Broncos Hall of Famer Steve Atwater joined Ryan and Ben on Broncos Country Tonight. After a brief foray into the NFL Top 100 list, the discussion turned to preparation for the upcoming season.
The start to the NFL season will look a little different, and that could impact how teams prepare. Ryan asked Steve about having to do more live reps during practice to get to know the players.
What does “live reps” mean? How live will it be. Steve makes a great point about the dangers of live reps in practice:
“That’s why not having any preseason games makes it difficult because the last thing you want to do is go out in practice and have one of your defenders hurt one of your star offensive players.”
Preseason games are where teams usually get a majority of live contact for players. Coaches are going to have to adjust to this. Where will they see players in game situations with true contact without preseason? How will players get into game shape without practice games?
Getting up to speed also involves being together. It’s hard to gel as a team from a Zoom meeting. Being at the facility, and working together build rapport, and helps young players grasp the concepts.
Communication between players can only be accomplished with players gathered together. Offensive lineman have to be on the same page, defenses have to get calls right. It will be difficult, and it could lead to a few ugly games at the start. Eventually, it will work itself out, but it could take a few weeks into the season.