Lock In....Koren Down

by: Michael Steffes

Looks like an another eventful day in the land of the Seabirds. SA favorite Danny O'Neil reports some good news. Sean Locklear practiced with out restriction today. The offensive line already pulled one of the all time great turn-arounds last week. A lot of it was some great run blocking by the much maligned Pork Chop. Lock coming back will deepen the unit which is a good thing when the aforementioned pork product is playing a key role.

HOWEVAAAA..... Bad news too. Koren Robinson is having some problems with his knee. Most likely it is general soreness, much like what player of the day Chop went through when coming into the offseason activities late. Don't expect much from Koren this week. I would think 10 plays is reasonable. Rocky Bernard also has begun his seemingly annual trip to the midweek sideline. He sat out with a sore hip.

Finally, Danny O'Neil appears to have gotten a few words with Johnny Marshall. Marshall definitively states that last week's issues were not a result of blown assignments but players not making plays. I would argue that this is not really the case, unless Marshall has completely revamped his defensive playbook.

Last year, the defensive motto was a bend but don't break/no big plays defense. While that type of defense allows those 15 yard pass plays waaaaaaaaaaaay to often, it also avoids the long completions. On top of the big chunks, SF twice got over the top, once on Marcus Trufant and once on Josh Wilson. In the Tru case, Deon Grant was trailing the play. In the Wilson play, he was on an island as the Seahawks brought the house. To O'Sullivan's credit,and Wilson's detriment, it was a perfectly thrown ball from a collapsing pocket. I will give credit where credit is due.

So... In a way the players did need to make a play, however, in my opinion the scheme did not put them in the best position to succeed. These corners thrived last year because they finally had decent safeties helping them out. The help did not appear to be there last Sunday. ~END~