UPDATED 3:12 P.M. MDT

It’s killing Brandon Marshall to be this patient.

Last month, he learned about the price of trying to even slightly rush back from a muscle problem, aggravating a quadriceps injury on the second day of minicamp. He first injured the muscle nearly six weeks earlier during the first day of team camp, and the July setback landed him on the physically-unable-to-perform list when training camp began last Sunday.

“it was one of those things where I felt like I could go,” Marshall said. “I tried to get back out there and it was a little too early for me.”

For now, then, he’s doing exactly what Head Athletic Trainer Steve Antonopulos and his staffers tell him.

“I’m just going to listen to what Greek (Antonopulos) has got to say. He’s got over 30 years of experience, so I’ll just listen to what he has to say and do what he wants me to do.”

This week, that meant testing the recovering muscle.

“At the beginning of this week, we pounded it pretty hard and fatigued it out a little bit,” Marshall said. “It’s been aggressive workouts all week. Right now, it feels great — like it’s getting in shape, my leg and my body, so that’s a good thing. The pain is gone, which is good, and now we’ve just got to get it to where it’s in shape to endure two-a-days, long practices and all that pounding.”

Meanwhile, Marshall’s teammates practice, so he waits — and chafes.

“I’m not one to want to sit on the sidelines, watching the team practice and get better without me,” he said.

NOTES FROM THE MORNING:

Obviously, the big story was Warrick Holdman, about whom you can read in the previous blog entry. Defensive tackle Demetrin Veal also got poked in the eye during the final move-the-ball segment of the session. But as for what else happened, read on …

ATTENDANCE REPORT: Sam Adams sat out practice with a right knee injury. “He’s all right,” Shanahan said. “It’s a game plan that we have—we’re going to make sure he’s in shape. We know he can play the game. When he played the first couple practices, he’s been very impressive but we don’t want to overdo it as well.” …

… Defensive tackle Marcus Thomas was out with a left calf injury … Wide receiver Marquay McDaniel missed a second straight day with a left hamstring injury, while a right hamstring injury kept Chad Mustard on the shelf, also for a second consecutive day … Wideout Glenn Martinez sat out wiuth a right thigh injury incurred while running a route Wednesday morning … Marshall, Tony Scheffler, Rod Smith, Lamont Reid and Doug Nienhuis were all out.

POINTS OF EMPHASIS: The team spent a period working on punt protection, with Paul Ernster handling punting duties. Ernster averaged 55.1 yards per punt with a long of 64 — a punt that hit around the 10-yard-line and bounced in the soft, damp grass to a resting point at the 1-yard-line. His hang times — according to my stopwatch — ranged from 3.28 seconds on a punt that followed a high snap to 4.70 seconds, an average of 4.12 seconds … Lots of work on the run game today, with Travis Henry, Mike Bell and Cecil Sapp all recording solid runs. Conversely, it was a very quiet morning for receivers Brandon Stokley and Javon Walker; they were granted a respite during much of team work although both were in uniform.

WHO’S WHERE? Jimmy Kennedy practiced through a sore left shoulder and worked on the first team in place of Sam Adams … Kenny Peterson saw some time at left defensive end in the second-team base package, spelling Jarvis Moss. Peterson and fellow defensive end Tim Crowder collapsed the pocket for the second-team defense to squash a first-team drive on third-and-9 during the move-the-ball period … D.D. Lewis handled first-team strongside linebacking duties and was in on a number of plays. He opened the team work for the final periods of practice by racing untouched from the left side and being in position for a sack of Jay Cutler; of course, he didn’t actually finish the pass rush since we don’t want to see anyone dismembered out there.

STANDOUT PLAYS: Quincy Morgan dropped a pair of passes, but also had a pair of outstanding catches — one in seven-on-seven where he laid out for a grab despite tight coverage from Dre’ Bly, and another in team work where he got past Domonique Foxworth … David Kircus was on the receiving end of a deep pass up the left sideline from Patrick Ramsey in seven-on-seven work; Kircus worked past Bly to get open.

From behind the lens:

Next practice Friday morning … until then, vaya con Dios.

Tags: Training Camp

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 3:12 pm and is filed under Archives. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.