Ikaika Alama-Francis is being worked as a SLB, not a DE. He was paired on the second team with Charlie Anderson.

And Kelly was impressed with what he saw:

RT @padre35: How did Ikaika Francis look at OLB? » WAY MORE ATHLETIC than I initially thought. Covered TEs fairly well.

4:51 Terrence Austin does something that a rookie seventh-round draft pick can’t do. He drops a Colt Brennan pass that was right in his hands. Austin missed most of the preseason work due to his school schedule at UCLA, and he can’t afford to generate much ill will if he wants to stick around.

5:09 Colt Brennan slips a good pass to Dennis Morris down the seam. So far, in the extremely early going in the competition for the third-team quarterback spot, advantage Brennan.

However, Colt’s competition has been impressive as well.

Richard Bartel – Bartel showed off a pretty impressive arm and good accuracy. Colt Brennan said after that even though he and Bartel are roommates, and despite the fact that Brennan likes Bartel, Bartel is annoying him by how well he is playing.

Colt Brennan – Brennan did not hurt himself today, playing fairly well with good accuracy, but he is getting fewer snaps so far this camp and Bartel looks sharp.

Vaughn McClure has an update on the competition between Chicago Bear teammates Nick Roach and Pisa Tinoisamoa.

“I think there’s just a respect for each other,” Tinoisamoa said after reporting to training camp Wednesday. “It was weird because I didn’t know anything about Nick Roach, and I don’t think he knew anything about me last year.

“Then we watched each other out there. And we were just like, ‘To the best man.’ It could be quite a battle.”

Health might be the deciding factor. The knee still appears to be a minor issue for Tinoisamoa, while Roach has had hamstring and concussion issues in the past.

Stephen Tsai profiles Ray Hisatake.

He described his limited experience as a “blessing,” noting he has not had any serious injuries.

The Panthers told his agent, Leo Goeas, that Hisatake does not have any bad football-related habits. After all, Hisatake’s only football instruction was on the collegiate and pro levels.

“Some people have done things for so long, they don’t want to adjust to something new,” Hisatake said. “I’m more of, ‘You tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.’”

Hisatake participated in the Panthers’ rookie camp and minicamp. He has worked as the No. 2 left guard.

“I don’t know if it’s permanent,” he said of his depth-chart position, “but they had me there.”

And finally, some bad news as Reagan Mauia was cut by the Cardinals.

Don Weir:
July 29th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
UH Letterwinners is in need of an original leather football helmet.
We have copies of all helmets going back to the leather period.
Once we have this helmet the collection is complete and we can start to make a travelling show to garner support for UH athletics.
Any help??

Bruno Burnoski, Owens’s Florida-based agent, told a Toronto reporter via email the Als wanted to cut his client’s salary to $42,000 from $70,000. Another source told The Gazette the Als wanted to suspend Owens, meaning they would retain his rights. Predictably, he balked at both potential scenarios.

Owens refused comment on the potential reduced salary. “That’s (the Als’) version.”

We’re certain of this much: The relationship between Owens and his new employers has been pure bliss. In Toronto’s opening two games alone, he returned a punt 90 yards for a touchdown along with a field goal 117 yards for a score. He’s averaging 19.4 yards on kickoff returns and 12 yards on punts.

And Owens also is getting the opportunity to play receiver; he has caught seven passes for 81 yards. He leads the Canadian Football League in combined yards, with 749.

Predictably, he said facing the Als is just another game. “I’m focused on playing the game,” he said. “I’ve moved on and am happy to be in this situation … still doing what I love.

“There’s always incentive,” Owens added. “You want to break one every week – no matter if you have history (with a team) or not.”

I’m sure he secretly hopes that he lights them up! Would be awesome if he could score a TD or two against them.

UPDATE: Doh. Chad Owens had 1 catch for minus eight yards, 1 fumble and 4 kick returns for 74 yards.

AFC President Mohammed Bin Hammam received the bid book from FFA Chairman Frank Lowy in the presence of AFC Vice President Zhang Jilong, AFC General Secretary Alex Soosay and FFA CEO Ben Buckle.

Australia is the only candidate to bid for the 16th edition the Asian Cup tournament.

Mr Lowy said “We at the FFA are dedicated, honoured and privileged to make AFC Asian Cup bigger, better and more successful than the previous editions.

“It’s my honour to present the bid book and I can tell you that Australia is excited to host this event at all levels, sporting, government and the general public.”

Tags

World Cup Pens
World Cup Posters
Asian Cup Australian football

That veteran Anton McKenzie holds such a belief about players like rookie Solomon Elimimian is even more remarkable when you realize that putting Elimimian on the field could come at his expense.

“We’ve got to get him back on the field,” McKenzie said of the 23-year-old rookie, who watched practice for a second straight day with an ankle injury suffered when he tried to make a tackle on Andre Durie of the Toronto Argonauts in Friday’s 24-20 loss.

“He’s a great kid. We talked pretty much all week going over things for last week. It’s too bad he’s hurt and both of us can’t be on the field.”

From another article, more love from McKenzie:

“Solomon played unbelievable when I was out,” McKenzie said. “He’s playing a heck of a game and it’s too bad that he’s hurt and now both of us can’t be on the field together.”

Due to an injury to another BC linebacker, Adam Leonard may be moved to the active roster.

Linebacker Mike Johnson (ankle) is also doubtful for Edmonton. Former University of Hawaii linebacker Adam Leonard would take Johnson’s spot on the active roster.

Via Patty G, Donovan McNabb talks about spending “Hell Week” in Arizona with some of his teammates, including Colt Brennan.

And McNabb expects that time together — that so-called Hell Week — to pay dividends, not just for him, and not just for the receivers, but even for Colt Brennan. “It was truly big for us. It was it was something we’ll benefit from I think mid-season toward the end of the year. I think for us coming into camp having kinda an upper-hand — [knowing] a little bit more about the offense and what Kyle Shanahan likes to do in this offense and in his mindset — it was easy for myself and Colt because we were just getting out plays, working with each other as well as throwing with the receivers and getting our time in and chemistry there.”

From earlier this month, here’s a NewYorkJets.com article about the three former UH players currently with the Jets: Brashton Satele, Aaron Kia and Wayne Hunter.

Satele and Kia are from Mililani while Hunter hails from just outside Honolulu. Although Hunter understands the transition that Kia and Satele might be facing, he believes that they’ll soon get used to the East Coast and that he can help make the cross-country experiment easier on them.

“It feels good just talking from experience,” Hunter said. “When I went to Jacksonville from Seattle, we had about three or four guys who were from Hawaii so it made that transition much easier for me. I’m assuming they feel the same way. When they first came here, they brought me a sweater from Hawaii. It was nice because you got that aloha spirit roaming around the locker room, which is what I always missed from Hawaii. Just having that island connection just makes our connection better.”

And finally, an update on David Veikune’s status in the Browns linebacking corps.

David Veikune is one more linebacker with something to prove. He was lost last season.

Part of the blame for that is on the coaches. He was a defensive end in college (Hawaii) and the Browns worked him at inside and outside linebacker. He played in 10 games last year and never made a tackle.

Veikune got heavy last year and was pushing 270 pounds. He lost 20 pounds and is concentrating on inside linebacker. He and fellow second-year linebacker Kaluka Maiava will back up Jackson and Fujita.