Bring it on: as NFL teams scatter to their summer campsites, Emmitt Smith's pains and gains, Steve Spurrier's loose reign, Dungy's `D' and Ricky are among the sizzling story lines

Sporting News, The, July 15, 2002 by Paul Attner

Cons: Immobile. Doesn't improvise much. Often takes sacks he shouldn't.

Challenger: Rob Johnson

Pros: No stranger to training camp bake-offs. Deceptively mobile with an underrated arm.

Cons: Not the best decision-maker or leader. Often takes sacks he shouldn't.

Projected winner: It's Brad by a landslide. Coach Jon Gruden did wonders in Oakland while working with another former Vikings quarterback, Rich Gannon. Expect Brad to thrive with a better, deeper receiving unit.

BEARS

Incumbent: Jim Miller

Pros: Plays within the system. Doesn't try to do too much. Leads with confidence.

Cons: Fragile; handle with care.

Challenger: Chris Chandler

Pros: Even at his advanced age (36), he has an arm with plenty of zip. Performs well in the clutch.

Cons: Fragile; handle with care.

Projected winner: Chandler. He can take advantage of the Bears' talented receiving unit and the balance provided by power runner Anthony Thomas to raise the team's big-play quotient.

RAVENS

Incumbent: Chris Redman

Pros: Received coach Brian Billick's early backing. Progressed well this offseason.

Cons: Precious little experience. Lacks mobility and the arm to throw the deep ball.

Challenger: Jeff Blake

Pros: Experienced. Agile. Good in the pocket and makes big plays. Has a great touch when throwing down the field.

Cons: He is 31, and starting to show signs of wear.

Projected winner: Blake. It doesn't matter if the team is rebuilding in most other places, he still can produce.

Dealing with the heat

Tragedy hit NFL training camps a year ago as Vikings offensive lineman Korey Stringer died from heat stroke. In light of that tragedy, are NFL teams doing anything different this summer to reduce the risk for their players?

The league believes nothing needs to change, but there is an increased sense of awareness about heat-related illness. Some teams have gone so far as to hire training consultants to understand better how to prevent and deal with heat exhaustion and heat stroke in extreme summer conditions.

Douglas J. Casa, the director of athletic training education in the department of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut, is working with two NFL teams. Dehydration/rehydration and body cooling are Casa's areas of expertise.

For anyone, especially NFL players, Casa offers three pieces of advice to consider before stepping on to the blistering practice fields in July and August:

* "First, it's best to arrive heat acclimatized," Casa says. Athletes who have had exposure to intense heat during their personal workouts leading to camp are better off than those who stayed in cool indoor environments.

* "Each athlete must determine his individual fluid needs," Casa says. Each person loses body fluids at a different liters-per-hour rate in conjunction with their body weight. Learning and understanding their own ratio is important for NFL players as they respond to their fluid needs.

* When the heat gets to players, Casa says they need to "utilize body cooling." This could be as simple for a player as dousing his face with a stream from a water bottle or dunking his body in a huge tub. That's the fastest way to reduce the core body temperature to normal, dropping it from a high fever-like 103 or 104 degrees.