Around the NFL

Here are a few "Warriors in the Pros" stories from the past few days.

Chad Owens is profiled by David Dorsey of Florida Today. Chad talks about perseverance and what he wants to do in Tampa. Coach Jon Gruden talks him up as well. It's a great article. Here are several excerpts:

Owens, holder of two NCAA records, hopes to earn a roster spot as a punt and kickoff returner. If he does, he will have shot at achieving another milestone. He can be the first Buccaneer to return a kickoff for a touchdown.

"That's what I was known for in college, Mr. Excitement," Owens said. "I made the fans feel like they needed to get to the stadium in time to get to the opening kickoff. That's what I accomplished there, and that's what I hope to bring here."

"He had a hard time in Jacksonville hanging on to the ball," Gruden said. "That's been well documented, but he is very compact, thick and quick. He has tremendous cutting ability at full speed. In the kicking game and as a creative receiver, he can do some things for us. And he's made some plays the last two days that are pretty easy to see."

"That's the thing I had in college. They just knew I had the chance to go all the way whenever I got the ball. They would block their butts off. It was just amazing. We have a great special teams unit here with Tampa. I'm looking forward to it.

"I feel like I have a great opportunity. A great chance."

There's a lot more to read. I can't wait to see him returning kicks for the Bucs.

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An article in the Tennessean discusses Titan defensive ends Antwan Odom and Travis Laboy, as they both come back from injuries from last year.

"My first year was down, my second year was up, and last year was down," LaBoy said. "So hopefully I will be back up again."

With the current roster, Washburn said he expects to start Odom, who has been practicing with the first team. LaBoy likely will be employed as a situational player.

"We are going to do some things this year," Odom said. "We are going to be a little one-two punch."

Washburn's made a scheme change that may make a difference. On occasion he's moved Vanden Bosch to the right side of the line while rotating Odom and LaBoy in on the left.

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Samson Satele had a couple quotes about the offensive line and the crazy heat in Miami in this South Florida Sun-Sentinel report:

Center Samson Satele on how the offensive line is gelling together: "It is pretty good. It is more for me because the more I talk, the more I call out the guy that I am going to, everybody is going to fall out after that. We are becoming a solid group right now. Like I said, it is more on me because I have to learn my plays and call out the right backer."

Center Samson Satele on if playing in Hawaii prepared him for the South Florida heat: "No, this is hot. This is really hot. The humidity here is really bad. At Hawaii, it would be hot, but you get that cool breeze everyday. At practice it would be easy for us."

It's still amazing whenever I read that he's the Dolphins' starting center. Right on.

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And finally, Ikaika Alama-Francis had a new entry on his Detroitlions.com blog on Friday.

“I feel that it’s a growing process. Every day I learn a little bit; I learn something that’s going to help me later on and every day I’ve got to soak in as much as I can from the veterans, the coaches – everything. Everything that’s going on, I’m learning. So if I can just get a little bit better – even if it’s one-percent every day – that’s still one-percent. So I’m just going to take that mentality and try to get better every day.