As part of the new CBA, the league may eliminate two-a-day practices during training camp. I remember Gene Upshaw telling me once he wanted two-a-days because his body needed to be contact-conditioned. Can’t get that in the weight room.
Uppy, however, played in a time in which offensive guards such as himself were considered huge at 255 pounds. Now guards are 100 pounds heavier and just as quick. To throw that kind of tonnage against each other twice-a-day in training camp is wasting a valuable resource.
Stamina always has been more important to develop in training camp than full-body contact. Contact is second-nature to NFL guys. Better to get them in shape so they don’t fatigue because a fatigued player is more likely to be hurt.
Push them hard once a day. Run those plays over and over. Do all the things you need to do to make any call a second nature response.
Jets linebacker Bart Scott is dead wrong. Eliminating two-a-days will NOT make football players soft. A guy doesn’t make it to the NFL being soft; his instinct is to go hard. And there’s nothing soft about a 16-game schedule.
Save bodies for the regular season.
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