
04:04I thought we'd come here, practice, just practice, and that's it.
04:09But they're over here like a 9 to 5.
04:12You know what I mean?
04:13Yeah.
04:13You have to do everything.
04:14And the coaches want to know who is using their time wisely right now.
04:19Which guys, which young guys are heading to D.C.
04:23and which are heading to the books.
04:25Right.
04:25And study their stuff so they can try to hit the ground running.
04:28Now, Brian, Dan Quinn also said at the quarterback position,
04:34he wants to see yesterday's practice was a lot of Hartman
04:37and a lot of the rookie, Ethan Kaliak-Manus.
04:41And we can look at this glass half full or glass half empty.
04:47The offense didn't run so hot with Hartman and Kaliak-Manus.
04:51It was.
04:51And you hope to not have either one of them running it.
04:54Right.
04:55Because it has run smooth with Jaden.
04:57Yeah.
04:57But if you get to Hartman or Kaliak-Manus,
05:00you're probably in trouble anyway.
05:03Dan Quinn said specifically the position groups,
05:05he wants to see where the depth is at.
05:07He mentioned running back.
05:08He mentioned corner.
05:10And then quarterbacks.
05:13He said specifically,
05:14Sam and Ethan are going to get a lot of reps in this camp.
05:17I like having feet to the fire, so to speak, for some of these guys.
05:21They're ready for their chance to prove that they put the work into.
05:25So I think it's a win-win to make sure where we are,
05:27what we need to do, and hit some more.
05:30I think it didn't go great yesterday.
05:33That doesn't mean it could go better today.
05:38Year one, DQ and Adam Peters rarely missed.
05:43Like, things generally went the right way.
05:47Year two, it generally went the opposite way.
05:51I mean, the records were inverted, 12-5 to 5-12.
05:54It's pretty remarkable to have that kind of a flip in one offseason.
05:59I always applaud Dan Quinn for his intentionality.
06:04Like, everything is done with a purpose.
06:07There's not like a haphazard, willy-nilly,
06:10let's try this today.
06:12You know what I mean?
06:12Like, these things are planned out for months
06:16and where they want to get.
06:18Like, when he says we're going to hit every marker,
06:20and he says that consistently.
06:22A lot.
06:22He says a lot.
06:23A lot.
06:23Like, that's real to his system because he has all these markers set.
06:28Like, it's not word salad.
06:32Like, it means a lot to how he wants to set everything up.
06:35You know who else should be listening to that, though?
06:36The players.
06:37If the coach is telling you about markers,
06:39you might want to be hitting some marks, too.
06:41Right.
06:42Because I think a lot of times players think this,
06:45oh, yeah, we got training camp.
06:47Some of you don't have it, but it's a certain amount of time.
06:50Because although they don't cut like they used to,
06:53where they have the one cut time or whatever now,
06:57they're cutting you when you don't get reps.
07:01You ever notice all of a sudden there are people that don't get many reps
07:04in practice?
07:05The other guys get them.
07:07Why do you think they get them and you're not?
07:09Because you're probably not going to be the one making it.
07:12Totally, man.
07:12And I think –
07:13So if you don't see yourself being carried along,
07:18you better start making plans.
07:20Agreed.
07:21Agreed.
07:22I think, you know, with this team in kind of a must –
07:26must win – like, it must have a positive season this fall.
07:31Otherwise, there will probably be significant changes.
07:33It is worth noting also that, I mean, the kicking battle is a real thing.
07:39The rookie, Drew Stevens, yesterday was 6-6.
07:43Moody missed two, including a relatively shorty.
07:45I think he missed from, like, 37 and 47, something like that.
07:51They're keeping score, and they should be.
07:53I like that.
07:53I asked Izzo about it last week, and he's like –
07:55I was like, are there any other factors with the kicking battle?
07:59You know, does Moody have an incumbent seat that is harder to move him off?
08:04He's like, whoever makes the most kicks.
08:07Yeah.
08:07And it's got to be –
08:09And it's to be as simple as that.
08:13But it's as simple as that.
08:15You got to just make them.
08:17Listen, man.
08:18If we're kicking the same distance,
08:22and you're supposed to be the veteran guy,
08:25you should knock them down when they're a little inside your range, right?
08:28Yeah.
08:29And if you're not, and I'm beating you,
08:33young guys try to say, hey, I might be able to hit it from 65.
08:37And we still are about to say, when it's inside, you make yourself more valuable.
08:47It's going to be really interesting to see the kicking battle unfold.
08:51It's undeniable when you watch them in person, Stevens has the stronger leg.
08:56He's got an absolute cannon.
09:00But I also wonder, B, for this commander's team running a 90-man roster at this point,
09:08do you think there's any part of – like, we're letting all the –
09:13because let's be real.
09:14A lot of the guys that are going to get a lot of work during this minicamp are fringe roster
09:18guys.
09:18They might not make it to the 70.
09:20They might – a lot of guys won't make it to the 53.
09:24Do you think some of this period of getting other guys work is to see do we need to –
09:32how do we feel about the bottom of our roster going into camp?
09:35And do we need to be looking for other people at other positions?
09:39Yes.
09:40I think so, too.
09:43Listen, if you don't see the guys that have –
09:47if they don't have a chance to make the roster, why bring them into camp?
09:51But I bring another guy who may have a chance,
09:53he may push the guy in front of him just a little bit harder.
09:56Or if the guy in front of him don't push as hard, then that guy may overstep him.
10:00But if I know a guy that's not going to make it,
10:02why would I much waste my time bringing him into camp?
10:04He ain't going to make himself better, nobody else better.
10:08I think there's a lot of probably evaluation going on for players 60 to 90 right now.
10:14Oh, yeah.
10:15And you wonder – not that there would be like a bevy of roster moves come Friday,
10:20but like you wonder what, if any, level of turnover there is towards the end of that.
10:25You know what I mean?
10:26Yeah.
10:28It's just – it's going to be a really interesting, fun couple days.
10:35And, you know, there is the specter, the looming –
10:39there's always going to be roster movement.
10:41You don't know what exactly it will look like, but it's always out there.
10:46It could always happen.
10:47And that includes IU, but it also includes Diggs.
10:50You also will see other players get cut around the NFL.
10:54Go back two seasons, and nobody thought Noah Brown was getting released by the Texans
10:58on Labor Day weekend.
10:59And then Washington got their number two receiver for that season anyway.
11:03So there's always going to be moving parts,
11:05but generally the NFL is about to get real quiet real fast.
11:10It's one of those things, the only news will be Brandon Iyuk's Instagram thread.
11:18Right?
11:18Like, when did the Niners report for camp?
11:20I saw something today that said that – from Jason Lockerford.
11:24Yeah.
11:24I was trying to say that – they're saying that now they're ready to let him go.
11:29And the hope is to have let go before camp.
11:32But I believe when I see it.
11:35Because I still think he has to show up to make them cut him.
11:40Yeah.
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