Daily Madden: A Tough NFL Pre-Season For Young Players
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - It's week three of the NFL pre-season schedule, and the youngest players are running out of time to show what they can do.
"The guys that are really getting hurt in this are the young players who haven't had training camp (due to the NFL labor dispute). They have to show everything they have in two or three weeks, plus learn it," Madden said, noting the dilemma facing coaches as well.
"You can't evaluate until you teach. A guy makes a mistake... did he make that mistake because he can't do it, and you think maybe he'll never be able to do it and you cut him? Or did he make that mistake because he didn't know what to do?"
Madden also noted that the NFL has added an eighth official on the field in some pre-season games.
"He's a deep guy inside," John said. "You get all these four and five receiver spread formations... they (the officials) didn't have every receiver covered."
Madden said it's a pre-season experiment, and may or may not continue.
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