We can see some quite strange exercises in training camps all over the league, and it is hard to mention something like this without remembering Mike Pope and his ways. Just imagine, tight ends were showered with buckets of ice water and needed to catch passes, but also had to run routes with swim goggles on. While Sanjay Lal‘s drill isn’t as radical as these, we can agree that it is one of the most interesting that we saw at this year’s camp.
As you know, Lal is a new coach, and the drill he set is to improve hand grip of receivers. All the players are lined up on one side of the endzone and they take a 25-pound brick in each hand and walk from one side to the other and back. Michael Gallup, rookie receiver reported that Allen Hurns and Cole Beasley, two veterans, are best in this segment.
On the other hand, Tavon Austin had some issues, and he had to put the brick down and rest his left arm. This was swiftly explained by Cowboys player who said: “That’s my surgery hand, bro.” Terrance Williams also had little problems and complained: “I think there’s something wrong with my brick.”
The main goal of this exercise is to improve the hand grip and as Lal explains “We want to rip the ball out of the air,” he continued by adding “When we get grabbed, we want to be able to rip [the defensive back’s] arm off and pull through.”
This drill will be done throughout camp, and it is planned for the length of the walk to be increased over the time. What we also noted is the fact that the coach had no problems showing how this should be done and walked with the brick. Lal commented “They never want to lose to their coach. If the coach can walk down and back, they’re going to find a way to beat the coach, so that is a philosophy.”
