The golden sun hangs slantingly on the sparse metasequoia treetops. The morning sunlight is tinged with a cool and pleasant dew scent. Not only is it not spicy, but it also carries a touch of water vapor, hitting your face and making you feel refreshed.
"Next one. Route 78, twelve yards." Standing aside, Kip Kleist glanced at the tactical board and shouted.
This is basic tactical training, where the quarterback and receivers work together.
The quarterback passes the ball according to the tactical requirements, down to the exact yardage and position; the receivers, composed of the wide receiver and the tight end, run according to the tactical route and arrive at the designated position to complete the ball.
At the same time, the quarterbacks will be rotated. The three quarterbacks, Lu Ke, Alex Smith, and Scott Tolsin, will be treated equally and complete the pass; the wide receivers and tight ends will be arranged as one. Team, one rotation after another.
The main purpose of this arrangement is for tactical training to ensure that every passer and receiver can run to the prescribed position according to the tactical route. Therefore, there is no distinction between the main players and the substitute players. Whoever's turn it is will play. Ensure that all players understand the tactics thoroughly. During the game, any player can react to the team's tactical arrangements immediately when he comes on the court.
The last quarterback was Scott. He successfully completed the pass, turned around, and winked friendly at the next quarterback, Lu Ke.
It's interesting to say that Scott and Lu Ke have a close relationship. Starting from their opponents in the Rose Bowl, they met intermittently. In the end, both of them entered the San Francisco 49ers and became teammates.
As quarterbacks, the two of them entered and exited most of the training at the same time. Due to the team's very strict training schedule, Logan and Marcus could no longer serve as Lu Ke's sparring partners. Therefore, in the past During this period, Lu Ke's daily training tasks were all completed with the help of Scott.
Unknowingly, there was some tacit understanding between the two people.
The corner of Lu Ke's mouth raised, and he stepped forward. Bobby Engram threw the football over in time. Lu Ke caught the ball with both hands, raised his right hand and was about to pass the ball, but the next step stopped abruptly: Because there is no passing target.
The passing distance of twelve yards happened in the blink of an eye. Lu Ke's peripheral vision had to capture the body shape of the receiving player before he could pass the ball. Otherwise, he would not be able to catch up with the ball. Now, Lu Ke didn't notice the movement of the receiving player, so naturally he couldn't pass the ball.
The rhythm of the entire passing training is very fast, one goes down, one comes up, one goes down, one comes up. Suddenly it got stuck, and everyone noticed something was wrong.
Kip's eyes left the tactical board, turned his head, and then saw a commotion among the receiving players. No one came out for a long time. He frowned and asked, "What's wrong?"
Vernon Davis, who was supposed to be the next player to receive the ball, did not step forward. He turned his head and said something. When he heard Kip's question, Vernon answered loudly, "No, my Just stretch your hamstrings and let the next player go first." After saying that, Vernon stamped his feet matter-of-factly, turned around and walked to the side, getting out of the way.
This was nothing.
However, Delanie-Walker, who was standing behind Vernon, also had a reluctant and embarrassed expression on his face. He stood there, looking forward and back, and his footsteps could be compared to a snail. .
"What's wrong? You've stretched your hamstring too?" Kip seemed not to be surprised, and teased with a mocking smile on his face.
Dilani raised his right hand, "I... I had breakfast... I felt a little uncomfortable." Then he pointed to his stomach, walked to the side, and muttered, "I'll just burp and it'll be fine. Give it to me." Five seconds." Having said that, he had already given up his position and passed the "hot potato" to the next player.
Kip stood there, his eyes turned to the next receiver, without speaking, but his eyes said: Do you have any questions?
Justin-Pelle did not speak, raised his right hand, gestured to Lu Ke, then stepped on the spot a few times, started, sprinted, and sprinted out according to the established tactical route No. 78.
Lu Ke was not affected at all. He adjusted his steps, waved his right hand quickly, and the football was passed.
After running to the established position, Justin stopped, turned around, and steadily caught the football on his chest. Effortlessly, without any effort at all, he put his hands on his chest and the football came to him with just the right amount of force. Such precision and ease show that the passing touch is outstanding.
Justin raised his right hand and gave a thumbs up to Lu Ke to express his praise.
Kip didn't say anything, lowered his head and looked at the play sheet, "Next position. Route 42, six yards."
Alex Smith stepped forward, and Vernon, who had been relaxing his calves just now, stood up, raised his right hand high, and said in a loud voice, "Ready."
Vernon turned his attention with all his attention. Bobby passed the football into Alex's hands. Then Vernon quickly started sprinting at a speed of 100 meters. He waved his arms quickly, stopped suddenly, turned sideways, and accurately received the ball from Alex's pass.
After slowing down, Vernon whistled and sighed, "Old man, the touch is still the same." Then he turned to look at the team of receiving players, "It seems that in the past month or so, this guy has not been honest. It’s time to rest on the ground, there are a lot of activities.” While teasing, he also deliberately moved his hips, and the intimate banter aroused laughter from everyone.
Kip knew what happened just now, Alex knew it, and Lu Ke also knew it.
Let me explain it like this: Vernon and Deilani both entered the league in 2006 and joined the San Francisco 49ers through the draft. They are both tight ends. They have a close personal relationship with Alex, who entered the league in 2005, and grew up together. ; Justin is a veteran in 2002. He has played for three teams before. This offseason, he just joined the San Francisco 49ers. He is also a tight end.
Ultimately, this is still about assigning sides. Vernon and Deilani are both Alexists; Justin is considered a neutral because he is also a stranger to the team.
Generally speaking, only one tight end is deployed on the court; of course, the New England Patriots' formation with two tight ends is also quite popular now. But for now, the San Francisco 49ers still adopt a tight end formation.
After Lu Ke became the main quarterback, Logan squeezed out Vernon's main position and completed three touchdowns in the first game. The wonderful performance was unanimously praised by everyone - the media was obviously much more tolerant of Logan.
So, after Alex came back today, such a scene played out in front of him. In fact, it's not just tight ends, there's the same competition among wide receivers; there's even a raging undercurrent among quarterbacks.
When it was Logan's turn, it happened to be Alex's turn to pass the ball.
Kip arranged a short passing route, but before Logan could enter the sprint state, Alex's pass was already in place. Logan had to use all his strength to reach deep with his hands, trying to catch the ball, but he still missed it. He staggered and almost fell down. His posture was so embarrassing.
The players headed by Vernon burst into laughter, "Oh, Jesus Christ, Logan, you must have rested too much in the past few days, and your legs are weak now, right? Can't even catch such a short pass? Hahahaha!" "
Logan stood up, ignored Vernon, and walked quickly towards Alex, asking in a stiff voice, "What's going on? Did my running route go wrong? Or did my start signal go wrong?" "
Alex raised his hands in annoyance and shook his head, "It's not your problem, it's me. I was too anxious and my passing touch wasn't right. I'm sorry." After saying that, Alex exposed himself to Logan again. With an apologetic smile, he turned and left the passing position.
Faced with Alex's response, Logan was like being slapped on cotton. He helplessly cast his gaze towards Lu Ke and said with his mouth, "What the hell is going on?"
Lu Ke shrugged and laughed, "Team culture."
The world of athletes is actually very simple, they are either friends or enemies.
Alex is a friendly person, but he is also the leader of the team and the representative of the 49ers' senior players. He is like a flag. He must express his stance and must stand with Vernon and the others. On the one hand, because The team's head-on competition and power confrontation; on the other hand, it is because of the suppression of first-year players by veteran players.
In private, Alex can be friendly to the rookie players represented by Lu Ke and show his personality charm; but on the court, they must be strict and strict with the first-year players. What's more, Alex and Lu Ke are originally competitors, the kind of life-or-death kind.
Just like this painless little action of assigning positions, Alex must stand with his friends. Otherwise, it is betrayal.
Faced with such a situation, neither Lu Ke nor Logan could do anything. Anyway, there was no harm in training, so they could only let it go. Senior players are acting petty and willful. They cannot and do not need to protest, they can just concentrate on their training. However, the team's factional struggle gradually revealed its outlines.
When Colin Kaepernick arrived at the training base, the clock was already approaching ten o'clock. He is still under concussion observation and cannot engage in formal training. Even relaxation training must be completed under the accompaniment of a professional physical therapist; however, he has received approval from his doctor and can participate in the team's tactical discussion meeting——
Avoiding falling too far behind the team's progress is also a necessary strategy to integrate into the team atmosphere.
Entering the training ground, Colin originally planned to come over and say hello, but then he saw Lu Ke and Alex training on the court. His steps couldn't help but pause for a moment, and he stood aside and watched the training progress intently.
Gradually, gradually, Colin began to realize that something was wrong. He had an ominous premonition. It seemed, seemed, might, probably, maybe, that there was no place left for him in the team! Wait, what's going on?
