Wednesday, August 04, 2004

Where are they now?

TONY HARGROVE
Minor setback - Tony injured his knee in practice the other day. Link here.

Rookie defensive end Anthony Hargrove sat out practice on Tuesday due to a minor knee injury (left knee).

"He's fine," Martz said. "We'll get him back out there shortly."

Looks like he might be a little rusty. This from Monday's news:
Defensive end Anthony Hargrove appeared to get cramps during the final drill, but Martz said he was fine.
And this, which I think is related to the the current knee injury, although it appears to be different:
Rookie is hurt

The Rams were jolted when defensive end Anthony Hargrove, a promising rookie, went down in obvious pain near the end of practice. What appeared initially to be a major injury turned out to be a minor ankle sprain, though.

"It was scary at first, because it felt like I broke it or something," said Hargrove, who slipped on the wet grass while pursuing running back Dusty McGrorty. "I guess it was the first shock that really scared me. But I should be all right."
This article has that and adds a bit more on him being ridden by coaches:
Hargrove, the team's third-round draft pick, is happy with his performance so far even though line coach Bill Kollar has ridden him mercilessly. He's among the candidates to replace the departed Grant Wistrom at end.

"I'm glad they're riding me because I want to show everybody I can make plays, I can make it happen, I can be a contributor to the team this year," Hargrove said. "I like the confidence he has that I can make a play almost every down."
Good comments but conservative ones from Coach Martz of the Rams:
Rookie defensive end Anthony Hargrove has been one of the early standouts in camp. His burst off the ball and strength drew praise from line coach Bill Kollar numerous times in both practices.

Martz even called Hargrove out to participate first in a drill in the morning session. After the late practice, Martz said Hargrove has talent, but downplayed his early showing.

“We have a long time before we start going through evaluations on any rookies,” Martz said. “I have to check myself because we all want to evaluate after every practice. Coaches are notorious for that.”

JONATHAN SMITH
Nice mention in this Bill's article:
Right before the horn ended this drill, Jonathan Smith turned on his jets and burned Jabari Greer for a 35 yard touchdown.