stands behind a closed door in LSU’s indoor practice facility with his hands raised, a little skeptical and very concerned about what will happen when it opens.
One thought repeats in his head:
Don’t blink.
On the other side of the door stands his new passing game coordinator,
Joe Brady, armed with a football and sporting a wry grin. It’s special teams period at practice, which means Brady is a little bored.
And when Brady gets bored, he gets creative.
He’s an innovator, a trait that manifests itself as much when he’s designing passing concepts as when he’s designing drills. The only thing that sparks his imagination more than boredom is a problem.
Today’s problem: dropped passes. The stats speak for themselves. In 2018, LSU finished 96th among FBS teams in catch percentage, reeling in just 84.3% of catchable targets, according to Pro Football Focus. In 13 games, the Tigers dropped 26 passes, LSU’s receivers accounting for 21 of those drops.
Today’s solution: closed doors. While the rest of the team works special teams, Brady’s receivers – those, like Jefferson, not involved on kickoff or punt units – are put to the test. Stand behind a closed door. When it opens, a ball thrown a split-second earlier by Brady will be in the air.
Drop the ball, and drop to the ground for 20 pushups.
“The open door that was definitely new for me,” Jefferson says. “I was like, 'Bro, you're going to hit me with the ball there.’ But as time went on, and the more we did it, the more comfortable I felt with it.”
Comfort is the key word for Brady, who gave his receivers a goal this summer: catch 10,000 balls. Catch them behind a door. Catch them on the jugs machines. Catch them with nets over your head and goggles over your eyes and a camera on your head.
Just catch them – wherever and however you can. Drops won't do in 2019, because Brady believes his receivers hold in their hands the fate of the entire team.
"I told these guys every single day: 'This team is going to go as the receivers go,'" he says. "'There's not a day we can take off. This receiver unit is going to make this team who we are.' And then I want them to have that mentality."
Here the inside story of how LSU's receivers spent the summer hammering home that mentality, one catch at a time, from zero to 10,000. When you hold the fate of the team in your hands, drops aren't allowed
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