Teams should ditch rookie minicamps

[The Dolphin]

Plenty of rookie minicamps will happen this weekend. None should.

Jets coach Adam Gase has it figured out. The incoming draft picks haven’t practiced or played football in months. Instead, they focused first on preparing for the various events of the Underwear Olympics before shifting their focus to the Pro Day script before (where applicable) private workouts for teams. Throw in the possibility of multiple visits to specific teams, and they’re definitely not in football shape by May.

Some may not be in very good shape, generally.

But they still get thrust into a non-contact (supposedly), highly-competitive environment (definitely), with helmets, shirts, shorts, barking coaches, brand-new playbooks, and plenty of non-drafted players trying to win a spot on the 53-man roster or, in the case of minicamp tryout players, on the 90-man roster. It’s a recipe for rancor, as guys with something to prove try to do just that, and as guys not in football shape try to do more than they can.

And what’s the upside? As Gase says, they forget most of it, anyway. The downside, obviously, is potential a season-ending injury.

Yet teams keep doing it, possibly because that’s the way they’ve always done it. Here’s hoping they all see the light before losing a first-round pick for his entire rookie year.