Gabriel: John Fox's Training Camp Goal? Find The 22 Best Players

By Greg Gabriel--

(CBS) In each of the 32 NFL training camps, there's a press conference to open the new season. In a head coach's mind, it's probably the least important thing he does all training camp. Many coaches who I know feel it is a necessary evil. That said, what many coaches say and what they mean in these press conferences are two different things. They speak in generalities and try not to be specific if they don't have to.

In Wednesday's press conference to open the Bears training camp in Bourbonnais, I thought coach John Fox was more vague than general manager Ryan Pace. Fox has been an NFL head coach for a number of years and to him, it's just something he has to do. On the other hand, Pace looked much more excited, as this is the first time he has had to go through this process as the leader.

I've known Fox for close to 25 years, and he's as old school as you can get. He wants to say as little as possible about what he's thinking, for good reason. Fox feels that he has a bit of a competitive advantage going into the early games of the season because teams don't know what to expect from the Bears as far as scheme and personnel. That's understandable.

Regarding this training camp, Fox said, "It's about the process ... focus on the process every day and the results will take care of themselves." What Fox meant was he doesn't care if he wins or loses in the preseason. His goal is to find out who can play so when the season opens in September, he has the best 22 players on the field. He has goals he wants to achieve every day in practice, and that's what is important to him in training camp.

Early in the press conference, Fox said he believes in a physical camp.

"A team is not going to be very good on offense if they can't block," he said.

"You're not going to be very good on defense if you can't tackle."

He also mentioned that in the "old days," camp started off in pads and clubs often opened the first practice with the Oklahoma drill. In my first training camp with the New York Giants in 1985, as soon as the players got done stretching at the opening practice, Bill Parcells had the whole team line up and do the Oklahoma drill for the next 20 minutes. Why? He wanted to see who was ready to play -- and play hard.

Fox has a similar philosophy. Because this is his first Bears training camp, it will most likely his most physical camp. He needs to find out right away who can play and who can't. Once he gets a good feel for the players, he will lighten up.

Someone asked Fox if outside linebacker Jared Allen has a spot on the Bears. Fox answered that, "Everyone has to earn their spot." That wasn't Fox saying he didn't have confidence in Allen. It was more of him saying that this was going to be a competitive camp, and everyone has to work and practice hard to earn their spot. It was more a general statement than a statement about Allen.

Following the press conference, some were concerned that first-round pick Keven White was placed on physically-unable-to-perform list to open camp. This isn't a big deal. By league rule, if a player isn't ready to participate in practice, he has to be placed on the PUP list.

White injured his shin near the end of OTAs and hasn't been able to do the proper amount of conditioning while preparing for training camp. While White gets in football shape, he won't be taking part in practice, but he will still be at practice and meetings. He will be getting mental reps, just not physical reps. I would expect his time on the PUP list will be short, and he should be good to go sometime early next week.

If that happens to be the case, there really isn't a concern. Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. missed all of the OTAs and most of camp with a hamstring problem in 2014. He still led the team in receptions and had an outstanding year. If White misses more than a week, then I would be concerned -- but right now it's smarter to have him get in top shape.

In an earlier era, we had two-a-day practices nearly every day, and there was a lot of hitting ay each practice. The reason for that was clubs didn't have the offseason regime that they have now. With the offseason programs being as they are, most of the offense and defense is installed before a club gets to camp. Training camp is now more for fine-tuning and getting a team ready for the season. Back in the day, much of training camp was used just to get guys in shape.

We seldom see holdouts now, and most clubs are at full strength right from the start of camp. I have been involved in camps when as many as 10 veterans and a few rookies didn't report on time because their contracts hadn't been worked out. Some players would personally hold out until the third preseason game just so they wouldn't have to go through the rigors of training camp. That's no longer the case, and with all on board much more can be accomplished.

The 2000 season was my last year with the New York Giants. The scouting staff was always at training camp for the first 10 days, and when I left camp after that, I felt there was no way we would win five games that season. I was totally wrong, as we won the NFC championship and went to the Super Bowl that season.

What I learned is that what you see in camp doesn't necessarily relate to how the team will be during the season. The goal of camp is to get ready for the long season, as nobody ever won a trophy for winning training camp. It's a part of a long journey.

Greg Gabriel is a former NFL talent evaluator who is an on-air contributor for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @greggabe.