Aug. 15, 2007
Editor's Note: Over the next 9 days, Northern Illinois' daily practice reports will contain a position-by-position look at the 2007 Huskie team. Today, a preview of the wide receivers. Coming Thursday: the Defensive Ends.
DEKALB, Ill. - Development has been the theme in the wide receiver corps in camp in 2007. In his first season on staff at Northern Illinois University, former Huskie wide receiver P.J. Fleck has been working with this year's group to break them of bad habits and teach them the skills he learned that allowed him to go on to play in the NFL.
"They're developing," Fleck said of his wide receivers. "Development is a good word to describe them. They're very young. They do a lot of good things. They are a very entertaining group off the field. They have a lot of personalities. They've learned a lot of new things and they're being taught a lot of new things."
As any defensive back will tell you, it is tough to defend a well-run route. That's one of the things Fleck is trying to teach his wide receivers. It all starts with discipline.
"I want to instill discipline," Fleck said. "Not discipline like yelling at them or getting them to brush their teeth at this time, etc. It was more discipline in route running. There's so much wasted movement in wide receiver play these days, and they see a lot of people get away with it. Some people can't get away with those things."
While camp is only 10 days old, Fleck has seen several Huskies develop before his eyes.
"I really think Greg Turner (Glendale Heights, Ill./Driscoll) is turning into a very good receiver. He's more of a possession-type guy," he said. "Coach Novak is right about Greg when he says, `All he does it make plays.' Matt Simon (Farmington, Minn./Farmington) is doing a great job. He's coming into his own. He's maturing and understanding what it takes to be a good player at this level.
"The freshmen are really raw but they have a lot of ability. It's our job as coaches to take that ability and plug it into our system," he said. "Britt Davis (Broadview, Ill./Riverside-Brookfield) is obviously the leader of the group. But he's learning too. It's a learning curve for him too, but he's doing a good job of leading this unit in the direction we want to go."
Mental Work
Head football coach Joe Novak decided to pull back a little in camp as the Huskies appeared in shorts and helmets for their Wednesday afternoon session. Novak hoped it would give a chance for his team to get their energy levels back up and work on the mental side of the game, and he his team responded.
"I'm very pleased with our effort and I've been very pleased with our attention," Novak said. "We went no pads this afternoon. I get worried that they're just going to come out here and slop around, but they didn't. We got a lot of good mental work done, a lot of situational things you don't normally get a chance to work on.
"We've certainly improved in 10 days. We need to continue to improve. I've really been pleased with the progress they've made and how they're working. We got a lot done this afternoon."
Northern Illinois opens the 2007 season on Saturday, Sept. 1 at Chicago's Soldier Field versus Iowa. The sold-out game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU. The Huskie Stadium opener will take place Saturday, Sept. 8 versus in-state foe Southern Illinois. Season tickets for NIU's five Huskie Stadium games are on sale now for just $95 at www.niuhuskies.com or by calling the Athletics Ticket Office at 815-752-6800.
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