NFL Training Camp Update: Miller looks like a starter, Jags drinking Koetter's Kool-Aid

David White, San Francisco Chronicle
Zach Miller is already looking like an opening day starter.

Praise for Miller - Raiders coach Lane Kiffin: "You've got to be careful because you start to think he's not a rookie. We have to make sure we're going through all the steps like we would another rookie."

"You throw it to him, he doesn't miss," quarterback Josh McCown said. "In that red area where you need a big dog to catch the ball, he makes it happen." Miller doesn't have much competition at the position, and is poised for a breakout rookie season.

And from the Where Are They Now? department, Andrew Walter threw four interceptions during Wednesday's morning drills. If Jamarcus Russell gets signed and into camp any time soon, Walter will probably be the odd man out in Oakland with the recent signing of Daunte Culpepper and trade for Josh McCown.


Michael C. Wright, Jacksonville Times-Union: Byron Leftwich seems very confident about regaining his starting job under the tutelage of ex-Sun Devil coach Dirk Koetter after an injury limited him to only 6 games last season. Sounds familiar. Next week's headline for the Times-Union: DAVID GARRARD NAMED STARTER. Pete Prisco of CBS Sportsline also ran a feature on the new offense. Far down the depth chart, Andrew Carnahan has been limited by a knee injury, I'm not sure if its related to the knee injury he suffered in last year's Cal game.

Circle Your Calendars

Today is August 3rd. That means you can now give your boss four weeks notice that you will not be available to work weekends this September.

This one is for all the ladies out there....

Arizona State is now selling pink jerseys for women to wear to games through the online store. I just hope these aren't our alternate jerseys.





These jerseys sell for $70, which is $5 more than the men's jerseys.

Practice starts tonight...Omar Bolden will participate.

The infamous Omar Bolden signing day clip:





Bolden will be out there in uniform tonight with the rest of his teammates.

Bolden still is awaiting expected academic entrance approval by the NCAA Clearinghouse. He is allowed to practice for two weeks -- through the end of Camp Tontozona on Aug. 15 -- without a Clearinghouse ruling. - Jeff Metcalfe, Arizona Republic

Pac-10 News and Notes

The athletic departments of Oregon, Oregon State, and UCLA, are all being subpoenaed by New York State Attroney Genereal Andrew M. Cuomo due to their involvement with a Student Financial Services. Allegedly, members of athletic departments of 39 schools would get kickbacks if they referred athletes to Student Financial Services. Cuomo was quoted as saying,

“Students trust their University’s athletic departments because so much of campus life at Division I schools centers around supporting the home team. To betray this trust by promoting loans in exchange for money is a serious issue, especially when Division I schools already generate tremendous revenue from their student athletes. Today’s action is an important new step as we continue to examine the unethical conflicts that pervade the student loan industry.”

Rich Perelman of the LA Times, who seems to be the go-to-guy as far as UCLA sports are concerned, had more to say on this story.


- Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen was on The Herd with Colin Cowherd this morning. If you have the ESPN insider subscription, you can listen to the interview here. Basically, the interview consisted of Tom Hansen defending his backwards practices like having Pac-10 basketball only on regionally, with his rationale being "He can get every game on DirecTv." Then you had Colin Cowherd ranting about how USC needs to get out of the Pac-10 and be on their own since Boise State is better than every other team in this conference. Thankfully, when Cowherd is on all one has to do is switch the dial to AM 910 or 1060. And if you don't like Tom Hansen, we'll, you're not alone.

- And in U of A news, Tui promises that he's "not worried" about his history of concussions and that he'll be ready to air it out this season. Hey, if those concussions had any affect on his brain, he can always find a tutor.

Sun Devils in Training Camp Update

Marty James of the Napa Valley Register filed a report on Zach Miller, including some quotes about adjusting to life at training camp:

“It’s a lot of work and I’m learning a lot, doing what I can to make plays out here and keep up with the offense,” said Miller (6-foot-5, 255 pounds), who is from Phoenix. “I feel like that I can come in and compete right away. I feel like I am prepared for that and I anticipate coming in and doing what I can to help the team and make sure that I am playing as hard as I can.

“It’s just about adjusting, learning new techniques, learning a new type of offense and really being open to that. I’m just learning as much as I can right now and listening to everything the coaches say, so I’m doing what they’re asking.”

Updates Coming

It's been a busy last few days for me. No updates today, but here's what you should expect come Thursday afternoon:

• The Offensive Line preview by Justin Karp. His other position previews can be found here and here.

• Sun Devil Baseball: Class of '07 minor league report, updates on transfers Cale Iorg and Matt Kipnis, and what Brett Wallace is doing for team USA.
  

• Pac-10 Football News and Notes

• Update on Sun Devils in NFL Traning Camp: T-Rich made my job easier this weekend; he quit the Texans.
  

• Hopefully more U of A stories like this one.