Will sloppy play be the result of the lockout? Shaun Phillips weighs in
By FanSided Staff
On Fox Sports show Bar Fly, Shaun Phillips (2011 Pro Bowl selection) sits down with Jay Glazer (NFL insider, fox NFL Sunday), and Mark Kriegel (Fox sports.com Columnist writer) to weigh in on the lockout and what its doing to the NFL and its players.
Phillips believes not only is the lockout taking away from the fans, it’s also taking away from the players. The players should be honing their skills and developing, instead they’re working out at home. Conditioning at home can only do so much, it takes away from being able to go one on one with another player, gaining valuable experience that is much needed for game day.
When the season comes around and the players have missed some time, will the result be sloppy play? Will it not be on par with what we are used to? There’s so much talk about billions of dollars and how it should be split, we forget that what’s on the line is the game itself. The quality of play due to not having mini camps, sitting in the film room… basically just developing as a player.
As a athlete who has played this game for many years, I agree with what they have to say: Athletes need structure for their benefit. It makes them develop from average and good players into great players. Just like a little kid you have to show them the way. You can’t just let them do what they want. Things would get nasty in a hurry.
These off-season programs also create chemistry. A big way of looking at this is between a QB and its receivers. Philip Rivers needs time with his receivers to know how they run their routes. To know the timing of there cuts. How fast they can run the deep route. How high to throw the fade route for his receiver to go up and get it.
It takes a lot of mental toughness to play the sport. As the lockout goes on, you lose that fire and mental toughness, you become fatigued. You become lazy and lose your mind set. They spend long hours doing what they have to, to get the job done on Sundays. Spending it in the film room or studying a playbook. The lockout has taken away something from these athletes, the game they have played all there lives. When you’re in your prime and your peaking physically, you would like to continue and play. Continuity is the name of the game. It makes you a better football player. Let’s hope that the lockout is done away with in a prompt matter, so the Chargers can get back to what they do best… WINNING GAMES!