Gallery is work of art in progress
The Shadow
CAM INMAN: INSIDE THE NFL
CANTON, Ohio - His false-start penalty wasn't pretty. Neither was the
third-down sack he allowed. But then came a sight for already-sore eyes
in the Raiders' exhibition-season opener Sunday night.
Left tackle Robert Gallery took a seat on the bench and listened.
Standing in front of him was Art Shell, whose bronzed bust rests nearby
on a glass shelf in a little white building -- the Pro Football Hall of
Fame.
"He reminded you of little things that get you in trouble," Gallery said
of Shell's advice.
Shell's encore as the Raiders coach, 11 seasons after being fired from
his first coaching stint with his former team, comes with another job
requirement. He must be Gallery's shadow, and that's good, even if you
think Shell has other things to do.
As last year's 4-12 debacle showed, it's important to solidify this
offensive line, and turning Gallery into a quality left tackle is crucial.
"I don't worry about Robert," Shell said after the 16-10 victory over
the Philadelphia Eagles. "Right now he's beating himself up. I know
that. He's got some of me in him. He'll be saying, 'Coach, you don't
need to say anything. I know I screwed up.'
"The kid has star quality. He's going to be fine."
Just hope that Gallery doesn't need Shell standing in front of him in
five weeks, again showing him how to properly move his feet to keep a
defender from blowing past him.
For 15 meaningful seconds, Shell addressed Gallery on the bench, about
15 seconds after Gallery got beat by defensive end Trent Cole, a
fifth-round draft choice last year.
Cole was the 146th player taken overall, by the way. Gallery was the
second pick of the 2004 draft.
Don't give up on Gallery, who played mostly right tackle his first two
NFL seasons. Sunday's game marked his Raiders debut at left tackle, the
spot he made a name for himself at the University of Iowa.
"I'm confident in what I do, I just had some cobwebs tonight," Gallery
said. "I've just got to go back to work."
Helping him get the kinks out is Shell, not to mention line coach Jackie
Slater, another Hall of Famer.
"That's what they're there for -- to help us," Gallery said. "It comes
down to technique. It's good to have these preseason games to get the
cobwebs out, fix things and be ready to go when the season starts."
Two plays into the Raiders' first series, Gallery drew a false-start
penalty to get an early jump against defensive end Darren Howard, the
Eagles' prized free agent acquisition from the New Orleans Saints.
On the next play, Howard blew past Gallery and joined Jevon Kearse in
stuffing LaMont Jordan for a 1-yard loss.
On the next series, and on only the second time Aaron Brooks dropped
back to pass, Gallery got fooled on a move by Cole and gave up the sack.
"You've got to move your feet," Shell said, "and he didn't do that."
Ugly, yes. Repairable, yes.
Gallery's feet now have quite a new dance instructor -- Shell. Don't
forget about Slater, too, who walked off the field with Gallery after
the game.
"It's not time to overreact to players and situations at this point,"
Brooks said of the first-team offense's overall slow start.
We already know Gallery isn't an instant classic. But neither was
Rayfield Wright, who was inducted Saturday into the Hall of Fame for his
efforts as the Dallas Cowboys' right tackle, a position he moved to
after three seasons.
As Wright said in his enshrinement speech: "I played against the best.
My body still hurts when I hear their names called. But I wouldn't be
here today without these great players. Deacon Jones, thank you for your
gracious welcome into the NFL. In case you're wondering, Deek, the
answer is yes, my mother knows I'm here."
Gallery, too, will face great players, for the nature of his position
pits him against opponents' top pass rushers, including the San Diego
Chargers' Shawn Merriman in the Sept. 11 opener.
As bad as the Raiders were last year, it was their line that drew the
strongest damnation from Al Davis, at least on the day he fired Norv
Turner as coach.
"I thought one of our standards of gold would be our offensive line,"
Davis said then. "Our bright young players there never got the toughness
or power running I thought we'd get from our football team."
Everyone's been waiting for more from Gallery the second the Raiders
drafted him. Perhaps that's why it was fitting he had a false start so
early in Sunday's game. His career has been a false start, so far. But
he's only two seasons and one game into that career.
Left tackles aren't made overnight, and certainly not on this night.