NFL teams
Luke Cyphers 17y

Prep Stars

Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons

TOW-TRUCKIN'
THE SUBJECT Maurice Jones-Drew
THE ROLE Running back/return man, Jaguars
THE RITUAL Dragging a weighted sled through a series of short, explosive—sometimes zigzag—sprints. An example: three consecutive 20-yard reps dragging 90 pounds, followed by a short rest; then four in a row, short rest. Repeat unloaded (i.e., minus the sled).
THE SOURCE Cal strength coach Mike Blasquez.
THE THEORY "What we're trying to do is ensure that whatever strength he builds in the weight room translates into movement on the field," Blasquez says. Take the carioca drill, where a player covers ground sideways, crossing one foot over, then behind the other, carrying a 40-pound weight. "It's building the muscles in your core and your hip flexors, the same ones you use when you catch the ball and turn upfield."
THE RESULTS Jones-Drew saw them in his first touch last season: "I caught a five-yard pass in the flat, stopped on the sideline, turned it up and went 60 yards." Not tough sledding at all.

BUILDING A FOUNDATION
THE SUBJECT Brandon Jones
THE ROLE Wide receiver, Titans
THE RITUAL Catching bricks thrown at close range. Six throws at the chest, six to each side and six one-handed, left and right. Mandatory, every practice.
THE SOURCE Receivers coach Fred Graves read about Jerry Rice's father hurling bricks to the legend in high school. Graves has chucked the Lowe's-bought blocks for the past dozen years.
THE THEORY "An NFL receiver needs to put confidence, speed and focus together," Graves says. "But to start practice, we begin working on focus. If I throw a brick at you, I know exactly where your hands and eyes are."
THE RESULTS "Rice caught them, that should tell you something," says Graves. Hopefully, it'll tell Coach that Jones can improve on last season's 27 catches.

CLEAN SWEEP
THE SUBJECTS Kelly Jennings (21) and Ben Obomanu
THE ROLE Punt-coverage specialists, Seahawks
THE RITUAL Obomanu and Jennings hook their elbows around a broom placed across the middle of their backs and slice through blockers, or "jammers," without touching them with the broom.
THE SOURCE New special-teams coach Bruce DeHaven used the drill at his previous stop in Dallas.
THE THEORY The key is releasing downfield quickly, turning your hips—and in this drill, your broom—and dipping your shoulder off the line to make yourself skinny. "You want to make yourself as small a target as possible," Jennings says.
THE RESULTS "It feels awkward," Obomanu says. "And when you get past the jammer, you have to run 10 yards with the broom behind your back. Guys look like chickens." But the drill works. Obomanu is tall—six feet—for this job, "so I really need to have the right technique to get off the line to make the play."

MEDICINE BALLER
THE SUBJECT Aaron Kampman
THE ROLE Defensive end, Packers
THE RITUAL Kampman starts in a lunge position with one foot forward. From that low start, he takes a 20-pound medicine ball, and in a double-armed swiping motion, flings the ball up and out.
THE SOURCE "I'd always worked with weights, but [Buffalo-based trainer] Jeff Woodrich told me how to work on different movements with resistance."
THE THEORY "When I'm rushing the passer, and the offensive tackle is sticking his arms out to stop me," Kampman says, "this builds the strength to get his arms off me through the move" It's great to get lower than a blocker, he says, "but if I can't deal with a lineman leaning on me while I'm doing it, it's not doing me any good. There's nothing like functional strength."
THE RESULTS The young (27) vet went from two sacks in 2003 to 15.5 sacks and a Pro Bowl berth last season.

GUT CHECK
THE SUBJECT Ovie Mughelli
THE ROLE Fullback, Falcons
THE RITUAL Yoga/martial arts instructor Adrian Carr swings a bamboo sword called a shenai at Mughelli to teach him how to take a hit. "It hurts at first," Mughelli says. "But about a week into it, I didn't even feel it."
THE SOURCE Carr, 54, has practiced martial arts for 45 years. "They were developed during warfare," he says of the Far Eastern exercises he uses, "but it's a lot more fun to use them in football."
THE THEORY It's part of a battery of disciplines Carr uses to develop "body armor," to get Mughelli through a season full of collisions. "We're building muscle to make your body a weapon," the fullback says, "so that it hurts the opponent when he hits you."
THE RESULTS He'll be as tough in a street fight as he is in the red zone. "At first he didn't know how to handle it when I'd knee him full force in the gut," Carr says. "Now he doesn't flinch."

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