We've become used to seeing a player here and there over the years not condition properly before training camp and report overweight.
But it's not all that often that you see a player come in underweight.
Offensive tackle King Dunlap looked very lean during these first two days of rookie and selected veteran workouts. After Tuesday morning's practice, I wanted to know if my eyes were deceiving me. Surely enough, they weren't.
"I actually lost a little more weight than I wanted to," Dunlap said. "I'm slowly gaining it back. Hopefully, I'll be back up to 320. Most guys don't gain weight during training camp, but I've gained two pounds already. I lost a little more than I wanted to when I was at home. That's all right, I'll put it back on easily by working out and eating everything in sight."
This is where the cafeteria on the campus of Lehigh University can provide an assist. Is the food good enough to get the job done?
"Great. Love it. It's awesome," he said.
A seventh-round pick in 2008, Dunlap's potential was ideal for an outstanding line coach like Juan Castillo. The 6-8, 310-pound Dunlap had an outstanding junior season and was on the preseason Outland Trophy list entering his senior year at Auburn. However, he wasn't able to live up to expectations and lost his starting job which caused his draft weekend slide. He spent his rookie year with the Eagles on the injured reserve list after undergoing surgery on his ankle at the end of the preseason. Now that he's fully healthy and understands what's being asked of him, he's much more at ease mentally entering this camp.
"I know what's going on. Last year, I was a little more nervous and tense and uptight because it was my first camp and I didn't know what to expect. I didn't know what was going to happen," Dunlap said. "I'm not going to say I'm more relaxed, but I'm more prepared mentally as far as coming in and knowing what's going to happen. As far as physically, I still trained the same way with the same trainer and worked out and ran and lifted weights and did all the drills. Now, I just have a little more of a calm mind state because I'm prepared mentally for what's going on."
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 11:42 a.m., July 28
