GameBlog vs. Patriots Final

Pregame

Playing the role of the Master of the Obvious here (OK, so what else is new), but I think that it’s critical for the Redskins offense to move the ball. So much so, I would say, that Al Saunders might crack out a little bit more of his playbook, although I don’t think there will be much radical like, say, motion before the snap.

The defense needs to work on the fact that teams have been taking advantage of its aggressive nature. The flea flicker burned them against Cincinnati and the reverse got them against the Jets. Marcus Washington told me after the Jets game that it was more a matter of individual breakdowns than of problems with the nature of the defense itself. Both Washington and Andre Carter assured me that the defense will continue to take it to the other teams’ offenses.

First Quarter

It looks like David Lonie will get his make or break chance tonight. He’s kicking off so that would indicate that he’ll get the punting chores in the early going. If the offense does well, though, he might not have much of a shot.

Not much shown either in the way of aggressiveness or effectiveness on the Redskins’ initial defensive series. Brady had time to make phone calls while he was in the pocket against Washington’s four-man rush and he converts a couple of third downs. The Skins stiffen as Brady runs out of room deep in the red zone and the Pats settle for three.

Brunell displayed a good arm on a deep incompletion to Brandon Lloyd. Although it was overthrown he stepped in and zipped about 30 yards downfield on a rope.

Betts is running a little harder tonight than the rather casual style he displayed against the Jets. Nothing like a little competition to light the fire.

A little too booming a punt by Lonie on his first effort, into the end zone from near midfield.

A wham, bam, thank you ma’am drive for the Patriots. That screen to Dillon that got it going was kind of funny looking, it almost looked like he was surprised to get the ball. The Redskins sure didn’t think he was the receiver and before they knew what happened Dillon was into Redskins territory, turning a second and 10 at the 20 into the start of a quick scoring drive.

It’s kind of surprising that Gregg Williams is starting to do some liberal substitution on defense. Golston, Montgomery, Prioleau, among others, are in for the third series. You’d think that Williams would want to have his defense at least stop the other guys once.

Second Quarter

A good fourth-down conversion for Brunell there. He can fire the ball in there when he needs to. The fact that they went for it on fourth and four in an indication of how badly Gibbs and Saunders want to get the offense rolling.

Now, as far as I know there is no such thing as a “vanilla” field goal attempt. It is what it is and that one by Hall was just flat out ugly. It didn’t appear that the Patriots got exceptional penetration; Hall just kicked it too low.

It’s obvious that Williams wants to see how the defense can play without blitzing. He’s sent a linebacker maybe once or twice and he’s not sent a back yet. So far, the answer to the question is “not too well”.

A couple of all-out blitzes lead to a third-down conversion and a touchdown. Maybe it’s not the schemes, maybe the Redskins are just getting whipped.

Feel free to cover Ben Watson, someone, anyone. It is permitted under the rules, I do believe.

Joe Gibbs looks like he could appear on one of those “want to get away?” commercials. If he was angry last week in a press conference that lasted less than three minutes, I can’t wait to see how tense and short tonight’s will be.

Even though this is no more than a glorified practice, it would be disturbing to see the Redskins practice like this. I’m not doubting their effort but the focus seems to be off. It’s as though they are playing the role of the scout team while the Patriots just run through their paces.

Third Quarter

Duckett is in the game. The quick scouting report based on his first couple of runs is that he needs to travel North and not East-West. He got five yards up the gut and then went nowhere trying to get outside.

Whatever Gibbs and/or anyone else said at halftime didn’t have much effect as a lackluster three and out was the effort out of the gate.

The contributing writers to the print edition of Warpath were asked to give their projections for the NFL Most Valuable Player, among a few other categories. I picked Peyton Manning as the MVP. After watching him tonight, I think I want to change my pick to Tom Brady. He won’t put up as many yards or have numbers as flashy because the New England offense isn’t built like Indy’s and the Patriots play outdoors in the North, but he orchestrates that offense to perfection, makes all of the throws with zip and accuracy, and knows how to deal with anything and everything that’s thrown at him.

Fourth Quarter

Finally, after 11 quarters of play, the Redskins get a takeaway. That and the insertion of Jason Campbell into the game have given the Redskins something of a spark.

They just showed a clip of Al Saunders talking about Campbell and he was very guarded in his praise for the young quarterback. In fact, it wasn’t praise at all really, just a wait-and-see attitude. That’s consistent with the few times that I’ve talked to Saunders about him. The coach apparently wants to be careful not to put too much pressure on him or make him think that the coach is satisfied with where he is.

I’ve touched on this before in other articles, but it’s obvious that the light schedule that Gibbs has in training camp has a lot to do with the way that they have looked in the preseason. The late start, the paucity of two-a-days, the scarcity of hitting, have the Redskins ill-prepared to be competing from scrimmage against teams that are more battle tested. Of course, the object is to win in December, not in August and you can’t question Gibbs’ record when it comes to late in the season. But it sure makes nights like this miserable ones.

A positive note is that Reid Doughty, the rookie safety, has played much better tonight than he has in the previous two games. He stripped the ball causing the fumble that the Redskins recovered and has generally been in the right place.

The Redskins can bounce back from this, no question. They bounced back after the debacle in the Meadowlands and that was a game that counted. However, they had done some good things that year before that and they had the memory of that to fall back on. They haven’t played a solid, complete game since Christmas Eve. That will make it tougher to get any momentum generated.

Duckett Redux

A couple of my favorite commentators, Joe and Michael, took exception to some of my points in my recent blog about the Duckett trade. Their points were excellent and many have echoed their concerns. They are worthy of further examination.

You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net

See the original blog here.

Joe: The move smacks of desperation. I think to the "smart set" (your words) you only make a move like this if you're looking at about 8 games without your starter.

I used the term “aggressive” to describe the move. Aggression and desperation aren’t quite the same thing, but they hang out in the same neighborhood. A dog who has been backed into a corner becomes aggressive in trying to get out of there. We’ll just have to wait and see if the Skins feel that they have been backed into the corner. To me, the move makes sense and is fitting with the way that the organization does business even if Portis will be 100% for the Vikings game. It’s not like the Redskins are strangers do making moves like this absent a compelling reason for desperation such as a major injury. If Clinton Portis isn’t ready by Week 2 in Dallas then we will know the answer.

Michael: I do think the move makes the 'Skins better this year, but I also think we did overpay for Duckett's services, mainly because Duckett's on a 1-year deal. You have to ask yourself whether a high third-round pick equivalent is worth more than a situational RB for 1 year. I think the high third-round pick is worth more.

Ultimately, it depends on who the third-round pick is. If it’s Derrick Dockery, certainly it is. If that pick turns out to be Rashad Bauman, the one-year rental of Duckett has the potential to much move valuable. The third the Redskins gave up to get Mark Brunell in 2004 wound up belonging to the Packers and they used it to take Clemson DT Donnell Washington. He has yet to appear in an NFL game and he’s now the property of the Raiders. Then again, later in that round the Redskins traded their ’05 second-rounder and took Chris Cooley. Thirds are gambles; you might not even get one solid year out of them. There isn’t much of a chance that the Redskins won’t get one solid year out of Duckett. But if the pick gets used for another Cooley, the Redskins clearly will have lost the gamble.

Joe: As far as overpaying, yes, some people prefer minivans, some prefer Porches. Some people like homes next to a school, some like mansions in Malibu. Buy you don't pay Porsche money for a minivan. You don't pay Malibu money to live next to a school in Richmond. Regardless of utility, a 1st day pick is too much to spend on a short yardage back. Especially when you have a few guys on the roster that can handle it already.

Good points, but I think that they fall apart with the last sentence there. Who on the roster is a proven short-yardage back? Sellers had exactly one carry last year, for one yard and a touchdown. That was against the Eagles and, if you recall, Sellers coughed the ball up when it was just a hair over the goal line (or a hair short of it, depending on who you talk to). I pointed out Betts short-yardage numbers—two carries in third and two or less to go situations for minus two yards—in the first blog. Rock did it some in his rookie year but he doesn’t have the size to push the pile and he does have a tendency to put the ball on the ground. Am I missing some proven commodity here? If you don’t have that short-yardage guy and you believe that such a deficiency could cost you the Super Bowl then you pay what it takes to

Michael: What about team unity? Obviously, winning helps unite a team, but bringing Duckett in clearly has made waves at least among the RB corps.

Joe: They have a right to be upset if the coaches were blowing sunshine up their tailpipes while they spent all spring and summer working out in Ashburn, just to have the rug pulled out from under them on the eve of the season. You'd be mad, too.

This argument against the deal holds the least amount of water in my view. You don’t decide against making a move that you believe will improve your team because it might bruise the feelings of some of the players. These players are realistic enough to know that any sunshine blown their way is just temporary and that clouds could be cast in front of it at any second. We heard the initial gut reactions of Cartwright and Betts. Cartwright has apologized for what he said and Betts seems to be OK with it, too. They are professionals and they will go about their business and try to earn—that’s the key word, emphasized like in the old Smith Barney commercials—their roles and their playing time.

Duckett Deal Raises Questions

You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net

What exactly did the Redskins give up in this deal?

You’ve heard a third-round pick, but that’s not entirely accurate. The compensation will have the draft pick trade chart value of a third-round, but it may not be a third-rounder that changes hands. According to Bill Williamson in the Denver Post, and confirmed by Warpath’s John Keim, these are the possible scenarios:

1. The two teams exchange first-round picks, in which the Broncos would make a huge jump up the round
2. The teams flip-flop their first-rounders and the Broncos get a fourth-rounder in 2008
3. The teams flip-flop their first-rounders and the Broncos get a third- rounder next year
4. The Broncos get a third-rounder in 2007 and a fourth-rounder in 2008.

To make this as expensive as possible, let’s assume that they are looking at the point value of the first pick in the draft, which on the 2006 chart was 265 points. So, somehow or another, the Redskins have to transfer 265 points to the Broncos. Obviously for any of the first three scenarios listed to happen the Broncos would have to the picking later than the Redskins meaning that the Broncos would need to have a better record in 2006.

Let’s say that the Broncos win the Super Bowl and have the 32^nd pick of the first round. To make up those 265 points in an exchange of first-round picks the Redskins would have to own the 20^th pick or better. Presumably scenarios #2 and #3 will come into play if the teams are closer together in their draft positions. The fourth possibility, the one that has the Redskins giving up the two picks for Duckett, would occur if the Redskins finish with a better record than the Broncos.

On the face of it giving up a first-day pick for a player with one year left on his contract is a pretty hefty price, one that says very loudly that the Redskins are looking to win it all in 2006.

What does this tell us about Portis’ condition?

The “smart set” out there is saying that this trade means that the condition of Clinton Portis’ shoulder is worse, maybe much worse, than the Redskins are letting on. While it’s in the realm of possibility that there is some truth in this line of thinking it is sheer speculation. People are certainly entitled to being able to engage in that in this age of instant analysis. So I’ll exercise my right and engage in some sheer speculation of my own and try to get into Joe Gibbs’ thinking here. I’m speculating that Gibbs made this deal for two reasons.

First, in his first go around in the NFL he liked to have multiple starting-caliber running backs. In the early years it was John Riggins and Joe Washington. The second Super Bowl was won with George Rogers and Kelvin Bryant gaining the yards during the regular season and then with Timmy Smith setting the Super Bowl rushing record that still stands. In ’91 rookie Ricky Ervins spelled Ernest Byner and Gerald Riggs toted the rock over the goal line.

Now he has Portis and. . .who? Ladell Betts has shown flashes but he hasn’t shown enough to be considered a starting-caliber back. Rock Cartwright is a great guy and a superb special teams player but as a starting running back, well, he’s a great guy. Nemo Broughton? He got his audition in the late going against the Jets on Saturday and was just OK and he fumbled the ball away. Jesse Lumsden? This is the big leagues here, not the CFL. Although Duckett has started just 13 games in his four seasons, that’s eight more than all of the Redskins’ backs not named Portis have started combined.

Second, Gibbs wants to save some of Portis for when it really counts. Last year the Redskins played 18 games. By the last couple of games, the playoffs, Portis was pretty beaten up. Despite all of the talk we heard earlier in the year about Betts taking some of the load off, Portis got virtually every single carry of any significance all year long. Add to it the X factor of the injured shoulder and the fact that he’s starting off the year banged up and there is good reason to want to make sure that his load can be made lighter

The Redskins hope to play in 19 or 20 games in 2006. If their season is going to last longer, Portis is going to have to last longer. Duckett should help make that happen.

This deal doesn’t necessarily mean that the team thinks that Portis will be unavailable for the start of the regular season. It does mean that the want to increase the chances that he will be available for the end of the season.

What about Betts?

Betts quoted as saying, “I don’t understand it” in regards to this trade. I don’t understand something either. I don’t understand why he thinks he’s entitled to anything. Again, he’s shown flashes, but they have been few and far between. What haven’t been few and far between are his injuries. Imagine if the Cincinnati game was a regular-season game. Portis goes down early, Gibbs turns around to look for Betts to go in and, oops, he’s on the bench with a tweaked hammy.

Betts hasn’t proven to be much of a role player either. He’s not a short-yardage back. In 2005 he carried just twice in third and two or less situations and netted a loss of two yards. Third and long hasn’t proven to be his specialty either unless you consider 10 catches for a 7.8-yard average and four first downs to be an acceptable level of production in that role.

If Portis were to miss some significant time, say three or four games in a row, could Betts be relied upon to carry the load, to carry 20-25 times a game? His body of work suggests that he can’t.

This is not to say that Betts is worthless. He has good size, decent speed and good running instincts. The guy can play the game. But if you’ve been around for four years and you have nothing to hang your hat on, you don’t have a role that you own, you haven’t instilled confidence that you could handle the starting job even in the short term much less over the long haul, you should expect to be challenged.

I’m willing to write off Betts’ comments as a heat of the moment type of thing. Nobody likes to have competition brought in and he can be forgiven for having an emotional reaction.

But any player on this team that has an entitlement mentality and doesn’t believe that he needs to go out and earn his playing time will soon find his way onto the end of the bench and, eventually, will find his way out of town.

What’s the bottom line here?

The Redskins have once again shown that they are the most aggressive organization in the game. If they believe they have a hole that needs to be filled, they go out and fill it with the best player they can get. They don’t care if someone is going to get on the air or in front of a keyboard and write that they overpaid for that player. It happens virtually every time they acquire a player. It started when everyone said they overpaid for Portis and for Mark Brunell in Gibbs’ first acquisitions. Since then they’ve paid too much for Marcus Washington and Shawn Springs, gave up too much to get Rocky McIntosh, took an unbearable cap hit to swing the deal to get Santana Moss and so on. The Redskins made the moves anyway.

Let’s talk about this concept of “overpaid” for a minute here. A house in my neighborhood sold for $200,000 recently. I look at the house and the size of the lot that it’s on and I would say that the family that bought it overpaid for it. But it so happens that the house backs up to the elementary school and the family that bought it has two young children. To me, the proximity to the school is worthless but it was quite valuable to the family that will have their kids’ school in their back yard for the next several years. They were willing to “overpay” for the house for that reason.

To me, any money spent on a two-seat Porsche is overpaying because I don’t like driving cars like that and I have no use for one. Others would feel the same way about the minivans and SUV’s that I prefer. It’s all a matter of utility to the end user. In this particular instance, Duckett has a great deal of utility for the Washington Redskins. They gave up what they had to in order to get his services. They are now in a position where they could sustain an injury at running back and where they can better spread out the workload at the position if everyone stays healthy. They also have gained the short-yardage and goal-line power back that they have been missing for the past couple of years.

While there is no question that they will be better in 2006 for having made this deal, there is the matter of the third-round pick, possibly more. At least in all of the other “overpayment” situations mentioned above the player obtained was under contract for a number of years. Duckett becomes an unrestricted free agent after this season and a third round pick is a high price for a one-season rental.

The Redskins haven’t exactly pushed all of their chips into the pot, gambling that they will win it all in 2006. But the pile in the middle of the table keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Rich Tandler is the author of The Redskins From A to Z, Volume One: The Games. This unique book has an account of every game the Redskins played from when they moved to Washington in 1937 through the 2001 season. For details and ordering information go to http://www.RedskinsGames.com

GameBlog vs. Jets--Final

Pregame

It’s sort of like RFK now in that they seem to have settled in to a pregame routine here at FedEx Field. You get a number from the cheerleaders, then the Redskins Marching Band performs, then the player introductions (as a team, no individuals) complete with the waving flags and the infernal fireworks. After years of trying a bunch of different things, you can set your watch by it now.

No major physical changes at FedEx either. They did something with the luxury suites, the windows are gone, probably to return when the cold weather does. I can’t see the very top level from here in the press box, so perhaps Daniel Snyder put some seats on top of that wind fence up there (hey, they’re not obstructed view).

Brandon Lloyd’s gametime decision was to wear his hat with the bill facing frontward.

First Quarter

David Frost is kicking off for the Redskins. Tyler Jones did last week, which made little sense because he is unlikely to be on the team. Frost got a decent kick and made a TD-saving tackle at midfield.

A blitz and sack on Patrick Ramsey’s first snap. You think that they knew that he doesn’t react well under pass rush pressure?

As one of our contributors here dubbed him, “Frostee the Rollman” is true to his name as he gets about 15 yards of roll off of a good bounce on a punt that will go in the books as a 56-yard boomer with no return. He’ll take it any way he can get it. Three minutes in he’s the star of the game.

Nice open field tackle by Pierson Prioleau on a quick out. Give Carlos Rogers an assist as he forced the receiver back into the middle of the field, giving Prioleau the opportunity.

Another key Redskin down long enough to cause a TV timeout, but Cornelius Griffin ran off the field so it didn’t seem to be anything serious.

Kenny Wright is playing like someone who has a chance to start on opening day. He got the sack on Ramsey on the first play, made the tackle on the second play, and just did a nice job of batting away a first-down pass attempt.

Marcus Washington looked like a bull-rushing defensive tackle as he pushed back an interior lineman and got to Ramsey just as he was releasing the ball. He havoc just waiting to happen to the other team’s offense.

If you want to see a receiver going deep in this offense, look at the numbers on the field. That’s where the one that Lloyd made a good catch on last week went and that’s where Brunell’s 28-yarder to Antwaan Randle El just went. They’re staying out of the traffic in the middle of the field and not pushing Brunell’s arm strength by going to far out to the sideline.

Danny Smith is getting plenty to get annoyed with on special teams. There was the opening kickoff that nearly went all the way, a personal foul that turned a Jet 15-yard punt into a 30-yard net and a holding call on another punt that cost some 25 yards in field position after a nice return by Mike Espy.

Everyone is talking about Betts filling in should Portis miss any regaulr-season action, but Rock Cartwright will play a key role as well. Betts hasn’t shown that he can carry a 25-30 carry load, so Cartwright will have to get some significant carries to give him a rest.

Second Quarter

Just like with the flea flicker last week, the Redskins were made to pay for their aggressive nature as the Jets got a TD on a 61-yard reverse. It was well-executed by the Jets, but someone didn’t stay home.

Jason Campbell is in the game with the first-team offense. A little bit of nerves apparent as an easy toss to Cartwright was high.

More nerves as his second pass is picked off. He tried to force it in to Thrash and it ended up right in the bread basket of a Jet. A sideline lecture by Bill Lazor on what went awry there ensued. That was a rare opportunity for Campbell, being in with the starters, he needs to take advantage of those.

The Jets are pulling out all the stops here. The reverse, an onside kick, and then a fake punt, sort of, where the punter made the decision to kick the ball after it was apparent that he wouldn’t make the first down. A three-yard net punt was the result. They should save some of this for the regular season.

A couple of solid Campbell passes lead to the Redskins’ first touchdown of 2006. With a rusher in his face after a bootleg he stopped and fired to David Patten for 15 and then he went to James Thrash for 20 as he was being getting knocked down. He was operating with the Redskins’ second-team offense against the second and third string Jet defenders.

More reason for Smith to be steamed as the Jets take back a kickoff for a touchdown. Actually, he’s looking more befuddled than angry at the moment. There will be plenty of time to dish out tirades in the film room on Monday.

Sellers was the lone back on one snap and got eight yards straight up the middle. From the same formation (with Nemo Broughton lined up at wide receiver), he carried twice more for 12 and six yards. He’ll be a fantasy stud, I tell ya.

Sean Taylor’s recognition skills are improving. On a first-down pass he closed quickly and made the tackle to keep the gain to three yards. The next play was a run up the middle and he stayed back instead of flying up to make a play that was already being made by the middle of the line.

Brooks Bollinger is running for his life and making the most of it. He ran for nine to convert a third and seven, picked up 15 more with a late hit flag and then ran for 25 more. Those things happen, but you’d like to see more out of the defensive line, which is playing with a mix of starters and backups.

Third Quarter

Maybe Al Saunders won’t run the same play twice in the same month when the season starts, but he sure isn’t hesitant to call the same thing a few times in a row tonight. We had Sellers’ three blasts earlier and then the same play to Broughton three times in succession.

It looks like the Redskins coached up Mike Rumph’s tackling skills in a hurry. He made a couple of solid open-field stops, although he’s hitting a bit high. Of course, it would be nice if his coverage would improve so that he wouldn’t have to make those tackles to begin with.

The Jets are just chewing up the third quarter. They’re converting third downs and a fourth down, getting key scrambles by Bollinger, and generally putting on a classic display of ball control. That field goal drive ran 23 plays, 76 yards, 11:58 elapsed. The Funky Four had to wait until just 20 seconds remained in the third quarter to do their thing.

Last week’s game was sloppy but it wasn’t because there were a lot of penalties. This week, the laundry is flying. There were eight accepted penalties in the first half and I think that there were at least five more on that long Jets drive. And we haven’t even gotten into the true garbage time yet.

Mike Espy isn’t doing much to strengthen the case he made for a roster spot last week. He’s dropped a couple of catchable balls and hasn’t done much on returns even though he’s been back on every New York kick.

Fourth Quarter

The night’s attendance is around 65,000. That sounds impressive until you realize that the stadium is only 2/3 full with a crowd that size.

Christian Morton seems to have played his way down the depth chart. He didn’t go in until after two players acquired just this week, Mike Rumph and Julian Battle, were deemed to be done for the night.

The Jets have now fumbled five times and lost none of them.

John Eubanks is another corner who is playing himself out of a job. He left his man as Kellen Clemens was scrambling out of the pocket and Clemens found Reggie Newhouse for six points.

Todd Collins now gets a chance to remove that bad taste that must be lingering in his mouth from last week. Campbell was inconsistent tonight and a good show by Collins will put some more zing into the battle for the #2 QB job.

After Robert Johnson left the game with a sprained ankle, Buck Ortega got his opportunity and he made the most of it, catching a 30-yard touchdown pass on fourth and ten. It helped that the linebacker attempting to cover him had no clue as to how to do so, but Ortega made the catch and run. You have to wonder if a 227-lb tight end has a place on the team, but you never know.

The Injury Bug Bites

You can reach Rich Tandler by email at WarpathInsiders@comcast.net

It figures.

I spent a good chunk of two weeks up at Redskins Park, two weeks that were notable only for their lack of anything remotely resembling news. The biggest buzz in the media room was created by the signing of Ben Emanuel. The Gibbs pressers ran around five minutes rather than the usual ten to fifteen simply because there wasn’t much new to ask him about.

Then I take off for a few days to deliver my son and a minivan full of belongings to college and, boom, a veritable Sunday New York Times worth of news bursts on to the scene. Mostly, it was bad news. One definition of news is that it’s something that makes you say, “Holy crap” when you hear it. This was mostly stuff that made us say “Oh, crap” (or something stronger) when we heard it. Perhaps Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington would be a better place to be reporting on such events than Redskins Park would be.

We’ll start with the development that seems to be most likely to affect a regular-season game, Shawn Springs’ surgery. Springs went going to go to North Carolina after the game in Cincinnati to have some pain in his groin area that just would go away checked out. There was some concern that it was a sports hernia. As it turned out the problem was a minor tear in the muscle that attaches the abdomen to the pubic bone. That certainly sounds painful, and it was to Springs, but it’s better news than the hernia would have been.

The projection of him being out 3-6 weeks is a huge range given the timing of things. At three weeks he would have a full week of practice going into the regular season opener against the Vikings. At six weeks he has missed that game plus the ones in Dallas and Houston.

That leaves Kenny Wright, who had a night to forget against the Bengals, as they starter and Adebola Jimoh as the nickel back. You have to think that Gregg Williams and Jerry Gray can scheme their away around this situation for a week or two so as long as Springs’ rehab isn’t much longer than the long end of the estimates the Redskins should be able to survive.

In search of a backup, the Redskins were able to obtain cornerback Mike Rumph from the 49ers for a ham sandwich.

OK, it’s just plain wrong to refer to Taylor Jacobs as a deli item. He’s a class act and a hard worker and there isn’t a single person who has met him or played with him that won’t be wishing the absolute best for him. The Redskins have been wishing that he would perform for the past three years and he just hasn’t.

Now, to be sure, the Redskins may have gotten a turkey sandwich in return for Jacobs in the form of Rumph. He has to be considered a bigger bust than the player he was traded for. Like Jacobs, he has been ineffective or injured for virtually his entire career and Rumph was a first-round pick and Jacobs was a second rounder.

Rumph was joined on the Redskins roster by another ex-Niner. Linebacker Jeff Posey broke in with San Francisco in 1998 and was signed by Washington after stints with Jacksonville, Houston and, most recently, Buffalo. He’s a pass rush specialist who, at first glance, seems to be a good character guy who will fit right in to the Redskins’ locker room.

He takes the place of Chris Clemons, who in the past several months has sunk as though he had been pushed overboard with a Jersey barrier tied around his neck. After LaVar Arrington was released, Clemons was the early favorite to take his spot as the starting weak side linebacker. That was before the team brought back a trimmed-down Warrick Holdman and tabbed weak side backer Rocky McIntosh with their initial pick in the draft. Clemons was backing up Marcus Washington, who never comes out of the game, before spraining his knee and being waived-injured.

Also placed on that waived-inured list were running back Kerry Carter and safety Ben Emanuel. Carter was receiving an extended look when he cut and blew out two knee ligaments. Ben Emanuel, we hardly knew ye. After signing on Thursday of last week, he got beaten for a touchdown on Sunday, sustaining hamstring and ankle injuries later in the game, and he got the ax on Tuesday. Hope he kept his place in San Francisco and didn’t have his mail forwarded or anything.

To fill out the roster the team signed running back A. J. Harris and offensive lineman Spencer Folau. I can’t tell you much about either one of them, so here are their thumbnails from the Redskins press release:

Harris, 6-1, 230 lbs., appeared in 43 games during his career at Northern Illinois. During his college career, he rushed for 1,687 yards on 342 carries and 12 touchdowns. He also recorded 197 receiving yards on 31 catches. Harris was try-out for the Redskins during their 2006 rookie camp.

Folau, 6-5, 310 lbs., is an eight-year NFL veteran who spent time on the rosters of Baltimore, Miami and most recently, New Orleans. He has appeared in 91 career games with 43 starts.

Folau was waived by the Saints in August 2005 and was out of football for the season. He played college ball at Idaho.

While it’s doubtful that neither of them are more than camp fodder, any offensive lineman who has drawn a check for eight years as Folau has might be considered an upgrade over the current depth.

There was some more buzz created yesterday over Clinton Portis’ injury. Dan Patrick was reporting on his ESPN Radio show that the shoulder injury is more serious than the Redskins are letting on and that Portis is likely to miss the start of the regular season. This ran counter to an earlier report by John Clayton on that very same four-letter network which said that it was likely that Portis would face the Vikings on September 11.

The fact of the matter is that we don’t know yet. Here on WarpathInsiders.com, we used the headline “Gibbs ‘Hopes’ to Have Portis Back for Opener”. The Washington Post and ESPN headline writers said that Portis status was “uncertain.” They all say the same thing—we don’t know yet.

You can run MRI’s and other tests and all you have is an educated guess. This is the instant information age and we want to know right now. But a human body isn’t a machine and it will repair itself on its own schedule.

Besides, Portis shoulder is not going to be completely healed when he goes back on the field. It needs to be improved to the point where it is an acceptable risk to put him back on the field. Add that to the variability of how fast it may get to a point where it is an acceptable risk and you have too much going on to pinpoint just when he might be able to take the field.

Assuming that Ladell Betts himself can stay healthy enough to stay on the field he can do an acceptable job gaining some yardage in Portis’ absence. Where Portis will be missed is in areas like blitz pickups. Portis does the stonewall thing with onrushing defenders while Betts does the matador thing. Like with Springs, the Redskins can scheme around the absence in the short term.

Rich Tandler is the author of The Redskins From A to Z, Volume One: The Games. This unique book has an account of every game the Redskins played from when the moved to Washington in 1937 through the 2001 season. For details and ordering information go to http://www.RedskinsGames.com

GameBlog vs. Bengals Final

In this instant-information age, there is a tendency to want to know about the status of an injury such as the one that Portis suffered right away. Unfortunately, the human body doesn’t always give an indication as to the severity of an injury as quickly as we would like. We’ll know a lot more about his status in a few days when we see how it responds to some treatment and rest.

Third Quarter

Listen, do you hear it? That loud and unmistakable sound is opportunity knocking for Jason Campbell. While it wasn’t all Collins’ fault—nobody could blame him a bit if he pulled a Peyton Manning and threw his linemen under the bus—he still wasn’t sharp when he had time and he had that deer in the headlights look on occasion. Campbell gets 30 minutes to shine. If he is on target, makes good decisions and moves the team he’ll have a leg up on Collins for the backup QB job.

It’s kind of odd that Tyler Jones is doing the kickoffs. There was talk that the punter would be doing the kicking off to save Hall’s leg for field goals. You would think that they would want to get as much practice for Frost and/or Lonie as possible, so maybe this won’t be the case.

Joe Sykes beat Jon Jansen on a few occasions in camp and he just did a good job there in getting to Doug Johnson and getting the sack. He is getting to be a practice squad possibility.

We saw the good and the bad of Jason Campbell on his first series. A zinger to Espy from his own end zone to convert a first down was followed by a nice touch pass downfield that Jimmy Farris could have caught had he made the decision to use both hands. Then, on second down, he couldn’t make a decision, got happy feet, took and sack and fumbled.

That was a cover two on the TD pass to Kelly Washington? Try cover none. Dennard Wilson was horribly slow getting over to help and he didn’t react to the ball in the air.

We have had a Manuel White sighting. He made a nice move and turn upfield on a swing pass from Campbell. He needs to have more moments like that if he’s going to make this team.

Fourth Quarter

Madden delivered what the headline should be for this affair when he said that it looked like the Bengals were ready to play a preseason game tonight and the Redskins were not.

The sight of Clinton Portis sitting on the sideline with his arm in a sling should quash any talk of Ladell Betts being dealt to the Jets or anywhere else for that matter.

Nemo Broughton did himself a favor in his quest to make the team again with a solid blitz pickup on third down. That’s the kind of thing that the coaches make a fuss over in the film room tomorrow.

Rocky McIntosh had a pretty impressive stint at linebacker. He moved well, fought off blockers, and made a few tackles. He won’t work his way into the starting lineup by opening night but he’ll be in some of Williams’ packages and may be starting by Halloween.

It’s safe to say that Campbell has answered the knock at the door. He’s had a few rough moments but Collins had more in less playing time. Although he just undid that beautiful pass to Ortega with a bad interception, he has thrown some excellent passes.

Karon Riley is having a good night of mop-up duty. He always seems to be around the ball and he’s planted a few backs.

GameBlog vs. Bengals Second Quarter

Listen, do you hear it? That loud and unmistakable sound is opportunity knocking for Jason Campbell. While it wasn’t all Collins’ fault—nobody could blame him a bit if he pulled a Peyton Manning and threw his linemen under the bus—he still wasn’t sharp when he had time and he had that deer in the headlights look on occasion. Campbell gets 30 minutes to shine. If he is on target, makes good decisions and moves the team he’ll have a leg up on Collins for the backup QB job.

Second Quarter

I won’t blame Collins going down on third and one on him. Center Mike Pucillo got blown back into him before he could even move.

Well, the Bengals have now scored once each way you can, with a safety, touchdown, extra point, and field goal.

Mike Espy looked surprised when Collins finally got the ball past the line of scrimmage for the first down. Maybe that will settle him down because it’s almost to the point where he will need to be pulled before his confidence is completely shot to hell.

Ataveus Cash isn’t getting much of a chance to try to make the team. He’s had two kickoffs that he couldn’t bring out of the end zone, one punt he had to fair catch, another he let roll out of bounds at the one and another punt that he caught immediately before getting nailed. He’s not likely to make this team anyway but he’s missing out on a chance to make a good impression on some other teams that might need a receiver/returner.

It’s always hard to diagnose an injury from the replay, but it doesn’t look good for Kerry Carter. That knee buckled quite a bit on that cut. If that line doesn’t start blocking any better, Ernest Byner is going to have to suit up and carry the ball.

If Kenny Wright doesn’t step up and start knocking down a few passes, Christian Morton could pass him on the depth chart. Morton made a good hit in space to force a punt.

GameBlog vs. Bengals First Quarter

I’m going to be interested in seeing Adam Archuleta in Gregg Williams’ defense tonight. As he is who is new to the team I expect that he will play longer tonight than most of the starters. With the limited hitting in Redskins camp we really haven’t seen him do his thing and tonight will be his chance.

The weapons are all coming out on this first drive with the run by Portis, the pass to Moss, the attempt to get it to Cooley when he was blocked off by the linebacker and then the circus catch by Lloyd.

Brunell just doesn’t have the arm to complete a pass like the one that was picked off. Few quarterbacks do, for that matter. The blitz pickup wasn’t there and Brunell should either have taken the sack or executed the duck and chuck.

Portis doesn’t seem to be too bad off, but we’ll have to wait and see. If anything it’s a shoulder problem. I know people will be saying that he shouldn’t have been in the game, but you have to get ready for the season somehow. And don’t even think of anyone trying to tell him that he shouldn’t try to make a tackle like that. Portis has to be Portis.

The Washington defense is playing just like Williams and company draw it up. The line is fighting to a standstill, allowing the linebackers and DB’s to come in and make the plays.

The defense doesn’t have any need to play vanilla schemes like the offense does, either. Everyone knows what’s coming—a cornerback streaking towards the quarterback.

And a linebacker or two as well. Marshall and Washington executed a nice game of “meet at the quarterback.”

What a horrible throw by Todd Collins on the INT on the screen pass. I mean, if I could work at it five years full time I probably could learn Al Saunders’ offense, too, but that doesn’t mean I could execute it. I don’t know if Collins can, either.

Another bad decision by Collins on the safety, but that second-team offensive line didn’t help him out. They barely impeded the rush at all. No need to mention any names, they all got beaten.

Reed Doughty made a mistake in biting on the flea flicker, but it wasn’t a rookie mistake. It happens with some frequency, just ask Sean Taylor about the play in Dallas last September. The Redskins will be made to play for their aggressive style of play from time to time; they just need to make sure that the other team does more paying than they do.

GameBlog is On!

I'll be rolling with the GameBlog tonight, so check back during the action for thoughts on and analysis of the action.

As always, your comments are welcome!

Backup O-Line Gets Chance on Sunday

Talk about it on the CPND Message Board.

The Washington Redskins will take the field in Cincinnati at 8:00 PM Eastern on Sunday night, but the real game won’t begin until 45 minutes or an hour later.

Oh, sure, it will be interesting to see if the Redskins’ “first-team” offense can put together a smooth drive or two. “First-team” is in quotation marks because some of those who will be taking the field as offensive starters on September 11 against the Vikings will play little if at all. Clinton Portis, for example, won’t get more than three or four carries if that many. How can you really judge the performance of the offense without its primary weapon?

The same can be said of judging how well the Washington defense does when Cincinnati’s Carson Palmer will be sitting out, waiting to test his damaged knee until the regular season draws closer. Rudi Johnson and Chad Johnson are likely to see about as much action as Portis does. As is the case with most NFL season ticket holders, the Bengal fans who shelled out regular-season prices for tickets to this glorified scrimmage will have grounds to sue for fraud.

That doesn’t mean that the event won’t have anything to hold our interest (especially at the price of free, as it’s on over-the-air national television). The most noteworthy moments will come sometime in the second quarter. By that time, all of the members of the first-string offensive line will be wearing baseball hats and the second team, as named by Joe Bugel earlier this week, will be protecting Todd Collins and trying to open holes for Kerry Carter. Tyson Walter and Chris Pino will be the tackles, Jasper Harvey and Ikechuku Ndukwe will line up at guard, and Mike Pucillo will be the center.

Calling this a rag tag group would be doing a disservice to rags and tags. They used to call the Redskins O-line the Dirtbags. This group is the Paper or Plastic Bags as each of them is one step away from having to bag groceries for a living.

Their collective resume reads like that of the proverbial Waive Wire from Hell. Only Pucillo (seventh round) and Walter (sixth) were drafted. Those two are the only ones who have ever taken in snap in a real NFL game.

All kidding aside, these individuals have something to prove. Pucillo wants to show the Browns that they were fools for letting him go (and considering what happened to center LeCharles Bentley very early in training camp maybe the wish they had held on to him). Walter couldn’t get on the field for one of the worst lines in the NFL in Houston and clearly he wants to show them what a mistake they made. Pino and Harvey played together at San Diego State last year and they want to show that a lot of teams made mistakes in passing them over in the draft. Ndukwe wants to make people have to learn to pronounce his name.

And, more importantly, a couple of them have to step up. All of the millions that Daniel Snyder spent and all of the countless hours and buckets of sweat that the players and coaches have invested in trying to win a Super Bowl this year could be wasted if there is an injury to one of the starting linemen and nobody is able to fill the void. The team has to find someone who could answer the 911 call and fill a void for a few plays, a few games or, perhaps, for a good chunk of the season.

That someone, perhaps a couple of someones, probably will have to come from this group. For Walter, Harvey, Pucillo, Ndukwe, and Pino, the first step towards taking that step forward is Sunday night.

Gibbs' Redskins Take It Easy

We may lose and we may win though
We will never be here again
So open up, I’m climbin’ in,
So take it easy

--The Eagles

As we approach mid August, NFL training camps are in full swing. Across the country from Flowery Branch, Georgia to Albany, New York to Oxnard, California, and many points in between two-a-days in full pads are the order of the day. The sights, smells, and sounds of grass drills, Oklahoma drills, and full-contact 11-on-11 drills are abundant all across the landscape.

That is, except in Ashburn, Virginia. The Redskins finished their last two-a-day practice on Tuesday. They were given a day off on Sunday, a luxury that very few of their counterparts on other teams have enjoyed. Just a handful of practices have been conducted in more than half pads. The starters participated in some activities prior to a scrimmage against the Ravens last weekend but most of them, including every starter on the offensive side of the ball, sat out the full 11 on 11 action. By comparison to, say, the Atlanta Falcons, who have gone for 14 days without a day off with two-a-days every other day, the experience in Ashburn has been more like Club Gibbs.

According to Joe Gibbs, the Redskins earned their relatively light camp schedule with an attendance rate of 98% at OTA’s and other voluntary offseason activities. Certainly, the players, with very few exceptions, seem to be in excellent condition. Six-pack abs are much more prevalent than the hog bellies around Redskins Park.

Still, most players are in shape around the NFL and they’re doing gassers while the Redskins are in an air-conditioned meeting room. Is Gibbs taking a chance in going with a much lighter physical workload?

The evidence says that Gibbs knows what he’s doing. Here is his record month by month, including playoffs:

September: 31-20 (.607)
October: 33-21 (.611)
November: 36-23 (.610)
December: 39-14 (.735)
January: 19-5 (.791)

Gibbs’ teams start off pretty well, a 60% winning percentage being about a 10-win pace over the course of 16 games. After the falling leaves give way to falling snow, however, the winning percentage shoots up to the point where his teams are winning three out of every four games. His theory is that the team will be fresher towards the end of the year if they don’t take too much of a physical toll in August. It’s clear that the Redskins have their legs under them in December and January.

In contrast, the tough camp that Jim Mora ran for the Falcons in 2005, which was similar to the one he’s running this year, had Atlanta set up in good shape up until the middle of the season. A 6-2 start, however, was turned around as the Falcons went 2-6 the second half of the season and missed the playoffs.

To be sure, this is just a snapshot and the link between the tough camp and the late collapse is a hypothesis, not a proven fact. But the human body can only take so much hard physical activity before it begins to break down. It’s too much to ask the players to hit the weight room hard starting in March, conduct OTA’s through May and June, hold a minicamp, pound them in training camp in August before going through the grind of the 16-game NFL schedule. Something has to give somewhere.

It’s a marathon and Gibbs has decided that the strategy will be to take it easy in the middle of it. They jump out strong at the start, getting a lead on the pack with hard work in the spring and early summer. In the middle, they conserve their energy, keeping a steady pace while others are sprinting by them. The Redskins save up for the finishing kick, the last quarter of the race when they are able to keep in cruising while the rest of the field is gasping for air.

The danger is that you just may let one or two of the other race participants get too far ahead of you to catch up. You can’t rely on pulling out a 5-0 finish to the season every year in order to make the last Wild Card playoff spot as the Redskins did last year if you want to make it to the Super Bowl.

The Redskins have upgraded their talent this year in an effort to stay close enough to the leaders so that their annual December run will put them over the top instead of just barely nudging them into the postseason. We will see if that talent improvement will have them poised to make their run when Thanksgiving comes around. We know from history that the finishing kick will be there.

Collins, Campbell Duke It Out

We don’t often see training camp battles on display this clearly. With Mark Brunell sitting out practice (actually he was there standing with the offense and a very interested spectator), veteran Todd Collins and second-year player Jason Campbell took turns running the offense in Tuesday afternoon’s practice. The two are fighting it out to see which of them will be the #2 quarterback, active on game days, and which will have the role of the third string, emergency QB.

Collins took the reigns of the starting offense first. Joe Gibbs cautioned everyone not to read anything into that. He said that Collins and Campbell alternate who is in the #2 quarterback slot and that it was Collins’ turn.

They started out with a spirited “walk through” which really was more like a spirited sprint as the offense hustled up and down the field, running plays against no defenders. A good chunk of Al Saunders’ 700-page playbook was on display. There were option passes by Antwaan Randle El, who is not in the quarterback sweepstakes, end arounds, fake left, throw right screens, delay draws, and other tools in the offensive’s massive bag.

This being the last day of two-a-days, the coaches decided that they’d had enough of drills and the like and they went straight to 11 on 11 play. Campbell threw a nice, deep out on a rope to Jimmy Farris and then made a good decision to throw the ball into the dirt when the defense sniffed out a screen.

Collins responded. As James Thrash broke away from Carlos Rogers Collins launched a picture-perfect, arching bomb that hit the streaking Thrash in stride about 40 yards downfield. Santana Moss broke off his pattern in the hook zone and had a little space between a trio of defenders. Collins smartly threw it low, where only Moss could make the catch. He did. The next play Moss went deeper and Collins displayed excellent touch in zinging the ball into his hands.

And so it went. Campbell to Cooley on a seam route. Collins to Moss again deep down the right sideline. Saunders was getting quite a workout running up to congratulate receivers for making catches.

To be sure, neither quarterback was perfect. A couple of times Campbell tried to finesse the ball in to a receiver when a pass with more mustard on it was called for and the passes were batted away. Collins misfired a time or two.

Overall, it was some pretty good quarterback play on the part of both Campbell and Collins. In the long run, it probably won’t mean a lot. The backup quarterback position won’t be decided in one day and play in preseason games will weigh heavily in the decision. However, we won’t have the opportunity there to watch the two of them duke it out, virtually blow for blow like we did on Tuesday.

O-line struggles vs. D-line

It was about in the middle of the proceedings during Monday afternoon’s practice. As the so-called skill players engaged in 7 on 7 passing drills, the grunts, the offensive and defensive linemen, went to the other end of the field to work on some one on one pass blocking.

The first to line up were the Redskins’ front-line players, right tackle Jon Jansen against left defensive end Philip Daniels. After momentary contact, Daniels put on a move and blew by Jansen straight to where the quarterback would have been. Chalk up a sack for the defense. The tone for the drill was set.

The drill continued with various matchups of ends vs. tackles and defensive tackles against guards and centers. They say that two out of three ain’t bad, but it’s terrible when it comes to pass blocking and that’s about how often the Redskins’ O-linemen were able to keep their defensive counterparts at bay during the course of the activity, which lasted for a good 20 minutes.

Of particular interest was a matchup between rookie defender Kedric Golston and four-year veteran offensive lineman Tyson Walter. Golston immediately got Walter back on his heels and blew right by him the first time they lined up. They immediately lined back up and Golston got by him in an instant again. The third time was a charm for Walter as he bested the Golston on that one rep, but it was clear who had won the mini war between the rookie and the veteran.

At bit later on in a matchup of inexperienced players Karon Riley put a power move on offensive tackle Jon Alston and blasted past him. It was moments like this that had Joe Bugel watching the drill with a concerned look on his face as seen in the photo at the top of this article. Greg Blache was looking on in a much more jovial mood as pictured below.

You don’t necessarily expect the offensive players to stonewall the defenders in a drill like this. Even a week in it’s still early. The job that the offense has in pass blocking is very much tied into technique, an intricate balance of footwork, hand and arm technique, and torso movement. To be sure there is plenty of technique involved in pass rushing, but at the root of it are speed and power. There is good reason for the defense to be ahead of the offense at this stage of the game.

But not that far ahead. The glass half full view is that the Redskins have some outstanding young talent on the line such as Golston. The empty half of that glass is that the Redskins have yet to make much progress on developing depth along the offensive line.

This is neither doom nor gloom. We have a day less than five weeks to go before the season starts and the picture could improve greatly in that time frame. Aside from Jansen’s whiff on Daniels, the starters did pretty well so perhaps their luck will hold and they will be in place all season. Very few teams have quality depth on their offensive lines.

That being said, you would rather the team had some offensive linemen who look better out there.

Brunell Right on Target

Mark Brunell was super sharp in Saturday’s scrimmage against the Ravens. He had zip on the ball, he had touch, and he appeared to know the offense as though he’d been playing in it for 10 years. Receivers were catching balls in perfect stride, having just to open their hands a bit to let the ball glide into their palms.

Insert the proper caveats here about they’re just seven on seven drills, it’s early, and so on. Just like there would be no rational reason to get suicidal had Brunell looked bad (although there are some who would have to be talked down from a ledge had he thrown three picks), there’s no grounds to get all giddy over a few well-thrown darts in early August.

That doesn’t mean, however, that such a performance is meaningless for one simple reason. It’s much easier to stay sharp than it is to get sharp. Since the importance of everything a quarterback does is magnified, the significance of him performing well from the get-go increases exponentially. If he’s throwing to the wrong spots and misfiring even when he goes to the right place, nobody else can get in the flow of things. Everyone’s progress stalls until the quarterback gets it together.

We’ve seen this pattern year after year as the Redskins have had either a change at the starting QB spot from the previous camp or a competition for the job every year since 2001. They haven’t had anyone who had started as many as 15 games the previous season return as the starter since Brad Johnson in 2000. Since that year they have started seven different quarterbacks with about a dozen different changes at the position involved. This lack of continuity has led to the offense always looking ragged in the preseason and, frequently, during the regular season.

Another reason why Brunell’s excellent play is a good sign is that it may allow him to rest more prior to the season opener. Remember last year he was the second team quarterback all the way though camp, never getting a day off, going in to the preseason games with the scrubs, and so on. He’s less likely to wear down as the season wears on.

While teams like the Colts and Chiefs would scoff at calling a string of 17 straight starts (counting postseason) continuity at quarterback, it’s a better situation than the Redskins have been in during the past several years. If Brunell can seize the day and erase the team’s one major question mark, the Redskins season could well end with an exclamation point.

Are Redskins Talking Too Big?

A few days ago I complained because Mike Wise had an Alan Alda moment at the beginning of his column on Andre Carter. So today, he comes up with a whole Alda-like column.

His issue is that the players are talking too much about winning the Super Bowl. In his column entitled “Big Pronouncements in August Can Haunt You in December” Wise quotes Clinton Portis talking about his goals:

"Winning the NFC East. Win the NFC championship game. Winning the Super Bowl. Rushing yards don't matter to me as long as I get a ring."

And Chris Cooley on how many passes he wants to catch this year:

“We win the Super Bowl, it doesn't matter to me.”

He follows with what he thinks in the real zinger, the most outrageous statement of them all:

And who can forget Mark Brunell's proclamation on Day One of training camp? "Anything short of going all the way would be a disappointment."

This, Wise says, is unorthodox and downright dangerous:

But most players gunning for a championship don't publicly talk about it. At all. Especially in training camp.

That’s silly, and it’s not true. It’s the goal of every player to go to the Super Bowl and win it. There isn’t a team out there that doesn’t think it has a chance and most players, when asked about personal goals, will say that they have none and their only goal is to help their team win it all. The recent history of worst-to-first performances in the NFL over the past decade or so backs up their confidence.

And what are the supposed say? As Brunell said, quoted by Wise in his column:

"If I had said, 'Hopefully, we'll win six games,' they would ship me out of here," Brunell said yesterday. "Thirty-one other starting quarterbacks should be saying the same thing."

All Portis and Cooley were saying is that the stats don’t matter, it’s the W’s that count. The ring is the thing. These guys aren’t boldly predicting that they’ll be hoisting the Lombardi in February. They are saying that they will be disappointed if they don’t get there. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

Certainly, as Wise points out, the Redskins aren’t bullet proof. Countless things could go wrong that would derail their bid for a special season. But that doesn’t mean that the players should do nothing but sit around and wring their hands worrying about it. It seems to me that the Redskins are striking a good balance between caution and optimism. Apparently, Wise disagrees.

TO Getting Brittle With Age?

Well, well. For the past couple of days, Terrell Owens, the man who some are saying will turn the Dallas Cowboys from a 9-7, out of the playoffs unit into one that will be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy next February, has been on the sidelines with a hamstring pull. While plenty of stars are sitting out with various ailments, many of which wouldn’t keep them out of a regular-season game, this one qualifies as news. No, not because ESPN and the NFL Network are constantly cutting to updates on how the stationary bike riding is going for Owens. It’s because of this, from the AP story on his continued absence from practice:

Owens had not had a hamstring problem before

That’s right, in his 10 previous years in the NFL, plus, presumably, his four years in college at Chattanooga, and before that in high school (where nobody gave him any respect, according to his book) and back to Pee-Wee football, he never has had a hamstring problem.

Hmm, let’s see here. According to his page on NFL.com, he was born on December 7, 1973. That means that he’s 32 now and will be 33 before the season ends. That’s older than most of the wide receivers out there. I think it’s safe to assume that his advancing age and the appearance of an injury that he had never suffered before are related.

Just a fluke, just a one-shot deal? Maybe, maybe not. It’s also safe to assume that he had been dragged down from behind many times before Roy Williams did it to him on December 18, 2004. That time, however, 11 days after TO turned 31, he suffered a broken leg.

Bad luck or getting a bit brittle with age? Or maybe a little bit of both?

To be sure, nobody works out harder to keep himself in better shape than TO does. But very few of the wide receivers whose productivity dipped after age 30 largely because of various ailments, both small and nagging and big and debilitating, were couch potatoes in the offseason. Regardless of how much one may work out, eventually the body breaks down to the point where it can no longer function at the level necessary for one to be an NFL player at the very highest level. Everyone is different in terms of how long it takes and how rapid the tumble is once the descent downhill begins. But everyone is the same in that it happens sooner or later, more quickly or more slowly. TO is no exception.

Gray Matters

There are some new articles out there about Jerry Gray, the Redskins’ new cornerbacks coach. One is by Howard Bryant of the WP, the other by Melinda Waldrop, the new beat reporter for the Daily Press in Hampton Roads. Both made the point that he may not be around here for long.

Bryant wrote of Gray accepting a job for which he is “clearly overqualified” in order to be reunited with Gregg Williams. Gray played for Williams with the Houston Oilers and coached with him in Houston and in Buffalo. He was the defensive coordinator in Buffalo under Mike Mularky until being dismissed when Mularky resigned after last season.

Waldrop’s article makes the point that Gray’s chances of moving up in the NFL world, back to a coordinator spot or even, eventually, a head coaching job, depends greatly on the team’s success.

"It's (the secondary) gonna be a real big strength," [Carlos]Rogers said. "That's what we've been talking about. We've got to lead this defense."
If that happens, Gray might find himself back in a leading role very soon.
"I think it depends on what we do here," Gray said. "Everybody wants winners. Everybody (thinks), 'I want somebody from their staff, because they won.' "

The Redskins went through a phase during the 1980’s when they had difficulty holding on to talented assistant coaches. Joe Bugel and Dan Henning, for instance, left to accept head coaching offers elsewhere. Jack Kent Cooke told Joe Gibbs to hire a staff of future head coaches. While only three of them eventually made it—besides Bugel and Henning, Richie Petitbon succeeded Gibbs—the idea was to hire quality and not be afraid if you get somebody who might do some things better than you do. Along with Gray, Greg Blache and Dale Lindsey are also former NFL defensive coordinators, so Gregg Williams obviously isn’t intimidated by strong resumes in contrast to, say, Steve Spurrier.

If you’re afraid of losing good people, you’ll never attract them in the first place. Williams realizes that even if he stays, it’s unlikely that Gray will be around for more than a year or two. And, to this team, that’s a good thing.

This just in: Williams will coach who is there

Mike Wise had a good column about Andre Carter in Thursday’s Post. The part worthy of discussion, though, came in the opening of the piece when Wise talked about Gregg Williams and showed that he (Wise) doesn’t quite get it:

There was a telling moment Tuesday in Ashburn when Gregg Williams was asked whether he had worried Andre Carter might choose Denver over Washington during free agency. He could easily have said that not acquiring a pass-rusher of Carter's ilk might hurt the defense. But Williams couldn't let his prideful self go there.

"Had he made a choice to go somewhere else, good riddance," he said, sneering. "That's fine."

What a nurturing way to let players know where they stand, no?

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned about this coaching staff is that they don’t worry about players who aren’t there. I remember talking to Greg Blache last year when his defensive line was going through a major rash of injuries. He said, “I can only coach the players who are here. If a player’s here, I’ll coach him. If he’s not, I can’t coach him.” Williams expressed similar sentiments.

If the coaches aren’t going to worry about players who aren’t there, why in the world would they worry about players that they never signed in the first place.

It appears from the article that Carter’s father, former NFL defensive lineman and Redskins coach Ruben Carter, gave him plenty of nurturing. If he came to the Redskins, or any other NFL team for that matter, in search of it he came to the wrong place.

Wise is starting to grow on me as a columnist, except when he has wimpy, Alan Alda type moments such as this one.

Surprise vs. Execution

The Redskins offense will be full of surprises for the opposition this year. I mean, if you’re going to have your running back throw a bomb to a wide receiver in an open practice, well, imagine what Al Saunders is holding under wraps.

While the offense isn’t that different from last year’s in terms of its foundation and its terminology, the variety of plays and gadgets that will be employed will increase dramatically under Saunders. This is a change from the approach that Gibbs has used which was to run fewer plays but execute them to perfection and dare the opposing defense to stop them.

You do have to be somewhat concerned about the execution aspect when it comes to 700 pages of plays in the playbook, especially in the beginning. Regardless of how much you may be fooling the other defense, if your execution is sloppy the plays will break down.

When I asked him about this, Saunders told me that they wouldn’t call any plays that they didn’t feel that the players had a good enough handle on to properly execute. The bottom line is that these guys are pros and if the Kansas City Chiefs can learn to execute the offense well enough to be among the league leaders in offense year after year the Washington Redskins can as well.

Tough Salave'a Back at Practice

I may have said this way too often, but Joe Salave’a is one tough sumbitch.

He played last year in ungodly pain in his foot, pain caused by plantar fasciitis that would have had most of us calling in sick to our day jobs. After one game he was standing there in his bare feet patiently answering my questions, probably hearing all of them for the tenth time. He never complained, never begged off to go to the trainer’s room.

Salave’a was a late arrival at camp following the death of his mother in Samoa. “I think I need these guys more than they need me, just to get over this.” he said.

The Redskins are a better team due to his presence as a player and, perhaps more importantly, as a man.

Sorry for the "absence"

Folks, I want to apologize for not having posted here for a while. As some of you know, the "real" home for this blog is located at WarpathInsiders.com. That's where my articles on the Redskins are posted immediately and frequently. If you want to catch up on what you've missed, just go here to the site archives and you can get everything I've written for the site.

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