Hobson Speaks on Ross

[*ochocincos*]

(11-07-2017, 04:36 PM)THE PISTONS Wrote: It looks like John Ross won’t be rushed into the lineup to replace A.J. Green after various publications reported Monday that Green won’t be suspended following Sunday’s ejection stemming from a fight with Jaguars cornerback Jalen Ramsey. But Ross, the fastest combine prospect ever, is finding the race doesn't always go to the swift.

Excerpts:
“John has had three weeks of practice now. Let’s let him practice and let’s get him comfortable playing football again before we put him back in there,” Lewis said. “When he knows what to do and how to do it all the time, and when he can play productively, then he’ll play fast, he’ll play with confidence. But he wouldn’t be very confident (right now). Each day, he gets more confident with playing football. He hasn’t been playing football. That’s the thing. You have to (practice) 11-on-11 enough to be comfortable with it.”

“People can line me up all day and tell me to run 4.22,” he said of his combine record time. “But after the first one I probably won’t get back to that 4.2. It just depends how I’ll condition myself. That was hard for me to see. I thought in my head, I’m fully healthy. I need to be out there. But after I sit down and evaluate the film and I’m like, I don’t look the same as I did on the last play.”

When he saw that …

“That’s what they mean. (Wide receivers) Coach (James) Urban always tells me, ‘You’ve got to get your legs back.’ I’m starting to get them back. It’s starting to show up.”

More in the article here:

http://www.bengals.com/news/article-1/Green-set-free-as-Ross-paces-own-return/7b2a2d1b-363f-4dee-be14-d74b269c12a9

Apparently "practice" must mean full practice in pads because he was definitely running drills with the rest of the team in Training Camp. So I guess that doesn't count as "practice" or "playing football"...?
From my observations, this regime demands a player demonstrate well in practice for at least a month (more typically 2) before getting any offensive/defensive reps in regular season games. If John Ross is considered only having a few weeks worth of practice, we're not going to see him very much (if at all) on the field within the next 2-3 weeks. By that time, the Bengals will likely be out of contention anyway and have no reason but to play him since there's no risk of missing the playoffs if he sucks.