SaberCats Wrap up First Week of Training Camp, Look Ahead to Second Week
February 28, 2011 - Arena Football League (AFL)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
SAN JOSE - The SaberCats wrapped up their first week of practice on Sunday, February 27, completing a successful first week to the start of the return of Arena Football back into the Bay Area.
Owner/Head Coach Darren Arbet was pleased with his team's effort and looks to build on their work heading into the second week of training camp.
"We accomplished a lot this past week," Arbet said. "We had to overcome a few injuries, but our team, both on offense and defense started to gel as a unit. We'll look to add onto these practices heading into Week 2 while keeping our focus on our home opener against the Spokane Shock on March 11."
Three-time ArenaBowl champion QB Mark Grieb was also happy with the progress the team made and sees the chemistry starting to develop on the offensive side of the ball.
"I think training camp's been going great so far. We've had a lot of energy. I think the guys are excited to be a part of this team and I'm excited to be with this group. It's coming along. There have been quite a few receivers that have been injured, so we are trying to work around that, but hopefully those guys will be back by the time we have our first game and some of that chemistry will work itself out."
SaberCats DB Mervin Brookins spent part of his rookie season on the defending ArenaBowl champion Spokane Shock, but can see the secondary taking their play to a new level, competing against Grieb every day in practice.
"He is a veteran quarterback already and is someone, if you can contain him here in practice you should be able to stop any quarterback in this league and that is what is being preached and talked about as a (defensive back) corps. Grieb is a very smart guy. He knows the game very well, the ins and outs and if you can keep up with him, you can keep up with anybody in this league."
After a two-year hiatus from the game, Grieb feels the largest obstacle for him is getting accustomed to a new group of players who aren't as familiar with the indoor game. He knows that this team can play at the same level that the teams of the past played during his time with the SaberCats.
"I think the biggest challenge is just coming back and working with a new group of people and being part quarterback and part teacher really, and trying to really help my teammates out to learn this offense and run it the way that I know this offense can look. When you hold yourself to a certain standard, it's a lot of work to get to that level when you think about how many veteran players we had on this team before and how many guys already knew what to do and that there were people here that could teach them. Now we are really starting from scratch, so my job more than anything is to help guys along and just teach them the finer points of this offense."
Arena Football League Stories from February 28, 2011
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- Utah Vs. San Jose Scrimmage Wednesday March 2nd - Utah Blaze
- An Open Letter to Arena Football Fans from Commissioner Kurz - AFL
- Jameel Sewell Signs with Mustangs - Milwaukee Mustangs
- SaberCats Wrap up First Week of Training Camp, Look Ahead to Second Week - San Jose SaberCats
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