kidhawk":icbth8le said:
RiverDog":icbth8le said:
Good topic.
Unger did have a number of occasions where he initiated plays that almost turned into a disaster. His off target snaps threw off the timing and Russell, in his haste to try to keep the play on track, nearly fumbled the ball. It's an individual thing, and something that can be worked on and improved through repetition, and hopefully, he's been doing just that during the offseason. It's simply not acceptable, injuries or no injuries, for a Pro Bowl center to make as many bad snaps as Unger did last year. There's no excuse for it as it hurts just as much to make a bad snap as it does to make a good one...and it wasn't a reason given by either Unger or Pete.
Unger's not going to go out of his way to make excuses. Most of the guys on the team just aren't the type. They seem to believe (and I concur) that if you are healthy enough to play, then you need to be spot on and mistake free. I'd also be willing to bet that Unger has beat himself up more over each of these snaps than any fan ever could. He's a consummate pro and I rest assured that this portion of this game will improve with an off season to recuperate and get healthy.
That's true, and if I were Unger, I wouldn't be making excuses, either. But Pete is one of the more candid...sometimes too candid...coaches in the league, and if Unger were experiencing performance problems due to an injury, he'd be saying something.
Think about it. If Unger's pec muscles were giving him pain, it would be painful on good snaps as well as the bad ones. It's not like a quarterback that has a sore arm where his position demands throwing from different angles, different velocities, and different body positions under widely varying circumstances. All of the snaps from center are going to be completely static, with no interference from defenders, the same distance, same direction, same velocity, and the same amount of effort required EVERY TIME.
I'm sorry, I just don't accept that excuse. This is all on Unger, and up to him and him alone to improve.