MOBILE, Ala. – It’s was a series during Wednesday’s South practice at the Senior Bowl that Tennessee quarterback Erik Ainge wished he would have left in Knoxville.

He took a five-step drop, pump faked and let the ball loose with the hopes of hitting his receiver on a go route. New San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz preached this exact sequence to Ainge, Kentucky’s Andre Woodson and Hawaii’s Colt Brennan earlier in practice.

The pump fake didn’t fool safety Marcus Griffin as he intercepted the wobbly spiral.

His next pass play never materialized as the snap flew down by his feet. He never grabbed handle and the defense recovered. On his final attempt of the 11-on-11 series, Ainge’s pass sailed on him and fell incomplete.

The conditions haven’t been exactly perfect for success. And throwing to a pile of receivers Ainge may have only seen on TV before coming to the Senior Bowl may be a cumbersome task as well.

“The terminology is completely different,” Ainge said. “Reads are similar. A lot of the stuff I’m doing is a 180-degree turn from what we did in college so it’s a little difficult to pick it up. But it all makes sense.”

Ainge said the speed of the practices this week mirrors his collegiate tutoring sessions. But Martz’s “mad scientist” style is unlike any other.

“Him and Coach (David) Cutcliffe are very, very different in what they teach and how they teach it,” Ainge said about his former offensive coordinator at UT. “You can tell in meetings and just listening to him that he’s well respected for a reason. He’s such a smart coach. He knows what he’s doing. I’m taking what I’m learning right here and looking to get better every day.”

For Ainge, it’s all about learning this week and in the weeks leading up to the NFL scouting combine. The read on Ainge has been all over the draft board with him going as high as the third round to being a late second-day pick.

Taking advantage of his week-long crash course from a coach who developed a Pro Bowl quarterback (Marc Bulger) and an NFL MVP (Kurt Warner) is what Ainge hopes most from this opportunity.

“You need to do the things that Coach Martz is harping on me to do,” Ainge said. “He’s harping on me for a reason. It’s not that my fundamentals are bad. It’s just different for what they need to be for the next level under what coach Martz is teaching us.

“I just need to keep listening to him and take advantage of every rep I get whether it’s before practice, taking drops or whether it’s individual practice. I need to take advantage of that.”

Ainge anticipated an invite to the Senior Bowl three or four weeks ago while not being named to the roster until Boston College’s Matt Ryan and Louisville’s Brian Brohm bailed out the week leading up to Saturday’s game.

“It wasn’t like spur of the moment that I had to come out here and play with everybody,” Ainge said. “I’m just glad that I got the opportunity. I think I’m doing good. I think a lot of the stuff I need to keep working on is the fundamentals of taking drops and stuff like that. ... I’m trying to be as coachable as I can.”

Ainge worked with former NFL quarterback Zeke Bratkowski back in Knoxville leading up to the Senior Bowl. He plans on coming back home to work with him leading up to the draft in late April.

“He has the size and the arm strength to play in this league,” one NFL assistant coach said. “He needs to learn how to thrown a cleaner pass, though. He’s had trouble throwing spirals all week.”

None of that has kept the teams from talking to Ainge throughout the week, though.

“I’ve talked to the Cleveland Browns, the Oakland Raiders,” Ainge said. “They both drafted first-round quarterbacks last season. Every team talks to you. The Rams, the Chargers, the Ravens, the Falcons, the Dolphins, the Patriots. I’ve talk five or six actual staffs and there was a bunch of others who were regional scouts.”

How has Ainge treated all the conversations?

“It’s a job interview,” Ainge said. “You show what you know, you show them what you don’t know, where you’re from, how you got here. They want to know everything.”

Ainge will have another opportunity to impress NFL personnel at the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Feb. 20-26.

© 2008, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.