Nflel Scrimmage #3

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Bucs coach Jon Gruden
watches Akili Smith
in action.
(waynepaulo.com)</span>

In front of his NFL head coach John Gruden, Galaxy passer Akili Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) tossed a pair of touchdown passes, with Kevin Eakin (New York Jets) hitting Jeremiah Cockheran (Cincinnati Bengals) for a 25-yard score.

Here is what some of the participants had to say about the day’s action:

Berlin QB Brett Engemann: "I felt good out there. When you practice against each other for so long the defense starts to know your plays, and it was refreshing to go out there against another team and see how our offense developed. We did some nice things out there on offense. I think we&#39;re progressing well and I&#39;m looking forward to moving on."

Amsterdam head coach Bart Andrus: “It is a step-by-step process. We showed that we cleaned some things up that we were concerned about. We are still working on other things and we will continue to get better. That is all we can do right now. They need to be able to do their assignments and do them at a high level. Saturday we will start to see who our playmakers are. We have to have some guys step up and make plays for us.”

Rhein linebackers coach E.J. Junior: "It was basically a passing day so you hope that your guys get drops and recognize the various passing routes that Hamburg was doing. They ran a different kind of bootleg that we hadn’t seen before, but I think that we are getting better. We just need to recognize things a little bit quicker and still work on things fundamentally."

Hamburg defensive end Antonio Smith: “We’re all becoming comfortable with trusting each other, and knowing what each other is going to do. When we know what we have and what we need to take care of, then we can let it all go and play with emotion and not make mistakes. We need to work on our consistency. We need to be consistent with playing at the top of our game.”

<span style=\'colorrange\'>Cologne QB Casey Clausen: “I thought we did real well. I thought overall offensively we moved the ball pretty well, the receivers made plays. I think defensively guys got after it too. So overall it was a good day.”

Final Game Condition Scrimmages: Saturday March 19, University of Tampa

8:30 a.m. Amsterdam Admirals vs Cologne Centurions

10:00 a.m. Berlin Thunder vs Rhein Fire

11:30 a.m. Frankfurt Galaxy vs Hamburg Sea Devils

 

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Casey Clausen completed
a 25-yard touchdown pass
to James Newson.
(waynepaulo.com)</span>

The Cologne Centurions escaped severe thunderstorms and battled the Frankfurt Galaxy in the second to last scrimmage of the 2005 NFL Europe training camp. It was a battle from the start as the winds swirled at the University of Tampa stadium.

For the Centurions the third scrimmage proved to be a vast improvement. The team realized that the last scrimmage was not acceptable and picked up the level and focus against the Galaxy. The afternoon was highlighted by solid quarterback play. Casey Clausen completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to James Newson. Kevin Thompson also completed a 25-yard bomb to a streaking Romby Bryant mid-way through the short 90 minute scrimmage.

<span style=\'colorrange\'>Clausen says he was pleased with today’s effort.

“I thought we did real well. I thought overall offensively we moved the ball pretty well, the receivers made plays. I think defensively guys got after it too. So overall it was a good day.”

Coach Peter Vaas was also pleased with the team’s attitude and how his team bounced back from last weeks scrimmage.

“Last time I felt as though we were very out of sync and nervous emotionally as a football team when we got together last Saturday. Today I thought we were much more relaxed. I thought we played it like it was a game, like we were having fun and we were confident and knew what we were doing. I was very pleased with that.”

Defensively the team looked solid and more able to react to the team on the other side of the ball. Kalvin Pearson intercepted a pass on the goal line to lead the clicking defense. Defensive tackle Bryan Save says as a group the defense did well despite a sluggish beginning.

“I thought we did well as a defense. We went out with intensity. We started off slow but as a defense coach got on us and we picked it up from there. As a whole group we did really well.”

Overall the Centurions are beginning to come together as a unit and trust one another. The atmosphere was much more intense with teammates cheering for one another after big plays and offering constructive criticism on things that need improvement. With roster cuts looming, players realize every play counts and they have to step up and show their best at all times.

Coach Vaas knows the roster choices will be hard, but he was able to see things from people that may make an impact.

“Decisions are always hard and I won’t know that until I see the tape. But I saw some positive things out here on the field and I saw some positive things from people that have been positive all along and some positive things from people that have been improving.”

Saturday’s scrimmage will prove to be the deciding factor for the final roster spots. Players realize this weekends scrimmage and the rest of this week are very important. For coaches and players the plot is thickening and roster spots are becoming a commodity. With camp winding down in the next four days, there is nowhere left to hide, its go time.

 

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another scrimmage photo

 

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Centurions&#39; training camp inspiration?