Schwartz: We don't practice just to practice
Jim Schwartz was "talking situations" after Monday's first of two workouts in Allen Park. And with the media, he was trying to explain his idea of a productive practice drill.
"I mean, we donââ,¬â"¢t practice just to practice," he said. "I will sit there and say, ââ,¬ËœItââ,¬â"¢s third-and-10, we can eliminate this. Look at this formation.ââ,¬â"¢ Just sort of pre-coaching and trying to get some things across. But you donââ,¬â"¢t wait until after the play because, like I said, the way we structure practice here is a lot of 'situations.' We donââ,¬â"¢t just practice blind, you know."
Monday's afternoon session ended with a two-minute drill session. The parameters were even more restrictive, though. First-and-10 from their own 38-yard line, with 1:30 left on the clock and no timeouts. All three quarterbacks got a chance to put points on the board, either with a touchdown or by setting up an imaginary winning field goal.
And on this day, Matthew Stafford, running the first-team offense in this drill as Schwartz continues to shuffle things around, and Drew Stanton were the winners, each getting the offense inside the 25-yard line before running the clock down. Daunte Culpepper's drive -- he went with the second-stringers in this drill -- ended with a fourth-down incompletion at the opponents' 40-yard line.
Culpepper, though, fared better earlier in 7-on-7 drills, going 7-for-8 with the first-team offense, while Stafford was 5-for-8 and Stanton was 1-for-4.
