Final thoughts following Thursday’s final OTA practice:
--Coach John Fox is anxious to have rookie running back Jonathan Stewart back at practice. Stewart isn’t allowed around the facility until the University of Oregon finishes its final exams. Oregon is one of the few schools around the country that works on the quarter grading system.
“He’s a sharp guy and I like this demeanor and his football character,” Fox said of the team’s first-round draft pick. “I like what I saw from his college tape. He just has to get healthy."
Fox said he expects Stewart will be ready to go in training camp.
"He’s out of his boot and he’s one schedule. He will be coming here shortly and being doing rehab with our medical people and they are telling me he will be ready for July 25 (the start of training camp).”
--Jake Delhomme asked about the changes on offense and he went into great depth describing his reason for being optimistic.
“The offensive line has done an outstanding job. Jordan (Gross) and Travelle (Wharton) work great together. When we put them together in ’04 in the middle of the season they really picked it up. (Jeff) Otah has looked the part. I like what I’ve seen. I like it a lot.”
--Delhomme talked about how much he likes working with offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson because he puts to much the quarterback’s plate.
“I’ve only played 2 ½ games with him, and some in the preseason, but I know what he expects,” Delhomme said. “He puts more on the quarterback which I think is great. And we have some pretty sharp guys receiver-wise, tight ends-wise and running back-wise. You look at a team like New England and they have a lot of smart football players. That is the key. You have to have smart guys who love to play and want to compete. And I think we are really getting a lot of those guys.”
--Running back DeAngelo Williams said the team is coming along faster this year as opposed to last year when it comes to jelling as a team. “We’re complementing one another as far as knowing what each other is going to do before they do it. It makes you really effective and keeps the defense on its heels. We’re going to be a really hard offense to stop this year with the receivers that we have and having Jake back and with the offensive line we have.”
“We all know Steve (Smith), and Moose hasn’t changed much. D.J. Hackett, he’s pretty good. Dwayne Jarrett has had a pretty good camp. He needs to keep progressing. But he can be a big weapon. Jeff King is solid and Dante Rosario has really come on. We haven’t seen Jonathan Stewart, but you would assume he will be pretty good and DeAngelo Williams has been solid.