SB Nation - Corey Hilliard

Stafford Out Against Baltimore; Culpepper to Start; Williams Fails Physical

Sean Yuille — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:38:01 -0000

Although Jim Schwartz initially planned on keeping things tight-lipped to prevent Baltimore from gaining more knowledge than they needed, he decided today to go ahead and announce that Matthew Stafford is out this week. Daunte Culpepper will be the starting quarterback, and I sort of think the reason Schwartz decided to announce a decision now is to prevent another miscommunication from happening like on Thanksgiving. Culpepper thought he was going to start, as did basically everybody, but Stafford ended up playing instead.

"I think the potential benefits of announcing it outweigh the benefits of holding on to it," Schwartz said, adding that he didn't want the media scrutiny to be a distraction throughout the week, especially with the decision already made.

Schwartz also said that Stafford's injury hasn't gotten any worse and that they have simply decided to shut him down for a week to let his shoulder heal.

It also came out today that Maurice Williams, the offensive lineman the Lions claimed on Monday, failed his physical and will not be joining the team. Instead the Lions signed offensive lineman Corey Hilliard, who was on the Browns' practice squad.

Browns Finish Off Practice Squad With Benard and Hilliard

Chris Pokorny — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:59:55 -0000

The Cleveland Browns had two spots left on their practice squad and filled them both on Tuesday, signing LB Marcus Benard and LT Corey Hilliard. Both players were initially on the team's 53-man roster before being waived for other players. Had the New England Patriots not claimed DB Bret Lockett Monday, chances are that he would've been on the Browns practice squad instead of Hilliard.

This seems like a rarity, but every member of the Browns practice squad is someone who was in training camp with the team. Usually, you see at least two or three players make the practice squad from other teams.

Practice Squad for Browns Includes WR Leggett, RB Jennings

Chris Pokorny — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:45:56 -0000

by Tony Dejak - AP

WR Lance Leggett made the practice squad, but former sixth-round pick Paul Hubbard did not.

View full size photo »

The Cleveland Browns named six players to their practice squad on Monday after the players had cleared waivers. That still leaves the team with two open spots.

BROWNS PRACTICE SQUAD

RB Chris Jennings: It's good to see him here after a strong effort against the Chicago Bears. His power and good hands were fairly impressive. Some may wonder why we signed RB Cedric Peerman to the 53-man roster instead of Jennings. In reality, you can look at it as Peerman being on the practice squad, but the only way we could prevent him from being on another team's squad was to sign him to the final roster.
WR Lance Leggett: I called in before training camp started -- between Legget, Paul Hubbard, and Jordan Norwood, I expected Leggett to have the most impressive camp. Hubbard's short reign with the team appears to be over.
OL Pat Murray: You usually need an offensive lineman on the practice squad; here he is.
DL Brian Schaefering: I liked his quickness against the Bears, and I believe we had him briefly on the practice squad last year.
LB Titus Brown: Not at all surprising to see him here. Brown was working with the team's first-string defense before suffering an injury in training camp. If he doesn't get claimed by another team this year, I'd expect him to contend for a roster spot next year.
DB Brandon Anderson: We didn't get to see much of him during the preseason. He ended up being the only non-veteran cornerback to get waived, so we basically kept all of our young corners.

Who isn't on the practice squad? Don't panic that LB Marcus Benard and S Bret Lockett aren't there yet. They still have to clear waivers since the Browns just waived them yesterday. It seems to make sense that if we left two spots open on the practice squad that these two players would fill the voids. LT Corey Hilliard is an option too, but probably not.

Regarding other Browns cuts, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed QB Richard Bartel to their practice squad. Also, with LB Beau Bell being left off the practice squad, it looks like his days as a member of the Browns are finished.

Browns Waive LB Marcus Benard, OT Corey Hilliard, DB Bret Lockett

Chris Pokorny — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 23:50:34 -0000

To make room for the roster moves the Cleveland Browns made earlier in the day, the team announced that the following three players were waived from the team:

Besides the three players we reported that the Browns signed earlier, they also added DB Marquis Floyd to the 53-man roster. Floyd was on the Seattle Seahawks practice squad last year and was one of their final cuts this year. For those who missed it earlier, the other three players to sign were RB Cedric Peerman (Baltimore), RT Phil Trautwein (St. Louis), and CB DeAngelo Smith (Dallas).

The Browns also reached an injury settlement with OL Fred Weary, so he is no longer with the team. It'll be interesting to see if a settlement is soon reached with veteran Ryan Tucker.

As for the players the Browns waived, don't be surprised if at least Benard and Lockett end up on the team's practice squad.

Cleveland Browns Training Camp Report: Day 24 - Pool Absent, Foster Waived

Chris Pokorny — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 13:50:10 -0000

It doesn't really feel like training camp anymore, but a few sessions still remain. The team hit the field Monday for one of their final three public sessions; after that, everything will be closed off and geared especially towards preparing for the regular season. Rapid Reports indicates that only about 300 fans attended practice on Monday.

TRAINING CAMP REPORT - DAY 24 (8/24/09)

Pool's Injury: If you recall, S Brodney Pool left Saturday's exhibition game after getting dinged. Let's hope it wasn't a concussion, but it wasn't a good sign that he was no where to be found on the practice field Monday. The team did not offer any comment on his absence either. Veteran S Mike Adams took Pool's place on Monday. Safety Hamza Abdullah has a broken finger and sat out of practice too, so the roster odds of S Bret Lockett just shot up.
Getting Some Depth Soon: It was good news to hear that OL Rex Hadnot was out on the field again. He wasn't practicing, but him being on the stationary bike is an encouraging sign that he's on schedule to return from his MCL injury within the first few weeks of the season.
Goodbye Foster: The Browns waived offensive tackle George Foster after he had a disappointing camp. It was clearly evident why the former high draft pick could not stick around with other teams. This past Saturday, he completely failed to block a rusher that caused Brett Ratliff to get drilled and fumble the football.
Purcell Gone Too: After suffering an injury, DL Melila Purcell was waived/injured. If he clears waivers, he'll revert to the injured reserve. The team also released TE John Madsen, who rarely appeared in training camp reports.
Roster Replacements: With three people gone, three people were signed, presumably only to be waived in a few weeks too. They are OT Corey Hilliard, TE Nate Jackson, and S Tra Battle.
Massaquoi's Role: He got early reps in Saturday's preseason game, and rookie Mohamed Massaquoi was lined up opposite Braylon Edwards as the No. 2 receiver Monday. The race continues between him and Joshua Cribbs, with Mike Furrey likely seeing consistent action at No. 2 and No. 3.
QB Edge to Anderson: For Monday's session, Brady Quinn had some struggles while Derek Anderson was fine. On Quinn's first attempt in a game simulation, he was intercepted by S Mike Adams on a pass intended for TE Robert Royal. Later on, he had a pass batted away from DB Rod Hood. Anderson, on the other hand, was able to roll out and fire a touchdown pass to Mohamed Massaquoi. Later on, on perhaps the play of the day, he completed a 50-yard pass to Brian Robiskie. Robiskie laid out on the play to make the reception.
Bubble Watch: As Jerome Harrison continues to sit out with injuries, RB Noah Herron is doing well, seeing some action near the goal line in drills.

Monday's Links/Camp Sources

Pool absent, Hadnot spotted (Akron Beacon Journal, Ridenour)
QB leader in the clubhouse? None yet. (Cleveland Plain Dealer, Cabot)

Colts cut Adam Seward, Chris Crane, re-sign Mendenhall (the other one)

BigBlueShoe — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:41:55 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

Indianapolis Colts running back Lance Ball now has a golden opportunity to supplant Mike Hart as the #3 running back for the Colts. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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And here you thought your Saturday was going to be uneventful. It seems that the lone "big name" free agent the Colts snagged this off-season simply didn't work out. The Colts have cut veteran MLBer Adam Seward, according to John Oehser at IFR. Cutting Seward opened up a roster spot for the Colts to re-sign RB Walter Mendenhall, who they cut last week after Corey Hilliard was jettisoned. Walter is the older brother to Rashard Mendenhall of the Steelers.

With Seward gone, it looks like Freddie Keiaho has locked up the back-up MLBer spot.

But wait! We're not done!

Captain Pre-Season is now back! Jim Sorgi has returned to practice after sitting out several weeks with a hamstring injury. This meant bye-bye to Chris Crane, who was cut. With Crane's release, the open roster spot went to safety Marcus Paschal. Paschal has played for both the Eagles and Falcons.

So, why all this flurry of activity?

Well, it seems Mike Hart's ankle injury will, essentially, end his pre-season. He's out for two weeks. As Cassieper so accurately puts it:

The stage is now set for Lance Ball to take the 3rd running back spot. It will be interesting to see if he can get it.

Indeed, if Ball wants a spot on the starting roster, now is the time. Mike Hart is developing as rep as an injury-prone back. I like Hart and think he is a good back, but if you cannot stay healthy in this league, you're garbage. Harsh, but that's the man's league.

So, to quickly recap:

Gone: Adam Seward (MLB), Chris Crane (QB)

Re-signed: Walter Mendenhall (RB)

Signed: Marcus Paschal (S)

Out with injury: Mike Hart

Come back to us Tom Pestock; Get the hell outta here Corey Hilliard!

BigBlueShoe — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:43:58 -0000

With Roy Hall clearing waivers and getting placed on IR... again... for the third year in a row, the Colts decided to bring back OT Tom Pestock, says Mike Chappell of the Indy Star. Pestock was waived last week prior to the Minnesota Vikings pre-season game. In re-signing Pestock, the Colts decided to take the opportunity to jettison everyone's favorite whipping boy the last five days: reserve RT Corey Hilliard.

In all seriousness, Hilliard is lucky he wasn't fired at halftime of last week's pre-season game. Hilliard was given a chance to start at RT for the Colts (a pretty big deal!) and Corey responded with not one, not two, but three sacks allowed on Peyton Manning in just five plays.

We wish Corey all the best, and hopefully next time he gets a big assignment he will not screw it up as royally as he did with the Colts.

Jim Caldwell discusses pre-season loss to Vikings

BigBlueShoe — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:29:45 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

4 months ago: Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, right, talks with quarterback Curtis Painter during the second quarter of an NFL preseason football game in Indianapolis, Friday, Aug. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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While many of us look at a 13-3 pre-season loss and either shrug or groan, Jim Caldwell took a second look at the game tape and came away with many positives.

First and foremost, let me just state this right off: The Colts don't give a crap about pre-season. They sat 11 guys for this game, and all likely could have played if this was a real game. Indy didn't game plan for the contest either. They rarely blitzed; showed vanilla plays on offense. Hell, their entire starting secondary for the game were back-ups. Contrast this with the Minnesota Vikings. They dressed 79 players. They came into the game with regular season intensity. They blitzed like no tomorrow on defense. They seemed to run their conventional offense.

Why did they do all these things?

Well, for one, they don't know who their starting QB is. To find out who has the goods, you kind of need the QBs to play the game as "real" as possible. Remember, Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson are playing for their jobs. Employment is a very strong incentive. Just ask their coach, Brad Childress, who is coaching for his job this year. If the Vikings do not make the playoffs AND win a playoff game, he's gone. He knows it. The players know it. Fans know it. Brett Favre knows it (which is why we will likely hear his name again after the third pre-season game). The Vikes are a team struggling to create an identity. High intensity in the pre-season can sometimes help with that.

For the Colts, this is a team of veterans mixed with strong youth. Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Jeff Saturday, Dwight Freeney, Bob Sanders, and Adam Vinatieri have been there, done that many, many times. The first pre-season game is about seeing how players like Austin Collie, Corey Hilliard, and Marcus Howard play. It's about rookie QBs, third string DBs, and back-up linemen learning a new system. So, like I always say in pre-season, don't freak out. They are sloppy now so they won't be later.

Back to Caldwell, the new coach took several positives away from his first pre-season game as head coach of the Colts. As John Oehser has noted, Caldwell is a subtle departure from Tony Dungy in that he will sometimes call out a player, or the team, when things do not look as they should. Now, Caldwell is not doing this Jim Mora-style, but Dungy never called out a player the way Caldwell did recently with Tony Ugoh. He never questioned his team's energy level as Caldwell did during a halftime interview. But, like Dungy, Caldwell does not dwell on the negatives. Instead, he sees what it positive, heightens it, and uses it as an example of how the team can improve.

For example:

Caldwell, like many of us, was very impressed with Tony Ugoh's play Friday night.
"Tony Ugoh really played well," Caldwell said. "We're certainly pleased with the progress he's making."
This is said less than five days after Caldwell publicly benched Ugoh for Charlie Johnson, who did not play Friday night even though he'd practiced all week. I am starting to believe what many of you are suggesting, that Ugoh will once again be the starter at LT in Week One.
Adrian Grady caught Caldwell's attention as well, as did Jacob Lacey.
It's early, but the feeling is Pat McAfee will provide Indy with a field position weapon.
Rookies like Austin Collie, Fili Moala, and Terrance Taylor are coming along nicely.

So, as I always say, don't get too crazy about losing in pre-season. The Detroit Lions went 4-0 in pre-season last year. 'Nuff said.

This time of year is about seeing what the back-ups can do. It's about watching rookies like Curtis Painter go out there and fall on their face. Remember Peyton Manning in his first pre-season game? Hell, Matt Cassell played so bad in pre-season last year he was almost cut. Now look at him!

I know we've been living in a football desert for months now. The real games start in just one month. In the meantime, let the new kids develop and grow, and let Corey Hilliard and players like him struggle now as opposed to when it really counts.

Vikings vs Colts boxscore

Vikings vs Colts coverage

What others be sayin': Vikings 13-Colts 3

BigBlueShoe — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 15:00:38 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

4 months ago: Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, left, attempts to avoid the sack by Minnesota Vikings defensive end Ray Edwards in the first quarter of an NFL preseason football game in Indianapolis, Friday, Aug. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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18to88:

1. Addai and Brown looked great (no surprise)
2. I watched the first series on D. I'm pleased with what I saw. They forced two fourth downs without the starting secondary, so that's a plus.

3. Whatever that was starting at RT will not be making the final cut. Yikes. It was hard to get a gauge on Ugoh because the RT was failing so miserably.

4. I hate preseason football.

Indy Football Report:

The Colts’ offensive linemen spent the offseason discussing the need for improvement after finishing 31st in the NFL in rushing offense last year. It was clear speaking to the members of the Colts’ offensive line that what happened at Lucas Oil Stadium Friday night in a 13-3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings wasn’t what they had in mind.
"It was not the way we wanted to start," OG Ryan Lilja said, adding that the first-team line was disappointed to leave after gaining just one first down — and allowing QB Peyton Manning to be sacked three times — on the first series.

"We went back to the sidelines wanting to go back in and obviously score and try not to get sacked. That’s frustrating. Nobody wants to leave the game after that type of performance. We were pretty frustrated we didn’t get to go back in and redeem ourselves a little bit. We have three more games to kind of work out the kinks a little bit before the games start counting. Hopefully, we can come out with a little better performance next week."

Anthony21 at Daily Norseman:

In the quarterback competition, Sage Rosenfels has won the first round decisively. That much was decided tonight, as Rosenfels played two drives and couldn't have performed much better than he did. Tarvaris Jackson, meanwhile, treated Vikings fans to a rough couple of quarters -- which were somewhat salvaged by an impressive performance on the ground from Albert Young but will still be remembered for T-Jack's stumbles.
Of course, the disclaimers: The Colts were playing without a single starter in the secondary, and they've never been a team terribly interested in winning preseason games. As a result, saying that this game somehow ended the quarterback competition would be a mistake. But Rosenfels nevertheless pulled ahead tonight.

After the jump, Coltsfan58 offers a very good recap of the game, which he posted as a comment in Colt Homer's recap.

Coltsfan58 from the game recap last night:

Happy the games have begun, but...

The local television coverage was beyond awful. When they weren’t conducting interviews (i.e., prompting players to spout cliches) and not following the play on the field, the camera position was in, say, Beech Grove. For an organization which usually spends its money wisely, the Colts have paid for laughably bad production values.

On the field, a couple of points not mentioned in the game threads or above.

1. While I agree with others that Jacob Lacey made some good hits, on the long ball Jackson threw into the endzone I thought Lacey was out of position. The receiver did not get behind him (good) but a poorly-thrown ball by Jackson (I know you’re shocked) might have been picked. I see potential in this kid, but with the existing depth he looks like the initials PS will appear next to his name on September 6.

2. Kyle DeVan made a nice sealing block on Brown’s first carry.

3. If these are the new, improved special teams I’m disappointed. Kick coverage was about the same as last year. You can’t really say well, these aren’t the units we’ll see in the regular year, because a lot of the reserves who played most of this game will be reserves who play on regular season special teams. Can anyone explain Powers’ decision to field the punt inside the five? I understand (or at least I’m guessing, due to the poor TV coverage) that he thought he had a clear path to some yardage, because perhaps the Minnesota punter out-kicked his coverage, but still. Perhaps this was nothing more than a young guy pressing to make a play.

4. I thought Dante Hughes looked good. Not used to typing that sentence.

5. Could anyone say Eric Foster did anything? I saw him on the field but I couldn’t tell that he made any contribution.

6. Chad Simpson, Chad Simpson. Paging Chad Simpson. You’re asked to meet with the coaches and bring your playbook…Couldn’t get a good handle on how Rushing is coming back, but my handle on Simpson as a returner (ugh) and as a back (ugh again) was all too painfully clear. Lance Ball has got to be ahead of Simpson.

7. Wil Wofford, not usually a font of insight, made the point on post-game radio that the Vikings dressed 79 players (only Pat Williams—apparently out shopping for supplements—didn’t play) and seemed to come into this game with much more of a regular season intensity. The Colts, of course, didn’t have about 15 people available. That doesn’t account for those that did play being a step slow, but the two teams approaches to the game did appear markedly different.

8. I said in a post yesterday I wanted to see something make Caldwell explode and get his red ass on. The sideline shots of him looked like he was either expecting this ugly performance and was internalizing his frustration to channel it back in practice or that he was stunned that his team could play so poorly that he was unable to express his displeasure. The postgame press conference seemed to confirm the former. But if Corey Hilliard’s decision to let the Vikings have a free run at #18 doesn’t piss you off, either you can overlook a lot or you have great self-composure skills.

9. After seeing the Colts play relatively well against Tavaris Jackson, I wish Michael Vick could play Thursday. Defensive speed seems to negate so much of what mobile quarterbacks bring to the table.

My God, let’s get to the regular season.

More IFR:

The breakdown on the Colts’ three first-possession sacks allowed: DE Ray Edwards blew around Colts OT Corey Hilliard; Fred Evans fought off C Jeff Saturday; and Edward blew around Hilliard again, with Hilliard drawing a holding penalty that was declined.

Here’s why if I’m a Colts fan I don’t sweat the outcome of the preseason opener. On Minnesota RB Chester Taylor’s first-quarter, five-yard touchdown run, four Colts touched him: DT Dan Muir, DE Keyunta Dawson, CB Jerraud Powers and Jamie Silva. None of the four likely will start opening day.

Colts v. Vikings Game Review: Offensive Struggles, Defensive Standouts

Colts Homer — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:42:58 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

This man dominated the Vikings defense, getting 58 yards on just 5 carries, Friday, Aug. 14, 2009. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

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This was the regular Colts preseason game. In the stat sheet and scoreline, it looked very one-sided and like a game that would be hard to take positives from, but I noticed at the game a lot of positives, but of course a few negatives.

~Curtis Painter played horrible. It was a shame to see him come out and throw 17 passes, almost all of which were bad.

~The stretch play looked great with both Addai and Brown running it, and the running game was good overall.

~Brett McDermott made some nice grabs, and I think Austin Collie should move into the 3rd receiver position after a good game and an embarrassing Garcon drop.

~The "bend but don't break" defense was still in effect even with Coyer, and it worked pretty well after the first drive.

~The fact that no one turned the ball over was good for the offense but not good for the defense.

~It was very funny when the big screen showed the Rosenchoppa highlight. The Vikings QB situation sucks. All 3 of their QBs are pathetic.

~Philip Wheeler and a safety were the two positions that blitzed the most.

~Charlie Johnson did not play, so Ugoh played left tackle at the beginning and some right tackle and guard throughout the rest of the game.

~I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure that the video board misspelled "Peyton". Embarrassing for whomever was running it.

~Daniel Muir played defensive end. That was pretty weird.

~The Colts have the most dreadlocked players in the league. Marcus Howard, Philip Wheeler, and Rudolph Hardie are sporting some long dreads while players like Addai have the short dreads. I'm looking forward to seeing Peyton Manning, Austin Collie and Justin Snow get their dreads.

~Pat McAfee punted full time for the first time in his career (he punted and kicked in college), and he averaged 50 yards net while punting on seven kicks. That's both outstanding kicking and outstanding coverage. --BBS

After the jump will be my top 5 Colts and an updated roster prediction.

5. Tony Ugoh, OT/OG: I know that we made a big deal about his demotion, and I think he took it personal because he played great. The first drive was pretty bad for everyone on the line, but the rest of the game Ugoh was near perfect. As a guard he opened up huge holes and created the running game. The pass protection from him was beautiful compared to Corey Hilliard's. This only reaffirms me that Ugoh will be a starter by Week One.

4. Adrian Grady, DT: It seemed like for a stretch in the third quarter, Grady was getting every tackle. He smashed running backs who dared to run up the middle. The defensive tackles were really unimpressive in this game, but Grady was the exception. He was a sure tackler which is what the defense needs right now, and he dominated the right guard for the Vikings.

3. Marcus Howard, DE: If you didn't watch the game and just looked at the stats sheet, Howard would seem like a weird pick for the third best Colt, but he was the best pass rusher in the game on both sides. Howard got consistent pressure on Jackson and tortured him. If the Colts were playing the Jaguars with slow David Garrard instead of the mobile Tarvaris Jackson, Howard would have had three sacks at least. I expect Howard to get a lot of playing time this season.

2. Matt Giordano, S: I now have no doubt that the Colts have the best defensive backs in the league. Even without the corners they are the best. A Melvin Bullitt and Matt Giordano starting safety duo would be top 10 in the league. Matt Giordano is the most sure tackler I've seen play for the Colts. While players like Philip Wheeler and Ed Johnson missed some tackles, Giordano shut down anyone who got near him. There are too many good safeties on the team. Silva played well too. I'm hoping all five make the roster.

1. Donald Brown, RB: Wow. That's all I can say. Brown was unbelievable. His long run was a thing of beauty, and he was consistent in his small amount of playing time. If he can be that explosive in the regular season, I have no doubt that he will be a ROY candidate and carry the rushing game to top 16 in the league. Compared to Addai, Brown took off like a rocket when he got the ball. Polian and Co. made a great pick taking Brown. This guy is going to be very special.

So here is my roster prediction. Can they give the Colts a 63 player roster because there are too many good players to cut.

QB
Peyton Manning
Jim Sorgi

RB
Joseph Addai
Donald Brown
Mike Hart

H-B
Gijon Robinson
Tom Santi

WR
Reggie Wayne
Anthony Gonzalez
Austin Collie
Pierre Garcon

TE
Dallas Clark
Jacob Tamme

LT
Tony Ugoh

LG
Ryan Lilja
Jamey Richard

C
Jeff Saturday
Steve Justice

RG
Mike Pollak
Dan Federkeil

RT
Ryan Diem
Charlie Johnson

LE
Robert Mathis
Marcus Howard
Keyunta Dawson