SANTA CLARA —
Ted Ginn Jr. and Kyle Williams started practice by fielding punts one-handed from a Jugs machine.
This was running backs coach Tom Rathman’s idea. He stood next to the punt returners and made the exercise a competition.
Ginn really struggled. On his first rep, he dropped the ball completely.
Williams, on the other hand, made it look easy. He tracked the ball like an outfielder, lining up behind it, running through it, and securing it easily with one arm. As he caught the ball, Rathman shouted, “Square it up! Boom! Nice!”
On the second round, Ginn juggled the ball again, but caught it with his left arm before it hit the ground. Rathman’s head was turned, so he asked Williams if Ginn indeed caught it with one hand. Williams, the diplomat, lied to his coach and said Ginn did.
Ginn works a lot on his hands with the Jugs machine, but they don’t seem to improve. Williams clearly has the superior hands.
I’m running back out to practice now. I’ll be searching for Daunte Culpepper and Michael Crabtree, in particular.
Crabtree is reported to be out of his boot for the first time in camp. I’ll be back at you with more on this soon.
Follow me on twitter @grantcohn.
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