It's already Wednesday, but the quarterbacks competing this week in Mobile in preparation for Saturday's Senior Bowl are trying to acclimate themselves quickly to a new, albeit simplified, scheme and new teammates to make the best impression on the collection of NFL scouts and personnel men in attendance.
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For the North team this week, Miami of Ohio's Zac Dysert, N.C. State's Mike Glennon and Syracuse's Ryan Nassib make up the quarterback contingent. At midweek the signal callers feel they're making progress.
"It's going pretty well," said Nassib. "Still some adjustments with some guys that I haven't worked with before, but it was fun. A lot of simple offense, it's really just showing your skills and getting the language down."
Nassib, who set single-season school records at Syracuse for passing yards (3,749), touchdown passes (26) among others was glad to see his college teammate Alec Lemon show up on Tuesday as a late Senior Bowl addition. He threw Lemon eight of those touchdown passes in 2012.
Glennon , who threw for 31 touchdowns against 17 interceptions as a senior and more than 4,000 yards (4,031), naturally wants to make the most of every snap he gets this week for the North squad, but does have some specific areas of his game he's trying to sharpen right now.
"I feel like I can drive the ball down the field, but I always want to improve on accuracy. Sometimes even the short little check downs can struggle with accuracy," said Glennon. "So just improve all aspects of my accuracy and continue working on that part of my game."
Glennon admits that the rapid success of the quarterbacks that have entered the league the past couple of years have altered the expectations of rookie signal callers, but doesn't feel pressure because of it.
"Obviously the guys this year really set the standard high, but every team and every player and every program is a little different," said Glennon of Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson. "I would love to go in there and perform like those guys did this year, but I think every situation may be a little different."
Coming from the Mid-American conference, which has boasted quarterback products like Chad Pennington and Ben Roethlisberger in recent years, Dysert is hoping to become part of a respectable list of mid-major QBs that succeeded in the NFL.
"I like that because it's going to push me harder and motivate me more and make me more inspired," he said. "The MAC has had a lot of great quarterbacks and hopefully I can join that group."
Perhaps the quarterback with the most motivation is Arkansas' Tyler Wilson. After a senior season that was compromised by the dismissal of his head coach and the loss of his three top receivers to the NFL, Wilson is eager to use this week to show the arrow is still pointing up on his game.
"I'm here to compete and to show everybody that I'm a competitor," said Wilson. "As well as dive in and build relationships with a lot of the guys that are here, and interview with teams. There's a lot to showcase and I want to take advantage of a good week."
Though Saturday's game will carry some weight in the final evaluation of each of these quarterbacks, they know as well as anyone that it will only become part of their body of work. Still, knowing it's the last real football they'll play between now and the NFL draft in late April, they all want to finish on a high note.
"Every day you have to prepare to get better and prepare for every opportunity and make the most of it," said Glennon. "Out here this week, make the most of every opportunity and prove that you're capable to win games for the team you hope to play for at the next level."
