He was a little unsettled at the beginning and missed a blitz pickup.

Rodney is very good in blitz pickup, very dependable.

Dave Brown, the quarterback whose weekly health is in the hands of blitz pickup, knows what's needed.

He started off slowly, playing a limited role because he didn't fully grasp blocking schemes, particularly the blitz pickups.

The Rams, like a lot of teams, use complicated blitz pickups and blocking schemes that take weeks to learn.

"Any running back has to learn blitz pickup, catching the ball and blocking," Parcells said.

He has also learned blitz pickup, which is important because the Eagles blitz often.

"At 9, he was spending an extra half-hour with a coach studying blitz pickup, and he had his dog with him."

Pass routes are more complex, blitz pickups even more so.

I felt good after that, though I had a couple of bad blitz pickups on linebackers.