First, Mike Holmgren was not at practice. According to the PR staff, he had a "minor medical procedure" and will be at tomorrow's practice. Though the procedure was minor, they still chose not to disclose what the "procedure" was.

With Big Show a No Show, no, it was not Jim Mora running the practice -- unless he was able to disguise it from the secondary, where he remained the entire practice. Gil Haskell ran practice, which once again was under cold, gray skies and in the rain. Hard to believe it is 90 degrees elsewhere in the country because these practices have been miserable. The result has been that there has been a lot of slipping and sliding, particularly by the wide receivers in drills with the defensive backs. Mora was imploring his players to keep playing through the entire play even if a receiver went down.

[More:]

Marcus Tubbs was actually doing some individual work today, hopping on one leg and doing some light running. He came off the field after about 20 or 30 minutes, but he was smiling and indicated it was a step in the right direction for his rehab.

Rob Sims also took part in some team drills today, the first time since he had knee surgery. Mike Solari switched things up today, with Sean Locklear moving to left tackle, Ray Willis at right tackle and Sims at right guard.

Nate Burleson had a really good day, which was good since I spoke with him afterwards for a story in tomorrow's News Tribune. He basically said he is trying to keep it light-hearted for the young guys because there is so much talk about them needing to contribute that he doesn't want them to feel the pressure. He said he is ready to step into the role of primary receiver, in part because with nine TDs last season he proved that he is a capable big-play receiver.

He had not heard about Bobby Engram's latest statement that he might miss training camp. He stuck by his original statement that Engram is so experienced that he doesn't need to be there. I made the Allen Iverson point that it is not so much that he needs to be there as it is perhaps his teammates need him there, if for no other reason than to define what everybody's role is. Burleson said he is trying to stay away with Engram's problems with management. WR coach Keith Gilbertson said he can only coach the players in camp and can't worry about who is not there. Things always work themselves out, though, Gilby pointed out.

C.J. Wallace was not present. Wallace had an appendectomy 11 days ago in Sacramento. LB Lance Laury also was not present, though no reason was given for his absence. Ryan Plackemeier also left the field early with an undisclosed injury.

The two kickers hit all their attempts during special teams drills.