Birds fly north, tulips bloom, and lawnmowers roar throughout neighborhoods.

But what are NFL coaches doing in May?

"It’s multi-dimensional," says Baltimore Ravens head coach BRIAN BILLICK when asked what this month is like for an NFL coach. "You are interacting with your players in a practice environment, installing the offense, implementing any kinds of changes you are going to go through, and obviously getting your team in football shape.

"You are preparing for training camp," adds Billick. "Most clubs will, by mid-June when the coaches go on vacation, have virtually every minute of every meeting and practice scripted for all of training camp. In addition, most teams will do a two- or three-game advanced game plan on their opening opponent."

New York Jets head coach HERMAN EDWARDS begins to break down opponents in May, as does his Tennessee Titans counterpart JEFF FISHER. Fisher, whose 61 victories since 1999 are the second most in the NFL in the past six seasons (TONY DUNGY, 63), wants his rookies to feel like veterans.

"We are working on a number of things at this time of year, but one of our biggest priorities is getting the rookies in a position to come in and help us win," says Fisher. "The key is getting them past the idea that they are just rookies and convincing them that they can help us win games early in the season.

"Another area that involves our coaches is looking closely at our upcoming early-season opponents and formulating plans that we can work on in June and in training camp, so that our team will have a good deal of familiarity with these teams."

Concludes Billick, "The old days when you show up at training camp and start thinking about football are long past."

PLAYBOOK EVOLUTION: A team’s playbook is a safeguarded volume, but it’s not exempt from the editing pen – even if it has brought long-term success for its authors.

Denver Broncos offensive coordinator GARY KUBIAK has helped guide the team’s offense to eight top-10 NFL rankings in the past 10 seasons, including a top-five league ranking in each of the past three years. In terms of how much of the club’s playbook Denver turns over each year, says Kubiak, "One year it might be 20 percent and the next year it might be 50 percent. It really depends on the success of the previous year or maybe new additions in free agency. We are knee-deep in our camps right now and are teaching again, and we’ve pretty much made our playbook alterations."

AL SAUNDERS has served as the Kansas City Chiefs’ assistant head coach/offensive coordinator since 2001. In that time, no team has scored more points (1,754), gained more yards (24,278), or been as efficient inside the 20-yard line (64.3 percent) than Kansas City. "Now is the time we review our playbook, a process we've been going through since the season’s end," says Saunders. "We begin an extensive review process of our last three years and our first four opponents, plus our division opponents."

MEDIA CATS: On the second day of the 2005 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers did something no team had done in 34 years: select two Northwestern Wildcats in the same draft. The Steelers -- who need five victories at the beginning of the 2005 season to surpass the Patriots’ one-year-old 18-game NFL record regular-season win streak -- chose Northwestern tackle TRAI ESSEX in round three and running back NOAH HERRON in the seventh round.

The last time Northwestern teammates were selected in the same draft by the same team was in 1971 when the Chiefs took running back MIKE ADAMLE in round five and safety RICK TELANDER in the eighth round. Adamle is an accomplished sports broadcaster who currently co-hosts a sports radio talk show on WSCR-AM in Chicago while Telander is an award-winning sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.