DAVIE
http://www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com/josh-jackson-jersey , Fla. (AP) Miami Dolphins players wonder whether Kris Kocurek’s voice will give out, and perhaps they wish it would.
Kocurek is in his first year as the defensive line coach, and he operates with high expectations at high energy and volume.
”I’ve got to watch where I stand on the field with him,” defensive coordinator Matt Burke said following Thursday’s practice. ”Sometimes he’s right there, and I get an earful. … People think it’s an act, and it’s not. That’s just who he is.”
Not everything Kocurek shouts can be repeated, but the thrust is he’s trying to turn around a unit that underachieved last year when the Dolphins went 6-10.
”I’ll just say this: I have a passion for d-line play,” said Kocurek, with a rasp.
Coach Adam Gase lured Kocurek out of Detroit, where he had been the Lion’ defensive line coach. Kocurek joined the Dolphins shortly before five-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh departed
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”Kris has done a really good job of getting to those guys,” Gase said. ”They bring it. How they pursue the ball, get back to the line of scrimmage, go to the next play – there’s a lot of energy exerted on one play, and they just move on to the next one. He has developed them. That’s a tough group. They’re really trending in the right direction.”
While Kocurek can be hard on his players, he also knows how hard the game can be. The 39-year-old Texas native played at Texas Tech, and after he was drafted in the seventh round, his NFL career lasted one game and four snaps – for Tennessee in 2001.
”It was a goal-line situation,” he said. ”They stuck me in there, and I just tried to get as low as I could. We actually held them out of there.”
After a fifth shoulder operation ended his career
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”I had the same office for nine years, and all of a sudden you get thrown into a little bit different environment,” he said. ”But it has been great. I look forward to cranking my truck in the morning and getting to work as fast as I can.”
He’s working with perhaps the team’s deepest unit. While Suh is gone, Miami acquired two-time Pro Bowl end Robert Quinn. Holdovers include ends Cameron Wake, Andre Branch and Charles Harris, and tackles Jordan Phillips, Vincent Taylor and Davon Godchaux.
Kocurek yells at all of them.
”He’s high energy,” Branch said, ”so you have no choice but to be high energy.”
Burke said Kocurek’s passionate approach is a good match for the area he coaches.
”People might get mad at me for saying this: I think the bigger you get
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Wake, for one, loves Kocurek’s approach.
”He’s a guy that’s old school, hard-nosed,” Wake said. ”He’s demanding. He doesn’t bite he tongue. He tells you how it is. … I love it. It’s a man’s game and there is no room for softness, especially the d-line. This is not quarterbacks, this is not receivers.”
But will Kocurek’s voice make it through training camp?
”No,” Wake said. ”It has already taken a hit. He’s going to have to get some tea or some honey.”
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The Seahawks signed veteran wide receiver Brandon Marshall late in May
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Coach Pete Carroll said that Marshall was being cautious due to a hamstring issue and that the team expects he’ll be ready to start a fuller workload once camp opens this summer.
“We’re just making sure that we don’t have a setback on a hamstring that’s recovering,” Carroll said, via Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times. “We talked about it today — he’s got a solid six weeks, he’ll be well. We need to do a really good job as we re-introduce him back into our tempo and speed and all that, that we don’t overdo it early in the excitement to see what he can do and all.”
Marshall missed most of last season with an ankle injury and had toe surgery to repair a lingering problem during his ankle recovery, so the hamstring isn’t the only reason to wonder what Marshall will bring to the Seahawks this season.
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