Braylon Edwards was a wide receiver who had been in the league for six years and had just joined the San Francisco 49ers this offseason. He had a decent start to his career, but due to injuries, he gradually faded into obscurity.
This was Braylon's third team in his career, and he knew that for a wide receiver, the most important thing was to build a good relationship with the quarterback. In a moment of crisis, a quarterback would always choose the wide receiver he trusted the most, not to mention the allocation of routes for each pass. So, Braylon chose Colin Kaepernick.
It wasn't a difficult choice. The injured Alex Smith had not returned to the team yet, and Lu Ke, who joined today, was just an undrafted Chinese American rookie. It was obvious that Colin was the future of the team.
Looking at the furious Colin and the foolish Lu Ke, Braylon realized this was a golden opportunity for him to get closer to Colin. So, he stood up, looking arrogant and condescendingly at Lu Ke, trying to remind the stupid Chinese American kid that he was now a laughingstock and that he should shut up in shame and hide in a corner so as not to embarrass himself anymore.
He looked around, and it was completely silent. Braylon was even more pleased. Clearly, he was the only one who had stepped up, and everyone else had missed their chance. Colin would definitely be grateful for this favor.
Braylon decided to push it a little further. "First-year player, what was your Wonderlic test score? You don't seem smart enough to even understand an insult. Don't you know that a quarterback needs to be smart and intelligent? A fool can't be the starting quarterback for a team. Just like Kaepernick, his Wonderlic test score was thirty-seven!"
With that, Braylon arrogantly raised his chin again and repeated, "Thirty-seven!" as if he was the one who had gotten the score.
Thirty-seven was a high score in this year's rookie training camp, if not top three, then at least top five.
Looking at Braylon, who was looking at him with contempt, Logan almost burst out laughing. He strongly suspected that Braylon's mediocre career had something to do with his intelligence.
Colin's expression instantly fell. He wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. He had also been in the rookie training camp, and even though he had no interaction with Lu Ke and hadn't said a word to him, how could he not know about the famous perfect Wonderlic test score and Cam Newton's misfortune and frustration?
Colin gave Braylon a hard glare, trying to shut him up. But it was too late. The words were out. The only thing he could do now was lower his head and cover his face with his hands, pretending he didn't know the clown.
"Fifty, no more, no less," Lu Ke answered with a kind and friendly smile.
Braylon burst into laughter, ridiculing and despising him. He even held his stomach and laughed hard. "Haha, only fifty, how embarrassing..." But in the next second, he froze. "Fifty..."
Why did he feel like something wasn't right?
"Pfft." Logan couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a suppressed laugh. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Marcus, Aldon, and others, all holding their stomachs and stifling their laughter. It was a struggle for them not to laugh out loud.
"What are you all doing!" A serious and sharp voice rang out from the doorway. The players all looked over and saw Jim Harbaugh's rigid and emotionless face. "Everyone, sit down. The tactical meeting is about to begin. The preseason is almost here, and you'd better make sure you know all the plays. Otherwise, you'll not only face my wrath, but the fans' as well."
Jim paced over to the table at the front and threw his folder down with a loud thud. "You, what's with the clothes? Where's your practice uniform?"
He was pointing at Lu Ke, who was wearing the white T-shirt. Lu Ke turned to face the head coach, and he saw Jim frown, his anger seeming to be at the breaking point. Lu Ke smiled and explained, "A welcome gift from my teammates. A small greeting." With that, Lu Ke took off the T-shirt, folded it neatly, and placed it on the chair.
Jim was stunned for a moment, and then everyone in the meeting room couldn't hold back anymore and burst into laughter. Clearly, they weren't laughing because of the T-shirt but because of the flustered Braylon.
However, Jim didn't know the whole story. He just shook his head helplessly at the harmonious atmosphere in the tactical meeting room.
Jim had also experienced the unwritten rules of the locker room when he was a player. He was a little surprised that this Chinese American quarterback hadn't intensified the conflict but had instead livened up the atmosphere.
Jim knocked on the table. His tone was still a little stern, but he didn't continue to scold them. "Quiet, focus. The tactical meeting is forty-five minutes. Let's start now."
Following that, the entire coaching staff entered the room, and the tactical meeting officially began.
In his first tactical meeting, Lu Ke deeply felt the difference between college football and the professional league.
In college, the team also had plays, but there were only a few hundred core plays, and the route combinations and player pairings were relatively simple. The plays were generally based on the players' individual talents, and the plays followed the players.
But in professional football, the different combinations of positions were dizzying. According to the different plays, the players had to make adjustments themselves, and the players had to follow the plays.
For each play, the coach would arrange the players according to the purpose of the play. For one play, these two players might be on the field, and for the next, two different players would come on. If you want to survive on the field, you not only have to make your strengths stronger, but you also have to make up for your weaknesses as much as possible and play more roles.
Talent is the most common and basic skill in professional sports.
"...Now we're in the shotgun formation. Before the snap, the opponent's defensive players changed their positions..." Jim stood in front of the whiteboard, using chess pieces to set up the play, and then demonstrated the changes on the field. "...So how should the offensive line respond? What about the wide receivers' routes? And how should the quarterback adjust after reading the defense?"
The shotgun formation is one of the most common offensive formations in football, mainly used for passing plays.
The shotgun formation can be simply understood as the offensive line forming a fan, and the quarterback stands directly behind them, about five to seven yards away, avoiding close contact with the defensive players. All the receivers are scattered around, like a shotgun, with bullets flying in all directions, potentially targeting any potential receiver.
The advantages and disadvantages of this formation are very obvious. The advantage is that the pocket is more solid, the field of vision is wider, and the quarterback's passing skills can be maximized. The disadvantage is that the defense knows it's a passing play, and the receivers' and quarterback's positions are exposed, so the sack and defensive routes are relatively clear.
In short, it's a full-on offensive.
Jim was demonstrating the shotgun formation and emphasizing the changes in the plays. With the same shotgun formation, the thirty-two teams in the league can create hundreds of different variations, and in an actual game, there are even more variations.
Jim turned his head and looked at the players, waiting for an answer, but the entire room was quiet. It seemed like everyone was daydreaming.
"First, I want to know what the opponent's defensive players did to give away their defensive intentions?" Lu Ke's voice broke the silence. "Also, is the opponent playing zone or man-to-man coverage? If the routes haven't been exposed, it's not impossible to stick with the shotgun formation and snap the ball quickly, using the wide receivers' speed or the tight ends' physical advantage to beat the opponent's defensive players and complete the pass."
Jim didn't say anything, but he nodded in agreement.
Lu Ke continued, "But if the routes have already been exposed, or if the opponent's strong cornerbacks are pressing hard, then the quarterback can walk forward three yards and call the running back back. Don't have him stand behind you, but next to you, creating a fake pistol formation. But the play is still a shotgun, and you can use the running back's receiving ability to make a short-distance gain."
The pistol formation is an advanced version of modern flexible football, created in 2005 and only became popular in the last two years.
The pistol formation is a hybrid of the shotgun formation and the single-back formation. In this formation, the quarterback is only four yards away from the offensive line, and at the same time, the running back stands behind the quarterback, which reduces the passing space and increases the running space.
Under normal circumstances, the quarterback will actively move into the offensive line to confuse the defense. He can either run with the ball, have the running back behind him unexpectedly run out and make a gain, or pass the ball with close protection from the pocket, choosing the best passing route. This is because the pistol formation is considered a more flexible and versatile offensive strategy.
However, because the quarterback is in close contact with the defensive players, it requires a higher level of physical fitness from the quarterback. It also requires the quarterback to have some running ability. They might fake a run and then pass, or fake a pass and then run, or even run the ball themselves, which makes it difficult for the defensive players to figure out the actual offensive play.
It was because of the rise of the pistol formation that running quarterbacks like Colin Kaepernick and Cam Newton started to get people's attention.
However, the formation Lu Ke chose just now wasn't a pistol formation but a fake pistol formation. It was still a shotgun formation. It confused the opponent's defensive players' judgment while still allowing for a variety of passing options. The only risk was that the quarterback had to bear more pressure—after all, he was closer to the offensive line, and the sacks would be more intense.
Jim looked very interested. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Why a fake pistol formation? Why not a real pistol formation?"
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