We start this post with words of wisdom from tight end John Carlson, a sage who to my cohort Kyle Odegard described rookie tight end Troy Niklas thusly: "He looks like a 12-year-old boy who swallowed a grizzly bear."

That's better than thinking him a outsized refugee from a boy band, but nevertheless, I don't think it's going to stop the spike in girls who retweet any item with a Niklas photo on it.

As for practice today, it was strange to watch a workout at University of Phoenix Stadium with it closed to the public. Usually there are cheers for every single catch, and to have a reception in a vacuum was a different feeling. Among the things I noticed:

-- Ted Ginn hauled in a nice long bomb early. Taking the top off the defense just like Bruce Arians likes.

-- Earl Watford continued to get some first-team reps splitting with Jonathan Cooper.

-- Clearly there wasn't supposed to be much if any hitting -- defenders were pulling off completely on many plays -- but in one bang-bang instance, linebacker Sam Acho leveled running back Stepfan Taylor on a swing pass only by going hard after the ball. The hit was incidental and yet Acho came out way ahead. Acho has had an impressive camp thus far.

-- Quarterback Logan Thomas continues to be up and down. He'll have a nice throw and then another than you aren't sure what was happening. When the pocket breaks down and he tries to hold his ground, he definitely looks uncomfortable much of the time.

-- Rookie safety Deone Bucannon got himself an interception and almost had another.