Feeling more comfortable... Sunday’s trip to Denver felt good in a couple of ways for me. First, it was refreshing to get out of the heat and humidity of Texas. I love the south and wouldn’t want to be living anywhere else but it’s always good to take a break from a southern summer. Secondly, the Denver game helped me realize I’m taking positive strides at playing middle linebacker. I was more comfortable at my position, more comfortable calling the sets and more comfortable in pursuit. Being more comfortable, flying around and having fun is probably the reason I was able to record 9 tackles. While those tackles will be listed under my name the guys along the defensive line did a great job of keeping the offensive linemen off me. Unfortunately, we did give up 17 points defensively and lost our first preseason game.
We’ll have a short week of preparations for our final preseason game on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a day off on today, we’ll install the gameplan on Tuesday and have a walk-thru on Wednesday.
As a lot of you know, Tuesday is the NFL’s deadline for teams to cut their rosters to 75 players. The Texans made their cuts on Monday and it was the first time I experienced walking into a locker room and seeing some of your friends lockers cleaned out. You realize that guys you have become friends with and talk to on a daily basis is no longer a member of the team. It also makes you realize you are very blessed to be on the team and blessed with the talent it takes to make the team. You further realize there are a lot of guys who would love to be in your shoes. I’ve always been told that professional football is a business. It is…it’s a business of winning and you’ve got to have the best players to win. Seeing those empty lockers definitely stoked the fire for me personally. All of us in the NFL understand that at any time that could be our locker. After Thursday night’s game we will be a little over a week from opening the regular season with Philadelphia on September 10. Opening up at home against the Eagles will be exciting for the city of Houston and our fans. You can feel the buzz and the hunger our fans have for a winning team. Hopefully, this season we can give them what they deserve, a winner. On Saturday my former Alabama teammates kick off the season with Hawaii. Wow! I can’t believe I’m not there anymore but I know those guys are ready to go. They’ll be well prepared to take care of things on defense. The dedication of the renovated Bryant-Denny Stadium will provide for an electric atmosphere. Wish I could be there but I hope all the folks in Bama know that while I won’t be there in person I’ll be watching from Texas. I know the guys on this year’s team will represent the Tide well this season. They realize who they’re playing for and know what the University of Alabama represents. Class, Character and Championships, it’s what that crimson jersey is all about.
Until next week, DeMeco |
