Dan Pompei

It's time for rookie camp in many NFL cities.

The main value of rookie camp is in handing the rookies their playbooks. Even if the rookies leave town and head back to school for another month, they have started learning their assignments. They can study their plays, their terminology and videotape on their own time.

With the benefit of rookie camp, they can at least step in when training camp begins and know where to line up in practice. And they shouldn't fall behind as their coaches continue to install new aspects of the playbook.

Rookie camps also allow the newbies a chance to get to know the coaches and what will be expected of them. Practice pace and tempo, for instance. Team rules and regulations.

The rookie camp also is the time for rookies to find out how to get to the team facility, where the locker room is, where the training room is, where the meeting room is, and which staff members can help them with specific issues. Depending on where they were drafted and how secure they feel with their new employer, they might also use the time period to explore the area for living quarters.

Minicamp, which often comes at a later date, has an added benefit: mixing with the veterans and practicing as a complete unit. It gives the rookie, as well as his coaches, a better feel for where the player fits in, both within the scheme and with his teammates from a talent perspective.

Neither rookie camp nor minicamp is essential. What is essential is that the rookie begins learning now. If he waits until late July to see the playbook for the first time, his hard drive will be overloaded with gigabytes, and he won't be on a level playing field with his more experienced teammates.

Training camp is the only camp that cannot be missed. It's the time when players separate themselves from one another through performance, understanding, conditioning and will. Without it, nothing can be truly earned.

Of course, training camp means more for rookies at some positions than others. If a rookie defensive end like Chris Long has to miss a chunk of camp because of a contract issue or because of an injury, he should be able to overcome it. Defensive ends have less to learn than most players.

But if a safety or linebacker has a long holdout, look out. A rookie at those positions might spend the entire season in catch-up mode.

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On offense, rookie quarterbacks really need training camp. Just ask JaMarcus Russell, who missed all of camp last year and never was a factor for the Raiders.

Running backs like Darren McFadden might be the least affected offensive players from missing camp, because much of what they do on the field is instinctive. But they miss the hitting, as well as the learning.

Players at all of the other offensive positions — offensive linemen, tight ends and wide receivers — need as much training camp as they can get. Their chances of contributing as rookies decrease proportionally with the number of camp days they miss.

Of course there is the education aspect to be concerned with. But there also is the aspect of football conditioning. And the overlooked aspect of synchronizing with teammates.

Each day of training camp, each day of minicamp, and each day of rookie camp serves to make the transition easier for a player fresh from college. None of it should be taken for granted.

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