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Butch Dill/Associated Press

Mobile, Ala. — Allen Iverson didn’t think so, but practices matter. Especially to NFL scouts and coaches who are seeing many draft prospects in person for the first time, or seeing the players in an uncomfortable situation, which allows for a better evaluation. Sorry, A.I. We’re talking about practice today. Not the game. Practice.

Senior Bowl week is made up of three days of practice, one day (Friday) of walkthroughs and then the actual game on Saturday. NFL staffs arrive on Monday and then hit the ground running, with weigh-ins starting at 7 a.m. on Tuesday, followed by interviews and then practices. Most pro personnel staff leave town Thursday night following the last padded practice and head home to watch practice tape and then the game tape together as a group.

The practices here mean more than the game, which can look like a scrimmage at times. Practices allow scouts and coaches to put players in situations that their collegiate schemes protected them from. Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts was asked to make throws that Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley’s offense didn’t. Wide receivers are asked to run routes they weren’t running in college. Linebackers who didn’t play often in pass coverage are put through the wringer during positional drills.

This work in practice allows scouts to evaluate a player’s athleticism, coachability, football IQ and position-specific traits, which is why players will move up and down the draft board following Senior Bowl week.