National Football League

Star NFL player missing OTAs? Keep calm...

Published May. 27, 2015 8:48 a.m. ET

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By Brady Poppinga

So some of your favorite team's best players are absent from their respective OTAs - guys like Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings, Russell Wilson, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, and Jimmy Graham of the Seattle Seahawks, and Evan Mathis of the Philadelphia Eagles. Some of these are contract-related misses, and several are for personal reasons   Should these be a cause for concern?

The simple answer is "No."  

Lest we not forget that OTAs are optional, they are really designed to give the majority of the players something planned and structured to do in the offseason so that they can keep their noses clean.

The No. 1 priority for every player in the offseason is to get better. With the NFL expanding offseason rosters to 90 players, getting that more intimate coaching attention that you get during the season when the rosters are trimmed is much more difficult to come by. For those players really looking to develop and hone their craft, the offseason conditioning workouts that come before and after OTAs are just as good of a place to accomplish that. But within the walls of the team facility is not the only way...

As we've seen with some of the higher profile quarterbacks (and along with them other skill players), if you really want to further develop your craft as a professional football player on an individual level, the best route may be to go and hire your own personal coach or trainer.

For example, at the end of my career when I was transitioning from playing linebacker in a 4-3 defense to a 3-4 defense, it was more beneficial for me to get one-on-one help from a personal coach than from my team. I was able to get coaching tips from Clay Matthews, Jr (19 seasons in the NFL), the father of Clay Matthews III. I was able to pick his brain and be coached on the intricacies on how to play as a 3-4 outside linebacker from someone who had done it.  

Although I had an excellent positional coach in Kevin Greene with theGreen Bay Packers, it was far more valuable for me to get one-on-one coaching from Clay than group coaching from Coach Greene during OTAs. Understandably, his attention had to be spread throughout the large group of linebackers. 

Another reason why it's not a huge concern that guys miss out on OTAs is that everything covered in the OTAs as far as scheme installations, techniques and fundamental work (as well as the simple strength and conditioning) will be covered again in the mandatory minicamps and at the beginning of training camp. In general, for a veteran player who already has a baseline understanding of what his job entails, attending these OTAs is more a matter of team bonding then being in a situation where individual growth and development is accentuated.

During my six years with the Green Bay Packers, some of our best players didn't attend OTAs sessions n the offseason. Guys like Donald Driver, Brett Favre and Al Harris chose to do the offseason conditioning and fundamental work back in their hometowns. They would show up to the mandatory part of the offseason (like minicamp) in excellent shape and with their skills honed.

As their teammates, it didn't really matter if they were with us during the OTAs or not. What concerned us the most was when the season started for real in August - that's when everyone needed to be participating members of the team to help us win. Those three guys were integral to the team's success. All three of them had unbelievable runs without attending a single OTA. Donald Driver ended up becoming the all-time receiving leader in Packers history. Brett Favre etched his name in the history books during that same time. Al Harris, although not one of the most well-known cornerbacks in the NFL, played some of the best press cover corner in the league during that span. I think this proves that OTA attendance doesn't have a direct correlation with high level performance during the regular season.

On the other hand, for a rookie or player who is still new and developing with a team, attending as many of the OTAs as possible is vital because foundational work and exposure to the requirements of the NFL are not yet engrained in these players. Missing out on that work experience really puts the rookie at a disadvantage - even more so than they already are. Growth in the NFL is all about reps, and for those that don't yet have 'em, they need to get 'em whenever they can.

Because the majority of the intentional OTA absenteeism around the league involves established veteran players, there's really no reason for concern in any of those situations. I certainly wouldn't start sweating the Seahawks' prospects of making another run at a Super Bowl based on these four vets missing early team sessions.

In the case of Adrian Peterson missing his time with the Minnesota Vikings, if and when he returns to the team there's no doubt that he'll be able to pick up where he left off after the 2013 season. It doesn't matter what kind of offensive system he's in or whether or not he attends an OTA. AP knows what it takes to be an all-pro running back.

Once we enter August and September when the real football season begins we'll all forget who missed what particular offseason session.  There is no Super Bowl trophy for offseason attendance.  

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