Erik Swoope is ready to make the transition from basketball to tight end with the Indianapolis Colts.

Swoope didn't play football in any youth leagues, high school or at the University of Miami.

"Learning football terminologies has been the biggest challenge," Swoope said. "It's a different language. Trying to get myself, I'm not going to say forget about basketball, but take the terminology and set it to the side so I can really hone into the different languages used in football." 

Swoope is 6'5, 220 pounds and has been catching passes from Andrew Luck in offseason workouts. 

"Andrew makes it so easy," Swoope said. "You just have to make sure you do your stuff correct because he'll put the ball in the right place." 

"It's been a pleasant surprise just to see how he's been able to acclimate himself to the game of football," Colts offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton said. "His natural-born talents show every day in practice. He does an amazing job of going up and catching the football, making difficult catches. He has a catching radius that's off the charts. It'll be interesting to see how he comes along during training camp when we put the pads on and actually start practicing football." 

The Baltimore Ravens had a difficult season on offense in 2013, dealing with the injury to Dennis Pitta and their trade of Anquan Boldin.

"It was tough for the offense, much more than we anticipated," Newsome told the Ravens' team site. "The lack of weapons really hurt at times."

"We'll be better on offense. I really like (offensive coordinator) Gary's (Kubiak) schemes," he added. "It's very precise. It's physical. I think we'll run the ball better, we'll keep the ball more and we'll have big plays. You can tell the players, especially guys like Joe (Flacco), like it -- and they can see that we have a good chance to be a lot better."

The Cleveland Browns intend to use a running back by committee approach this season.

Ben Tate was signed in free agency, while they also have Terrance West and Dion Lewis.

"I think in the AFC North, you have to be running back by committee," Pettine said. "You'd like to have a guy that can carry most of the load, but also be able to alternate guys ... you've got to be able to get fresh legs out there."

The Philadelphia Eagles ran 1,054 plays last season, which was 13th in the NFL.

But Philadelphia ranked dead last in average minutes per drive according to Pro-Football-Reference.com.

The Eagles also ranked 1st in the majority of the Pace Stats on Football Outsiders, including seconds per play, seconds per play in the first half, seconds per play in close games, and seconds per play in neutral situations.

Philadelphia led the NFL in yards per play (6.33) and 32nd in number of seconds between plays. 

The Indianapolis Colts are counting on Trent Richardson to be a 3-down running back for them this season.

The Colts traded away their 2014 first round pick for Richardson last September, but he struggled during the remainder of the season.

Richardson is now believed to have a better grasp of Pep Hamilton's playbook, which will let him rely more on his instincts than over-thinking his responsibilities.

The Chicago Bears continue their trend of featuring big receivers with Marquess Wilson holding down the lead on the No. 3 job.

The 2013 seventh-round pick had just two receptions in 76 snaps during his rookie season. But the Bears like his 6-foot-3 frame as a big target for Jay Cutler.

Wilson came out of college with a lanky frame, but has spent the offseason working out with Brandon Marshall as Alshon Jeffery did before the 2013 season.

The New York Giants appear comfortable patching together the tight end position for the 2014 season.

"I think the jury is still out on who the No. 1 tight end is, I think it'll probably be tight end by committee," he said on WFAN this afternoon. "But there are some really good tight ends, some athletic, big guys who can run and catch the ball.

"Adrien Robinson and Larry Donnell are a couple of young guys who have been on the squad for a couple of years, but have had some injury stuff going on with them. We expect them to be healthy and to be able to pick up the slack here."

Tom Brady's private quarterback coach, Tom House, believes mechanics were an issue for some of his 2013 struggles.

Brady had a 60.5 completion percentage, 4,343 yards, 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while throwing to a limited set of targets.

“As he's getting a little older you lose a little strength, you lose a little flexibility,” House said, via the Boston Globe. “And what was happening was he was noticing that his accuracy and his long ball weren't what they were three or four years ago. So we ran him through the computer, compared him to the models we have created for movement efficiency, and there were really, really small things that were causing his issues."

Brady and the Patriots advanced to the AFC Championship Game.

“One of the things that we've learned about quarterbacking -- it's not the length of the stride, it's the timing of the stride. Tom is long and lanky,” House said. “If Tom has an issue, he gets a little long. ... That's one of the things that we focus on when we analyze Tom every year and we maintain during the season, is how quick does he get into the foot stride?"

Alec Ogletree cannot help being excited about the offseason addition of defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and his style for the St. Louis Rams.

Ogletree was the 30th overall pick in the 2013 NFL Draft and seems to be an ideal fit for Williams' attack-style defense.

“It’s a lot of the same stuff we did last year, but it’s just a lot more aggressive,’’ the second-year outside linebacker said earlier this week at Rams Park in Earth City. “You can already see the difference, even though it’s only OTAs. Guys are flying around and having fun. We just seem to be a lot more comfortable with each other and I definitely think coach Williams is going to make a big difference.

“A lot of guys respect him and want to play for a guy like that. He’s going to shoot you straight. You want to go out and give it your all for him because you know he’s giving his all, too.’’

Derek Carr is making significant progress in minicamp for the Oakland Raiders and has already bypassed Matt McGloin on the depth chart at quarterback.

The Raiders had believed Carr may need a "redshirt" year.

"We're trying to expedite his progression," Dennis Allen said, via CSN Bay Area. "I like a lot of the things that I've seen out of Derek. He's still got a long way to go, but I like the direction that he's headed."

Matt Schaub is the projected starter for the Raiders, but he could surely be beat out for the job.