Coming and Goings: Redskins cut roster, add punter

Some lockers were emptied at Redskins Park today and someone came in to fill one of them.

Among those who bade farewell to Ashburn was Darnerien McCants, the wide receiver who was the last of the Redskins’ 2001 draft class who was still on the roster. It appeared that “Darkerien” (that was the way that Steve Spurrier would constantly mangle his name) was, if not a rising star on the team, was at least secure in his spot on the team after he tied for the team lead with six touchdown catches in 2003. Even with a regime change from Spurrier to Joe Gibbs, McCants appeared to be a valued property by the Redskins. Gibbs compared McCants to Art Monk, high praise indeed. Gibbs put the Redskins’ money where his mouth was by signing McCants to a three-year, $4.5 million contract that kept the receiver off of the restricted free agent market.

That pen scratching on that paper was the high point of the Gibbs-McCants relationship. Gibbs became disenchanted with McCants’ practice habits and with his reluctance to participate on special teams. Those factors earned him a spot on the inactive list for 10 games last year.

The handwriting seemed to be on the wall for McCants’ imminent release for most of the summer and it became a little bit more visible when the team signed receiver Kevin Dyson, another big receiver, just before minicamp. The handwriting turned bolder as he dropped pass after pass early in camp and in the Carolina preseason game and the ink turned indelible as he continued to sit out special teams plays in the preseason games.

I knew that he was gone as he spoke with a few of us after a training camp practice. When asked about playing special team, he said that he was lining up as one of the gunners on punt coverage. The only aspect of doing it he didn’t like, he said, was the hitting part. “If I get to him (the returner) I’ll just wrestle him to the ground or something.” That’s kind of like saying that you like to go swimming, but you hate getting wet. Such an attitude will not earn too many points with special teams coach Danny Smith, who is as old school as they come.

Oddly, McCants was the first to break the news of his release, doing so via his own website:

ITS OFFICIAL!!!
I AM NO LONGER A REDSKIN! I thank everyone for there support and love through out the years. I want you to know this is my home and always will be, if God see fit for me to play again i'll give it my all like always. I wish my Redskin family the best and to all my brothers stay healthy and win. I love all of you because without you i dont exist, thank you i wish you peace and many blessings... (sic)

It was rather classy but rather odd farewell from a rather classy but rather odd player.

Along with McCants, the Redskins released TE Billy Baber, DB Charles Byrd, K Jeff Chandler, RB Jonathan Combs, RB Brock Forsey, WR Steven Harris, DL Charles Howard, LB Jared Newberry, DL Jerome Nichols, LB Clifton Smith, QB Bryson Spinner, and OL Josh Warner.

Baber’s long odds of making it were made much longer when the team signed massive TE Robert Johns, who, unlike Baber, has been getting himself noticed. Byrd was caught in a numbers game in a very crowded defensive backfield. I really thought that Chandler would challenge Jeff Hall for the placekicking job, but the “competition”, such as it was, ended in the first preseason game when Hall nailed a field goal from 40+ while Chandler was wide on an attempt from virtually the same distance. Combs fumbled away his chances in the Carolina game and Forsey and Harris never really had a chance. In the early going in camp Howard was a chic pick among the media types and others to be a dark horse for a roster spot, but he faded as camp wore on. Newberry is the first of the team’s draft picks to be shown the door; he’s a good bet for practice squad duty. Like Howard, Nichols found himself with too many good, experienced players at his position and, like Newberry, Smith found the same situation. Smith was on everyone’s list of the final 53 on the roster, but with rookie Robert McCune showing promise in the middle and proving to be a special teams demon, Smith became expendable. Spinner’s release was inevitable as the need for four QB’s went away when two-a-days ended. Apparently Cory Raymer and Lennie Friedman listened to those who said that their spots one the roster were at risk as they have responded with solid play so far, a development that cost Warner a chance at stealing a spot from one of those two.

The only person at Redskins Park who was feeling as bad as those listed above was Tom Tupa. That’s because one of the newly vacant lockers was quickly filled by the belongings and #15 jersey of one Chris Mohr. He’s a punter with 16 years of NFL experience. After having an excellent 2004 season, Tupa developed a back problem while warming up for the Cincinnati preseason game. He missed all of that game and the next one. Tupa’s once rock-solid grip on a roster spot is now quite tenuous for two reasons.

One is the signing of Mohr, the other the play of Andy Groom. The first-year punter out of Ohio State has been booming the ball both in practice and in the punts he has made in the preseason games. He has shown not only power but touch as well, putting four punts inside of the 20 last Friday against Pittsburgh. In light of Mohr’s arrival, he must be wondering what a guy has to do to get a roster spot.

It would be uncharacteristic of Gibbs to go with an inexperienced punter, but such a move would not be unprecedented. During his first season as head coach, veteran Mike Connell handled the punting duties. In camp the following year Jeff Hayes who, like Groom, had never punted in a real NFL game, won the job over Connell. That move worked out OK as we all remember how Gibbs’ second season ended.

There was a key difference between then and now that might make Gibbs less likely to go with a younger player. Back then, Joe Theismann was the holder for kicker Mark Moseley. The coach has decided to go with the punter in that role this time around. It is here that Gibbs might be nervous about going with inexperience. The occasional shanked punt or misplaced directional kick due to inexperience is one thing. Handling the snap on a game-tying extra point in the fourth quarter in the rain in October is quite another. If Tupa is unable to go or if his situation is iffy, that could be the deciding factor between Groom and Mohr.

For his part, Mohr is confident, perhaps to the point where it seems the Redskins have told him that the job is his as long as he performs decently in practice. "At this stage of my career I don't want to come in and compete," Mohr said. "You know what I can do."

Well, we don’t really but I guess we’ll find out.

GameBlog Redskins vs. Steelers 08.26.05

You can reach me by email at rtandler@comcast.net

First Quarter

Broughton chases the kick returner down from behind on the opening kickoff, preventing a long return.

Carlos Rogers plays run stopper, knifing under Bettis to make a stop for a loss of one on second and nine. Wouldn’t see that out of Smoot.

I thought that you were never supposed to catch a punt inside the seven. Antonio Brown just caught one at the five and got just four yards on the return. Odds are that a long punt that hits the ground at the five will make its way into the end zone. Danny Smith will have words with him.

Moss should have had that one. The defensive back never saw the long pass from Ramsey on third and six and Moss couldn’t quite adjust to Ramsey’s underthrow (which he had to do to prevent a possible INT had the defender looked up).

The Redskins have finally figured out how to sell the screen. The defense doesn’t seem to be able to sniff it out from the moment the Redskins come out of the huddle. Portis just picked up 10 with a nice setup from the O-line and a good burst of speed to get past a defender.

Not a good decision by Ramsey on that interception, obviously. What I want to know is who was supposed to pick up Clark Haggins on the blitz. It’s not like the blitz is exactly a surprise tactic for the Steelers.

Wait, it that legal? Can a receiver actually run with the ball and make moves and gain yards afer the catch? Santana Moss finally with a chance to show his moves as he scampers down the sideline and cuts back for a long gain on an out pattern.

Second Quarter

From the Redskins six, Ben Roethlisberger made a throw while getting hit that was every bit as ill-advised as Ramsey’s interception was. Of course, the ball fell harmlessly to the ground among several white jerseys.

A second flag on a kick return costs the Redskins some field position on a Brown return. Instead of having th ball near midfield, they will start from their 10. Given a hold on a punt that cost them 14 and Brown’s fielding that punt inside the five that cost them 11, the special teams are giving up some serious real estate.

Another good hookup from Ramsey to Moss, this time on a deep timing pattern down the sidelines that Ramsey threw to exactly the right spot and Moss went up and got it. It appears that they are more in synch than they were in the first two games.

On the next play, Patten had a step on his defender down the right sideline, but Ramsey threw the ball to the outside when it appeared that there was plenty of real estate to the inside for Patten to maneuver and make the catch.

LaVar Arrington lined up at right defensive end on a third and nine and did a nice job of containing Roethlisberger as he threw incomplete. He didn’t try to dash around the tackle blocking him and create a hole that the QB could have run through.

A bullet from Ramsey to Patten over the middle for 17 yards. I like Ramsey better on those throws, when he winds up and whips it in there more than on the ones that require more touch. The offensive line created a huge passing lane and the ball never seemed to leave the level of Patten’s numbers during its flight.

What appeared to be a textbook example of what is now the illegal horse-collar tackle just came as Betts was dragged down from behind by a Steeler defender on third and two. Betts went limping off and the flags stayed in the zebras’ pockets.

I might have to take back what I just said about Ramsey and his touch on the ball. His TD pass to Cooley was a thing of beauty, perfect placement.

The Redskins just beat the Steelers at their own game, field position. They had a nice drive from the nine, drove to near midfield and had to punt. The Washington defense kept them bottled up, though, and the Redskins kept creeping closer on exchanges of punts. It finally pays off with a 55-yard touchdown drive culminating in the Ramsey-to-Cooley touchdown pass.

I’m not impressed with Roethlisberger, at least not tonight. He’s not very accurate and doesn’t make good decisions with the ball. Of the two QB’s on the field, the most impressive has been Ramsey, by far.

Third Quarter

Who is that out there in the #8 jersey? A 19-yard out is supposed to be one of the hardest throws a QB has to make because the ball has to travel so far and it has to get there so quickly. Brunell put it on the money to Brown.

Billy Baber caught a swing pass from Brunell. He was so wide open that almost fell down as he turned the corner for a first down. It seemed that he wanted to go out of bounds after getting the first as several defenders closed in on him, but he thought better of it and cut upfield and took the tackle like a man.

Great running by Cartwright, who benefited from running behind the Redskins’ first team offensive line going against Pittsburgh’s second string defense. Even given that, he ran with great authority during the 85-yard scoring drive, during which he ran for 20 and caught two passes for 29 more. It’s going to be tough to keep him off of the team.

Jim Molinaro didn’t help his chances of survival by lining up behind the line, negating a third down completion for a first by Brunell to Darnerien McCants. He can’t do that, he’s a tackle.

Looking at Andy Groom’s punting, I have to image that Tom Tupa is all of a sudden saying, “Gosh, coach, you know that back is feeling a lot better. I think I can go.” Watching a younger, cheaper player boom the ball and place it well as Groom has can have amazing healing powers for a veteran.

Some backup offensive linemen, however, can get away with costing their team a first down. Ray Brown’s hold on a first-down play negated a completion from Brunell to Kevin Dyson.

Fourth Quarter

With 13:33 left in the game, you finally need two hands to count the number of Steeler first downs tonight.

The second-team defense said enough is enough and stuffed the Steelers. They missed a 43-yard field goal and it remains 17-10 Redskins.

It’s getting sloppy here midway through the fourth quarter as penalties and dropped passes, including a gimmie interception of Jason Campbell that a Steeler defensive back dropped, are the prevalent theme here.

Nemo is running hard and well also. It may be that it’s not a choice between Cartwright and Broughton, but one between going with one fewer linebacker or wide receiver and keeping both of the strong-running young backs who play great special teams.

The Redskins finally get a sack off of the blitz, with Omar Stoutmire bringing Brian St. Pierre down on third down to kill a drive.

Jason Campbell has largely been doing his imitation of Ben Roethlisberger 2004—handing the ball off to a power running back and watching him run.

The Redskins have completely dominated this game. The Steelers had two plays, the interception return and a 51-yard run from scrimmage. That’s it. Washington will wind up with nearly 400 yards of offense for the second straight week. It was a good game for Ramsey; he did well enough to regain his confidence but still did enough wrong so that he has things to work on.

 

 

Despite Improvements, Ramsey Still Under Fire

Although you wouldn’t know it from the reaction he received from the crowd, from the fans discussing the game, or from the press, Patrick Ramsey’s performance took a quantum leap in the positive direction from last week to last night. You wouldn’t know it as he was booed at FedEx Field, has been getting hammered on the message boards and in water-cooler discussions, and several questions at Joe Gibbs’ press conference last night were aimed at getting to coach to show the least bit of wobble in his support for Ramsey.

Although Gibbs opened up the presser with an angry outburst (for him, anyway) at the turnovers that he believes cost his team the game, he didn’t point the finger at Ramsey, who tossed two interceptions, and didn’t waiver in the least in his assertion that Ramsey is the guy at QB and will remain so. As well he should, for a couple of reasons.

First, you can’t yank the guy or even put the job up for grabs after two preseason games. Gibbs announced at the end of last season that the starting quarterback job was Ramsey’s, period. The team has been through minicamp, OTA’s, and two weeks of training camp. You don’t commit to a plan for that long and then, when things to a little bit wrong during two weeks of camp and a couple of exhibition games, throw it all out the widow. That’s not how you get an organization back on track.

Second, the view here is that things aren’t all that wrong. Ramsey did almost nothing right last week against Carolina. His errors, ranging from the interception on the opening drive to depriving his receivers of yards-after-catch opportunities by making them lunge for throws, were well chronicled here. Against the Bengals, Ramsey did a lot right. He averaged over ten yards per attempt and over 20 per completion. In the pocket, he was cool and calm. He developed some timing and rapport on deep passes with David Patten. He didn’t quite develop the same with Santana Moss, although on the first series Moss lost a potential TD pass from Ramsey in the lights. On several occasions, he threw a ball to a spot, the exact spot to which a receiver arrived at the moment the ball did.

It was a very good, perhaps great, performance except for the interceptions.

Yes, that is like the old “other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?” And Ramsey’s first pick was eerily reminiscent of the one that he threw late in the game last year at FedEx against the Eagles when the Redskins had a chance for a stunning upset. It was the same area of the field, the same kind of pass where he seemed not to see a defender who was stationed right between the quarterback and the receiver. It’s one thing for a quarterback to make a mistake; it’s another for him to make the same mistake over and over again.

But, hey, this just in, quarterbacks throw interceptions. Three of them in two first halves of play is not an outrageous, unheard of event. As long as the quarterback is making some positive things happen, as was the case against Cincinnati, such miscues, while unwelcome, are not stunning nor should they be fatally damaging to a team’s chances.

Also keep in mind that this was just one half of work, 19 attempts. Ramsey seems to be a quarterback who takes a while to get warmed up. He has a track record for doing better as the game went on. Last year, in his 21st through his 30th pass attempts in games, his quarterback rating was a cool 100.8 with three touchdowns, just one interception, 59% of his throws going for first downs, a 68% completion percentage and an average of 7.73 yards per attempt on 64 throws. Like a pitcher who needs a few innings of work to get into the groove, Ramsey needs some time to find the strike zone.

Of course, you can’t always afford to muddle through those first 20 attempts, where in 2004 Ramsey averaged less than six yards per attempt, threw seven interceptions to six touchdowns and a rating in the low 70’s. He has to figure out a way to come out of the chute throwing accurately and with confidence.

The point here is not that Patrick Ramsey is ready right now to go and lead this team back to the promised land of double-digit win seasons and playoff runs. However, he did show enough improvement from the first preseason game to the second to warrant a bit more optimism that he’ll be able to do so.

Redskins vs. Bengals GameBlog

You can reach me by email at rtandler@comcast.net

Seen on the way in, the perfect solution for those of you who have the dilemma of picking a player’s jersey to wear. This fan had what looked like your standard replica jersey, except there were four numbers sewn to the back: 28, 17, 81, and 33. A good way to pay tribute to four Redskins legends.

On the first play, Ladell Betts drove the pile for a gain of five, again showing the power that he’s been exhibiting during camp. The Redskins have a solid 1-2 punch at running back

Ramsey’s lack of calm in the pocket and touch on the ball on the first series gets him a smattering of boos as he left the field after the first series. Who said that the NFL fan, circa 2005, isn’t rational?

Not good for Andy Groom to airmail a punt from his own 48 about 8 yards deep into the end zone. It would have been a great kick from his own 20. Midfield is a great spot for a punter to pooch it and Groom lacked that touch.

Lemar Marshall had great technique on the opening play, waiting for Rudi Johnson on an off-tackle for no gain.

Betts is a North-South runner. He lost one yard when he tried to go wide on second down. While he has some speed, he needs to use it after going through the hole straight ahead, not moving laterally.

Groom booms one 50 and hangs it up there for the coverage, who tackle the returner for a loss of one.

Another example of a runner who needs to stick with North-South is Cincy’s Rudi Johnson. On one play he kept trying to bounce a run outside and wound up with a bigger and bigger pack of Redskin tacklers in front of him every time. He wound up losing 10.

A horrible throw by Palmer leads to Carlos Rogers’ first NFL interception (not that it counts, this being preseason). Rogers showed some speed during his 30-yard return, but unrefined running skills. He appeared to have clear sailing up the sideline.

Rollout, throwback, reminiscent of Mark Rypien in his prime, from Ramsey to James Thrash for a Redskins TD from 25 yards out. Is that the one play that Ramsey needs to get it going? The first player out to congratulate Ramsey with a high-ten was Mark Brunell.

Thrash celebrated the touchdown by lining up on the kickoff team and sprinting all the way into the end zone to make sure that the returner kneeled down for a touchback.

Carson Palmer has had two nice scrambles for first downs, but I’m not so sure that Marvin Lewis is all the excited about it. The #1 overall pick a couple of years ago is wearing a knee brace, having missed the last three games of last year with an injury to that joint. Not only that, but Carlos Rogers nearly took his head off just before Palmer went into the slide move on the first scramble.

Second Quarter

Derrick Dockery just made a Bengal cornerback disappear when pulling on an off-tackle by Betts. The massive guard didn’t pancake number 34 as much as simply engulf him.

Yep, it just took one. Ramsey couldn’t have gone up and placed the ball in Daveid Patten’s hands any better on a 46-yard hookup deep into Bengal territory. Patten had half a step and Ramsey put the ball just beyond the defender’s reach.

That is followed up by a bad interception, with Ramsey throwing in the end zone to a tightly-covered Kevin Dyson. He got a little too cocky, perhaps.

They’ve got Carlos Rogers covering Chad Johnson, who is still in the game midway through the second quarter. Johnson beats him with a move to the sideline to pick up a first. Next play, Rogers is on Houshmandzadeh, who drops a TD pass. After that, he’s on Kelly Washington, who again beats Rogers and this time the receiver caught the ball for a 45-yard TD (who put on one of the most obnoxious dance displays ever, going on for about 15 seconds to celebrate a touchdown in an exhibition game).

Following the point after, Gregg Williams met Rogers at the sideline and offered him some advice that seemed to be neither particularly friendly nor particularly harsh. LaVar Arrington came over offered Rogers some words of encouragement.

Antonio Brown didn’t seem to exhibit much in the way of being able to make tacklers miss against the Panthers last week. Tonight, he’s showing a nice ability to chance both direction and speed to elude tacklers.

The good and the bad from Ramsey again. Drops in a nice one to Patten for 33 yards and then throws another horrid INT. After the pick, Ramsey and the other QB’s huddle with Bill Musgrave, looking at what likely was a high-level snapshot of the play.

Palmer had another chance to scramble, but he wisely threw the ball 15 yards out of bounds. It appears that Lewis had a little chat with him.

The Bengals aren’t holding much back on offense—five WR sets, quick-pitch plays, a little swing pass where the receivers cleared out the left side and Palmer dropped it into a running back, a shovel pass for a touchdown--the works.

For most of the second quarter it has been the Bengals’ first offense against the Redskins’ second defense and Washington’s first offense against Cincy’s first defense.

Kelly Washington caught a three-yard pass from Palmer. Fortunately, it was inside the two-minute warning and he had to get lined up, so we were spared the dance that surely would have ensured otherwise.

Groom did do a nice job of holding for John Hall on a field goal try that was just like an extra point. The ball was a bit inside, but Groom handled it and got the ball down in plenty of time.

Third Quarter:

Some dumb football by the Redskins early in the third. Khary Campbell made a nice hit to force a fumble and Clifton Smith, rather than falling on the ball, tried to scoop it up at about knee level. He never got the handle and ex-Redskin Larry Moore recovered the ball. After that, Chris Clemons hit John Kitna when the quarterback was almost on the far side of the wide white stripe that is the sideline. Combine those two and instead of Washington driving for a score Cincinnati has a first down near midfield. That’s the stuff that drives all coaches, particularly Gibbs, absolutely crazy.

Gibbs went for it on fourth and one at the Bengal 31, figuring that his first-team offensive line should be able to push back the Cincinnati backups on the line. A defensive tackle got penetration, though, and Cartwright never had a chance and lost four.

After that initial boomer into the end zone, Groom has been booming them from better spots on the field, just launching one 52 yards. He’s still a long shot to make the team, but he’ll be playing in the NFL somewhere soon.

Omar Stoutmire had a good chance at a highlight-reel hit on a pass over the middle, but he ducked out of it and allowed a first-down completion. He’s a veteran who needs to make those plays if he wants to snag that last safety spot.

Ade Jimoh has made a couple of nice open-field tackles, but he just can’t blitz to save his life. Last week he missed the tackle on the quarterback, tonight he seemed to have an open lane to Craig Krenzel but instead looped outside and never got near him as the quarterback converted on third and eight.

Fourth Quarter:

The Redskins are getting killed on third downs. Through three quarters the Bengals are 11 of 16 on third down conversions.

Brunell made a good arm pass to Antonio Brown. With a defender preventing him from stepping into the throw, he zipped the ball in to Brown for 12 yards.

Manny White lined up at fullback and made a classic lead block to move Broughton from the Bengal nine down to the three. White kicked out the linebacker trying to fill the hole and Nemo cut right off of his butt and rumbled down to the three. Broughton scored on the next play.

Robert McCune made an excellent little play on a run up the middle. He got into the backfield and had nobody between himself and Kenny Watson. Instead of going for the kill, he stood his ground and let Watson make his move and got just enough of a hand on him so that the rest of the defense could gang tackle Watson at the line. It won’t show up on the stat sheet or on ESPN, but it was a smart play.

Three straight drops, by Elliott, Combs, and Farris kill a promising drive to tie the game up. Can’t blame Brunell for that one.

Ramsey had more positive plays than Brunell on the night, but the two interceptions were killers. The first one looked just like the Philadelphia game at FedEx last year when he just threw into coverage in the end zone. The second one was just an awful throw. Still, he averaged over 10 yards per attempt on the ones he got to the guys who were wearing the right-colored shirts.

Antonio Brown is going to be dragging tonight. In addition to handling all of the return duties in the first half, he’s been lined up at receiver virtually every play since early in the second quarter. It seems like they’re trying to make sure he picks up the finer points about

Broughton just put a damper on an otherwise great evening by fumbling away the Redskins’ last chance to tie it up.

Gibbs was visibly agitated about the turnovers during his post-game press conference. There was an edge to his voice that has rarely been heard in public. The audio clip will be up in a little while.

Tonights GameBlog vs. Bengals

Tonight’s GameBlog vs. Bengals

Thanks much for your great response to last week’s GameBlog. I’ll certainly be continuing it this week.

I will be doing my blogging from the press box and FedEx Field and, as I haven’t been there in a year and a half, I’m not sure what the Internet capabilities are there. As such, I don’t know if I’ll be able to update the GameBlog on a quarter-by-quarter basis as I did last week or if I’ll have to wait until after the game so that I can find a connection somewhere and update the blog. ‘

So, if you check for an update at, say, 9PM and you don’t see one, it’s likely that you will have to wait until after the game’s over to read the blog.

I’ll know more about the lay of the land there next week.

RT

Jacobs' Toe May Have Ripple Effects

You can reach me by email at rtandler@comcast.net

As it turns out, Taylor Jacobs’ injured toe is considerably worse than originally thought. What was going to be a one-week layoff due to a sprained toe, injured making a cut in the scrimmage in Baltimore, is now an that may stretch the regular season.

The diagnosis is now a dislocated toe. "I haven't even started jogging yet," Jacobs said. "They told me whenever I can just walk straight the whole day without it being sore, then the next step would be to start jogging." So, he has to walk before he can run.

According to trainer Bubba Tyer, Jacobs is week to week and other members of the training staff have told the second-year receiver that his expected recovery time is 2-6 weeks. The latter estimate could have Jacobs not being in the lineup until after the Redskins’ week three bye.

All of this has implications for Jacobs personally and for the wide receiver corps as a whole. As for Jacobs himself, this has to be considered a very frustrating, if not devastating, setback. He appeared to be ready to step up and have a breakout season. His coaches and teammates had nothing but praise for how hard Jacobs worked during the offseason. Jacobs’ work had earned the team’s 2002 second-round draft pick a firm grip on the third WR slot and he seemed posed to push David Patten hard for the second starting job opposite Santana Moss. This injury is a setback to the hopes for Jacobs to have a breakout season.

This injury follows an abdominal injury that cost him half the games in his rookie season. It’s often unfair, but two significant injuries in three seasons can create whispers that a player is injury-prone, a label nobody wants to have.

Obviously, there are major effects on the wide receiver corps as a whole, with ripples extending through the entire 53-man roster. Moss and Patten on the starters. James Thrash was number four on the depth chart. Now, Thrash is a great asset to the team, but if he is lining up in the slot in a three-WR set this team is in trouble. As valuable a performer as Thrash is on special teams, he’s no better than an occasional option at receiver.

That brings the other three receivers that are considered to have a realistic chance of making the roster into the picture. Kevin Dyson and Darnerien McCants are larger, possession-type receivers while Antonio Brown has world-class speed. Dyson is knocking off rust after having missed most of the past two seasons and is rounding into form. He could be the best option to replace Jacobs as the third receiver on the depth chart. McCants could also step up into that role if he could just hold on to the ball consistently. He has had trouble doing so both in practice and during last Saturday’s preseason game against Carolina.

Brown is the wild card in all of this. He has speed, no doubt, and has been showing that he has a decent set of hands. While he’s a virtual lock to make the final roster as a kick returner, it would be risky to rely on him to play a significant role as a receiver, primarily because he has no pass receptions in 19 NFL games.

Jacobs’ status could have implications beyond the receiver corps. If his status is still cloudy as the final cutdown approaches, the coaches will have some difficult decisions to make. The team is expected to carry five wide receivers with Brown possibly being the sixth and counted as a return specialist. If it’s apparent that Jacobs will be on the inactive list until October (their first game after the bye is October 2), they may decide to keep an extra receiver on until Jacobs can come back and get into game shape.

Should that happen, of course, another player at another position would have to be released to make room. So, not only are most Redskins fans and the organization rooting for a quick return to health for Taylor Jacobs, a handful of players whose chances of making the roster are on the bubble are fervently hoping that Jacobs’ toe heals soon as well.

GameBlog Redskins vs. Panthers Final 23:23 EDT

Redskins vs. Panthers

Saturday, August 13, 2005

During a few games last year, I experimented with the GameBlog, a running commentary throughout the game that I updated at least every quarter or so. It was fun to do and some of you seemed to like it, so it’s back again this preseason for another trial run. As to whether or not GameBlog makes the final cut and is around for the regular season depends largely on you, the reader. Please send me your comments at rtandler@comcast.net

Fourth Quarter:

Rookie Rich Parson just made a fair catch of a punt. It was the smart play, the only thing to do, but you’ve got to know that it kills an undrafted rookie free agent to have to do that. You want to be able to show your stuff.

Jason Campbell threw off of his back foot on his first pro pass and it was short. On his second play, there was a poor exchange with RB Brock Forsey and the Panthers recovered the fumble deep in Washington territory. Not sure if it was the QB’s fault or Forsey’s, but it could cost the Redskins a score.

Stephen LeFors made his first pro pass for Carolina and he short-hopped a hitch pattern. He did manage to successfully execute the handoff on the next play.

The Redskins have been flagged for a pair of questionable penalties, both on third down to give Carolina new life inside the Washington 10. A roughing the passer on Jarred Newberry gave Carolina one first down and a pass interference on Rufus Brown gave them another. Newberry was certainly late, but I’ve seen much worse not called. And Brown was holding his ground at the goal line and the receiver ran into him and drew a flag. The second call was worse than the first. I don’t think that Marcus Washington gets flagged for the first and Shawn Springs gets away with the second “infraction”.

The turnover did cost the Redskins a TD as LeFores lobbed a nice TD to a receiver in the end zone. You can’t hold them out forever.

Andy Grooms gave a classic example of outkicking his coverage as he boomed one high a long that was fielded at the 10 and returned near midfield. He showed a good leg, though.

Some sloppy tackling here in the late going with Eric Joyce missing one.

I commented about Jonathan Combs a few days ago, how he had to take advantage of every chance. He just made a few nice plays but then fumbled inside the Carolina three and the Panthers recovered.

Recapping it at 28-10 in the last few minutes: If you’re one of those who wants to see the playmakers shine, this wasn’t the game for you. Portis barely played, Ramsey wasn’t sharp, the receivers didn’t catch anything deep, Marcus Washington barely played, Sean Taylor made is presence known but he was more cold than hot. The offense never got rolling, even though most of the first team played up until the final series of the first half.

A fan of the play in the trenches, however, can take a lot out of this game. The offensive line, both the first and second units, kept the quarterbacks safe all night long. Had more talented backs than Rock Cartwright and Broughton been playing all night, there would have been some long gainers.

Combs just dropped a pass. Sorry, kid.

And the defensive line was active and generally played well. There was some good penetration and solid tackling all night long. Given that Griffin didn’t play at all and Daniels and Wynn played little

Textbook sideline catch by Kevin Dyson, keeping his toes in bounds for a first down. It took him a while to get into the game, but he’s made a couple of nice catches.

Ouch, the last play of the game, a Campbell pass bounced off of Combs’ hands and was intercepted. Heck, Betts’ job would be in jeopardy if he had a fumble and two drops in five minutes. A rookie free agent out of Texas College just can’t do that.

Third Quarter:

Chris Clemons has a pair of costly penalties with an illegal contact in the second quarter and a pass interference on the Panther’s third snap of the second half.

Warrick Holdman is playing in the first series of the third quarter and he missed a tackle that almost cost the Redskins a first down.

Antonio Brown picked up a little over 20 yards on a punt return doing a good job just picking a few spots to run towards. He took what he could get and stayed in bounds, picked up an extra 10 when others may have stepped out.

Nehemiah Broughton is in at halfback and showed some nice running after catching a little swing pass from Brunell for a first down.

Brown kept the drive he starting going with a good catch for a first down at the Carolina 25. Good throw by Brunell, too, almost sidearming it in there to the diminutive Brown.

Jeff Chandler, thank you for participating in the Redskins 2005 roster competition. Your wide-left miss of a 42-yard field goal has just eliminated you from consideration. John Hall, we’ll be hauling in the cement soon to secure your roster spot. Jeff, please pick up your parting gifts on the way out the door.

Zak Keasey just got the Redskins’ first big play on defense, a third-down sack of Roderick Rutherford. There was some buzz about the undrafted rookie free agent in the first week of camp, but it died down somewhat last week. He’s an extreme long shot, but plays like that will help him stick around.

Another third-down conversion for Brown on a good deep in pattern. Nice throw by Brunell, too.

Broughton is fighting for some tough inside yards. He looks like a keeper.

From the shotgun, Brunell beats the blitz (no coincidence there?) and converts another third-down to Mike Sellers. The pass protection has been excellent all night long and, in some cases, the shotgun is helping as neither Ramsey nor Brunell are particularly quick in getting back from center.

Again, it’s Broughton fighting inside for some tough yards near the goal line. On first and goal at the three he gets it inside the one and the next play he’s over the goal line. He’s looking like more than a third-down and short back. I’m not getting carried away here with him playing against Carolina’s third-and-higher string defense, either. Broughton is running North-South with conviction and power. He was a big factor in the 14-play, 82-yard Redskins touchdown drive.

Second Quarter:

First team offense, for the most part, still in with two and a half minutes gone in the second quarter. They’d like for Ramsey to get something going, even if it is against the Carolina second-string D.

Nope, he throws it well over Patten’s head on third and short. At least it would have been a first down if Patten had caught it.

Now, if both cornerbacks have a shot at the quarterback and that QB is, say, Donovan McNabb, it’s OK if they miss him. But both CB’s had a shot at Chris Weinke and they both missed him and he scrambled for three yards. On the next play, the corners both blitz again and linebacker Clifton Smith ends up on a receiver and it goes for a gain down to the ten. It was Jimoh who missed the tackle on Weinke on the first play and he was tentative in going after him the second time.

That sets up a TD pass to Carolina’s third-string TE Michael Gaines, who beat Khary Campbell on the play. Campbell is on the bubble and can’t afford many plays like that.

Patrick Ramsey is still in the game halfway through the second quarter with most of the other offensive starters still in. He finally connects with Patten for 11 yards on first down.

Rock Cartwright is gaining some yards, but if Portis or Betts had the holes he has there would be some long gainers in there.

I’m not sure why you leave your first-team offense in the game if you’re going to throw a five-yard pattern on third and seven, but that’s how that series ended. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the starters in for the final series of the half.

Despite his solid performance in practices, Joe Gibbs is still letting it be known that it wasn’t OK for Sean Taylor to miss all of the team’s offseason workouts. Taylor has just made his first appearance of the game with about three minutes left in the first half. He was overaggressive and got trapped inside on a long run by Rod Smart.

Campbell just put another nail in his coffin, although the play was harmless. He lat Smart get by him on a pass, but Weinke overthrew the former XFL back.

In all of the laterals after the blocked field goal, the fact that Nic Clemons was the one who blocked the kick was overlooked. After that one, you’ll hear plenty of Danny Smith’s shrill voice around the locker room at halftime, that’s for sure. You do that when there’s zero time on the clock, not with half a minute left.

Wow, Mark Brunell showed some zip in the old arm on that first pass to Cartwright. Maybe he can. . .naaaaah!

All too often last year, the Redskins would get the ball late in the first half and just sit on it and not score. It was good to see some aggressiveness and a 43-yard field goal by Hall to steal three points.

First Quarter:

That was a bad INT by Ramsey, not that any are good. He was just very tentative in throwing that ball up for Moss, a pick on an overthrow would have been much better.

I’m sure that Rod Gardner was very familiar with Ade Jimoh, having faced the Redskins backup CB on the scout team for the last two years. I have to think that Springs stays with Gardner on that play. Still, a nice play to cap off a nice drive by the Panthers.

On third and seven, Jimoh did manage to stay with Ricky Prohl and force Dellhome to throw the ball away. Of course, Prohl is about 15 years older than Ade is, so that should be a routine play for him. It’s not.

Going into the third series, still no continuity on offense for the Redskins.

Nice leaping catch by Betts to snag a Ramsey pass to get the Redskins out of a hole deep in Carolina territory. He’s going to be the third-down back and catches like that will help out a lot.

Are the Redskins learning how to sell the screen? Rock Cartwright just picked up a first off of one that actually worked the way it’s supposed to. They haven’t done much with the screen since, well, Gibbs left in 1992.

Pregame, 18:50 EDT 08.13.05

What I’ll be watching:

• Nic Clemons: I can’t see Renaldo Wynn and Phillip Daniels going for very long tonight and the coaches will be able to give the kid a good, long look. After two years on the practice squad, he either has to make it or not. This game will go a long way in determining whether he makes it or not.
• The punters: Joe Gibbs told me the other day that the decision as to which punter made the team would be mostly up to special teams coach Danny Smith. Andy Groom has been booming the heck out of the ball at camp and he has a slim but real shot at unseating Tom
  Tupa if he can get off to a strong start tonight. Groom has very little rope, however. One shank or one boomed through the end zone from midfield could spell doom for his chances.
• Patrick Ramsey: Yeah, this is obvious, but it’s critical that he comes out and shows some command. I think that Gibbs will give him one or two deep shots in the three or four series that Ramsey will play and the QB has to take advantage of them.

Three and Out: Training Camp Week 1

You can reach me by email at rtandler@comcast.net

After a week of dropping a few pounds in the heat and
humidity at Redskins Park—pounds that those of you who know me know were ones I
can well afford to lose—here are my three random observations of Week 1 of
Training Camp 2005.

1. I don’t know if Lemar Marshall if big enough to make it at middle
   linebacker, but it’s sure easy to root for him to do so. The other day he
   has his jersey and pads off and was talking to a group of reporters and,
   looking from 15 yards away, I thought, “Who is this receiver all these
   guys are talking to?” He not tiny, mind you, but standing there in his
   sweat-soaked Under Armor shirt, he just didn’t have the look that one
   associates with the likes of classic MLB’s like Butkus or Singletary. In
   talking to him, though, he seems to have the mental side of it down.
   Marshall has a quiet, intense personality like those of his new teammate
   David Patten and, going back a little further, Art Monk. Since Gregg
   Williams’ scheme doesn’t place as much importance on the size of the Mike
   man, emphasizing instead smarts and toughness, Marshall’s lack of stature
   and bulk doesn’t preclude success for him. As Marshall said, “It's not
   about your weight, it's about your heart."


2. Kevin Dyson, the touchdown scorer on the Music City Miracle and the near-TD
   scorer on the last play of the Titans’ Super Bowl loss to the Rams, is
   also easy to root for but he is struggling on the practice field. He’s an
   engaging guy, quick with a smile and always willing to talk. On the field,
   however, he looks like what he is, a guy who hasn’t played much in the
   past two seasons (he missed most of 2003 with an injury and all of 2004
   after getting cut in camp). His movements are not fluid, he seems to be
   out of synch with the quarterbacks and his hands haven’t impressed. The
   good thing for Dyson is that his primary competition for the last roster
   spot at receiver is Darnerien McCants, who has had a severe case of the
   dropsies himself. The bad news for both of those players is that the
   performance of those two has opened the door for receivers like Jimmy
   Farris and Jamin Elliott to move up there and steal that last spot.


3. Patrick Ramsey has been unimpressive. Not great, not terrible, just
   unimpressive. Don’t project that assessment beyond the first week of camp,
   it’s just for right now. It is based mostly on the longer throws, which
   are supposed to be both Ramsey’s strength as a quarterback and the new
   focus of the offense this year. Bombs tend to rely less on “chemistry”
   between the QB and his receiver than do shorter routes when the
   quarterback has to throw the ball before the pass catcher cuts. Ramsey
   seems to do fine on the deeper passes in pitch and catch stuff, where
   there is no defender on the receiver. The ball has a nice trajectory and
   the receiver doesn’t have to break his stride to run under the ball. When
   a defender gets involved, however, it’s a different story. The receiver
   has to adjust, the defender is able to make a play, or, most frequently,
   the ball is overthrown beyond the reach of anyone. It’s not like this
   happens all the time, but enough so that it’s disturbing. Nothing to
   portend doom and gloom here, mind you. It’s just something to look for
   when the start playing against guys in different-colored uniforms.

OUT!!