Petitti more ready this time around
DMN: Petitti more ready this time around
IRVING – Rob Petitti looks different. He sounds different, too.
A year ago at this time, Petitti was a confused, sixth-round pick unsure if he would play left or right tackle at his first training camp. He was a left tackle at Pitt and excelled, but his first foray at right tackle at a rookie minicamp was, to be kind, not so good.
Offensive line coach Tony Sparano kept harping on Petitti's footwork. Moving from left tackle to right tackle was like learning Sanskrit. He struggled with it and his confidence sank.
But when the Cowboys got to Oxnard, Calif., for training camp, Petitti was better. His weight was down. His footwork was better. And then Jacob Rogers suffered shoulder and knee injuries in a span of week that would ultimately land him on injured reserve.
Petitti, a sixth-round pick remember, became the Cowboys starter at right tackle. And for six weeks of the regular season we never heard his name. But then Flozell Adams got hurt and the help Petitti received earlier in the year was gone because Torrin Tucker, whom Tampa Bay turned into a millionaire with a restricted free-agent offer the Cowboys didn't match, was playing left tackle.
Petitti played every offensive snap last season. Larry Allen was the only other player to do so. He's now in San Francisco, and Petitti is hoping to keep his right tackle spot.
The Cowboys brought in Jason Fabini, one of Bill Parcells' better draft picks, this off-season to compete with Petitti, and Marc Colombo, a former first-rounder in Chicago, was a late-season pickup in 2005.
The Cowboys hope one of their Italian tackles can do the job, but Petitti ran with the first team during minicamp and enters Oxnard as the leader.
"I think I'm a lot different player," Petitti said. "Obviously, physically I've gotten stronger and mentally, that's the biggest part. I'm not thinking out there. I feel like I know what I'm doing."
Petitti was just trying to make the team a year ago, never mind start. He dropped a good 40 pounds when his college season ended until the beginning of the season. He spent this time re-working that weight into strength.
He said his bench press has increased 60 or 70 pounds and he is squatting more, too, but wasn't sure of the numbers. He said the big focus of his off-season work was his core strength, a staple of strength coach Joe Juraszek. With a stronger and more flexible midsection, Petitti believes he can do a better job against the speed rushers a right tackle faces.
"At least now I can just keep my body in front of them," Petitti said. "If I do that, then at least the guy has to go through me and that gives Drew [Bledsoe] more time. That's better than just totally missing the guy."
Rookie linemen take time to adjust to the NFL. Few come in and start right away. Fewer play every snap of a season if they are a first-rounder or sixth-rounder. At the collegiate level, they can physically overpower defensive ends or linebackers, but that doesn't happen in the NFL.
There are tricks to learn. Until a lineman learns how to hold (without being caught), trip (without being caught) or clip (without being caught), then there will be problems.
Petitti learned under fire last year, and it will make him better this year.
"I've still got to learn the tricks, I guess," Petitti said. "But the more technique you get down, the easier things become."
IRVING – Rob Petitti looks different. He sounds different, too.
A year ago at this time, Petitti was a confused, sixth-round pick unsure if he would play left or right tackle at his first training camp. He was a left tackle at Pitt and excelled, but his first foray at right tackle at a rookie minicamp was, to be kind, not so good.
Offensive line coach Tony Sparano kept harping on Petitti's footwork. Moving from left tackle to right tackle was like learning Sanskrit. He struggled with it and his confidence sank.
But when the Cowboys got to Oxnard, Calif., for training camp, Petitti was better. His weight was down. His footwork was better. And then Jacob Rogers suffered shoulder and knee injuries in a span of week that would ultimately land him on injured reserve.
Petitti, a sixth-round pick remember, became the Cowboys starter at right tackle. And for six weeks of the regular season we never heard his name. But then Flozell Adams got hurt and the help Petitti received earlier in the year was gone because Torrin Tucker, whom Tampa Bay turned into a millionaire with a restricted free-agent offer the Cowboys didn't match, was playing left tackle.
Petitti played every offensive snap last season. Larry Allen was the only other player to do so. He's now in San Francisco, and Petitti is hoping to keep his right tackle spot.
The Cowboys brought in Jason Fabini, one of Bill Parcells' better draft picks, this off-season to compete with Petitti, and Marc Colombo, a former first-rounder in Chicago, was a late-season pickup in 2005.
The Cowboys hope one of their Italian tackles can do the job, but Petitti ran with the first team during minicamp and enters Oxnard as the leader.
"I think I'm a lot different player," Petitti said. "Obviously, physically I've gotten stronger and mentally, that's the biggest part. I'm not thinking out there. I feel like I know what I'm doing."
Petitti was just trying to make the team a year ago, never mind start. He dropped a good 40 pounds when his college season ended until the beginning of the season. He spent this time re-working that weight into strength.
He said his bench press has increased 60 or 70 pounds and he is squatting more, too, but wasn't sure of the numbers. He said the big focus of his off-season work was his core strength, a staple of strength coach Joe Juraszek. With a stronger and more flexible midsection, Petitti believes he can do a better job against the speed rushers a right tackle faces.
"At least now I can just keep my body in front of them," Petitti said. "If I do that, then at least the guy has to go through me and that gives Drew [Bledsoe] more time. That's better than just totally missing the guy."
Rookie linemen take time to adjust to the NFL. Few come in and start right away. Fewer play every snap of a season if they are a first-rounder or sixth-rounder. At the collegiate level, they can physically overpower defensive ends or linebackers, but that doesn't happen in the NFL.
There are tricks to learn. Until a lineman learns how to hold (without being caught), trip (without being caught) or clip (without being caught), then there will be problems.
Petitti learned under fire last year, and it will make him better this year.
"I've still got to learn the tricks, I guess," Petitti said. "But the more technique you get down, the easier things become."
posted by The Gryphon at 6:51 AM
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