WitP: CJ, Mouton, RGM, Bess, Ulbrich, Colt

Chawan Cut compiled the news about yesterday's preseason Mouton vs Hawthorne game.



::::::

Kynan Forney got injured in practice today, but appears to be okay.

Kynan Forney, back to work today after time off to witness the birth of his baby girl, got "jammed up wrong" on a play and stayed down on the ground for almost five minutes before getting up and having an ice pack applied to the back of his neck.

Chargers coach Norv Turner took time to praise Forney.

Coach Norv Turner talked about how well Kynan Forney looked after reviewing the film of Saturday's spirited workout before 19,000 fans at Qualcomm Stadium.
Forney is battling rookie Louis Vasquez at right guard.
"Kynan had his best day when things got speeded up at the practice over at the stadium,'' Turner said. "He's a very, very physical player with very good athletic ability. He started over 80 games in Atlanta and he played well up there. The biggest thing for him is we are a little bit more versatile.''
Vasquez's bid for the job has been slowed by a foot injury, as he missed two more workouts Monday.

"I don't think (Forney) is real concerned about Vasquez and how he is performing,'' Turner said.

::::::

Ian Walker of The Vancouver Sun profiles Ryan Grice-Mullen and highlights his importance to the BC Lions as a kick and punt returner.

The B.C. Lions general manager and coach was making a point Grice-Mullen shouldn’t think any less of himself as the Lions’ returner than he would as an every-down receiver.

“The punt returner and kick returner is as valuable as any offensive player, maybe more so than any offensive player other than the quarterback,” said Buono, following a wet mid-day practice at the Lions training facility in Surrey. “I sense sometimes that the returner is considered the least of all the offensive players when in actuality it’s the opposite.”

“In college my head coach really didn’t want me back returning kicks and punts because I was too valuable to the offence — I was one of his main guys,” said Grice-Mullen. “But it’s different here. Here, it’s about the best guy to help your team have success.”

::::::

Pancake Blocks, a Rotoworld.com blog, makes a bold prediction about Davone Bess.

But it's time to go out on a limb. It's time for a truly Bold Prediction:

Davone Bess will lead the league in receptions this season.

They go on to list several reasons why.

As an underneath, slot-type receiver with a valuable combination of hands, route-running ability, short-area quickness, and coverage awareness, Bess has developed an obvious rapport with Pennington. Clearly lacking in the arm strength department, Pennington loves dropping short passes between the linebackers and safeties, or even better, between the linemen and linebackers. Bess is fearless over the middle.

Bess is listed as a starting wide receiver and #1 punt returner in the Dolphins' latest depth chart.

::::::

Scott J. Adams of the Morgan Hill Times profiles Jeff Ulbrich.

Ulbrich always has been one to go against the grain. The 32-year-old workhorse took a pay cut this offseason to stay with the team that drafted him in 2000. Ulbrich is on his way to having his mug placed on the franchise's heralded 10-year wall in Santa Clara.

Though there are a couple gray hairs in his beard, Ulbrich still plays with plenty of fire. He loves the team's more physical approach championed by their Hall of Fame linebacker turned new head coach.

"Without a doubt," he said when asked if practice has been more intense this summer. "Our morning sessions have included a lot of 9 on 7, which is a physical drill; it's an all-run drill.

::::::

And Colt Brennan sits down with Warpath Confidential to assess his scrimmage on Saturday. Some excerpts:

I think if you went and did the plays I’m doing pretty good except for that one dropped ball I had. It just slipped right out of my hands. As I was coming out of my play fake and I was going to seat the ball in it just kind of slipped and I bobbled it and they just blew it dead right away.

When you are going against the ones it is a challenge. You got to be able to move the ball regardless. We kind of stopped ourselves a little bit. Then again we were also fighting on third and short to keep the drive alive. Besides that fumble I didn’t have anything really bad happen.

I just really didn’t do anything to make the crowd go ‘ah.’