Redskins Training Camp Day Five: GUNSLINGER FOR HIRE

Into every life a little rain must fall

Monday 2 August 2010 | Forty-one days until kickoff

Looks like the Redskins finally found a story to knock Albert Haynesworth off the front page: Third year quarterback and fan favorite former University of Hawaii Warrior Colt Brennan was cut today, the Cult of Colt is leaving town.

After what he described as a good morning practice, the team called Colt in and gave him the news, Washington had acquired another quarterback and was going in another direction, the team indicated to Colt that they thought he could play in the NFL, just not with the Redskins this season, and they decided to release him so early in camp to give him the most time to catch on with another team. The whole thing was a complete surprise to Colt. It was all about John Beck, offensive coordinator and coach son Kyle Shanahan apparently has had his eye on John since his BYU days, not in a gay way or anything.

Colt leaves Washington taking with him a large and fanatical fanbase, I literally say UH gear at every Redskins game I went to in 2008 and 2009, including road games in Philadelphia. The instant media take on Colt's Washington legacy is the Hall of Fame Game to open the preseason in 2008 (ibid.), Colt was nine for ten in a 30-16 win, I will always remember Colt for his performance in 2008 preseason game three at the New York Jets, it was Brett Favre's first game as a Jet, Colt came in to start the fourth quarter, after two disappointing drives, in each of which the line gave up a big sack, Colt drew his six shooters and blasted his way to a final game winning drive, bombs to receiver Billy McMullen and tight end Jason Goode sealed the 13-10 victory. Neither Billy nor Jason would make the team.

Thank you Colt and thank you to the Coltrollers that will move on from Curly R to the media properties covering Colt's next team, because I think Colt will get a job in the NFL.


There was related news, the quarterback acquired to replace Colt Brennan is John Beck (op. cit.), second year from Brigham Young University, drafted by Miami in the second round of the 2007 draft, started four games that year under head coach and former Redskins quarterbacks coach Cam Cameron after former Redskins quarterback Trent Green suffered what turned out to be a season ending concussion and elevated backup Cleo Lemon became the latest example of how names make people, see also UNC's Duke basketball's Eric Meek and hockey's Garth Butcher, John played three complete games then was pulled in the fourth game in the first quarter after fumbling untouched, the resulting turnover was returned for a touchdown. (hat tip to reader terry in comments for correcting the UNC-Duke confusion, Eric Montross is the center that played at the same time for UNC, as a Wahoo I am filled with a bitterness over the success of those rival teams in those years, a bitterness that only whiskey can wash away and only temporarily. -Ben)

Bill Parcells joined the Dolphins as head honcho before the 2008 season which saw John sit as third string quarterback behind Chad Pennington and Chad Henne, John saw no game action in 2008. Miami released their former second round pick in the 2009 offseason.

John subsequently signed with the Ravens for the 2009 season reuniting him with new Baltimore offensive coordinator Cam Cameron, John again saw no game action last year behind Joe Flacco and Troy Smith.

The Ravens, already worried about number two cornerback Fabian Washington coming off an anterior cruciate ligament tear in 2009, lost number one cornerback Domonique Foxworth for the 2010 season when he tore an ACL in a non contact drill on the third day of camp and began an immediate search for help on the corners.

Fast forward to today. Washington made a straight up trade of cornerback Doug Dutch to Baltimore for quarterback John Beck. The Ravens are so desperate for cornerback help that they gave away a former second round draft pick with NFL starting experience and familiarity with the offensive coordinator's system for an undrafted free agent that was released by the Redskins on Cut Day last season, was out of football for ten weeks then signed back to the Redskins practice squad in November as the team spiraled into misery.

Which leads me to wonder aloud, WHAT THE FUCK ARE THE RAVENS THINKING?! Even if John Beck was panning out to nothing, this seems like an unusually hard up move for the Ravens and Ozzie Newsome, a general manager with a long history of savvy player moves.

Was Doug Dutch that strong a prospect in his second season? Is John beck that much of a washout? Do the Ravens have a secret plan B for getting a higher quality player to start at cornerback? If there is a Raven writer out there reading this, please let me know your take on this.

Alternate title for this post: Redskins Training Camp Day Five: Washington Screws Another Team in Trade for a Change


Blah blah blah, former NFL offensive lineman turned analyst Brian Baldinger thinks quarterback Donovan McNabb is one of the most overrated players in the history of the NFL. *YAAAWNNNN*


Filling out the quarterback news, Rex Grossman appears to have the lead on the backup spot, in other news the sky is blue and water is wet for the only other quarterback on the roster besides Dono with more than four games starting experience and with a full year working in Kyle Shanahan's offense. Fucking duh.


Are we entering an end game in the Albert Haynesworth saga? Before 8:00 am we already knew Albert would not test his knee with the conditioning test.

By noon the story had changed. For the first time since conditioning test saga started Thursday on day one of camp, head coach Mike Shanahan hinted that Albert may be cleared to practice even without passing the test. Since camp started, Albert has taken the test three times and failed all three, and sat out of the test twice, including today, he has missed eight practices.

My bet is on Albert to milk this knee thing for all it is worth, we have already heard coach Shanahan say that this is not a serious injury, that Albert would be practicing on it if he were cleared to practice, Albert is right at the crossroads of don't give a shit and I think I can I think I can. The problem for Albert here is that he has already been rendered moot in this equation. His legacy as a malcontent is already hardening, the best he will ever be able to do is generate some goodwill at the margins.

As I have said many times before this offseason, coach Shanahan and the new kids in team leadership are playing with house money, there is nothing they can do to screw this up. Let Albert twist, be generally mean and risk looking bad? To whom? Media types drolly clinking highballs? Who exactly thinks the worst coach Shanahan can possibly do is worse than Albert Haynesworth taking twenty-one million dollars and then no showing for a room full of new bosses?

Relent, take Albert back, cave like a pussy whipped jellyfish and risk looking bad? To whom? The fans are not that sadistic and serious football watchers know the game has to end at some point and Albert has to get back in the game.

Mike Shanahan cannot screw this up, how it ends does not matter to me.


The safety positions are going to look different this year. LaRon Landry, 2007 first round pick, was forced to move from strong safety his rookie year to free safety after the slaying of Redskins safety Sean Taylor. LaRon made some big hits, committed a few unsportsmanlikes and seemed to hold the center field position down fairly well for two seasons given circumstances. Over time though LaRon's performance at strong safety, a position he does not naturally play, has degraded to the point where LaRon was a punchline last season, overpursuing the play and getting burned on receiver stutter steps, which are now apparently called double moves.

This season LaRon is moving back to his more familiar strong safety position, where he will play closer to the line and more like a small linebacker. He will be looking to get into plays closer to the line of scrimmage rather than twenty yards downfield at the snap, over his three year career LaRon has only three sacks! Got to do better!

LaRon was not always solid in the strong safety position at the end of last season, he was moved there out of frustration by former defensive coordinator Greg Blache more than anything else, hopefully with an offseason to concentrate on strong safety he can get his head back in the game, LaRon played like a borderline first round bust season.

LaRon's move from free safety to strong safety has repercussions, 2008 sixth round draft pick Kareem Moore is expected to move into the free safety spot full time, I was impressed with Kareem last season, he saw action in all sixteen games, and Kareem's biggest weakness prior to this season has been that he got drafted after LaRon Landry moved to free safety, Kareem is a natural free safety and never had a chance to shine until LaRon revealed himself as a terrible strong safety last season.

The other and perhaps more salient impacts of LaRon moving to strong safety will fall on safeties Reed Doughty and Chris Horton. Reed, a 2006 sixth round pick, has moved from strong safety to free safety and back to strong safety, where he has excelled since coming back from back surgery in 2008. Chris, a 2008 seventh round pick stormed onto the scene in game two of that season against the New Orleans Saints with two interceptions, two solo tackles and a fumble recovery while subbing for an ill Reed Doughty, that performance earned Chris Defensive Player of the Week honors in only his second NFL game.

Chris won the starting strong safety job to start 2009, then lost it back to Reed after a game three loss at Detroit in a decision I have no other words for except bunch of fucking bullshit. Chris ended 2009 six weeks later on injured reserve with torn toe ligaments, and truth to say, I think Reed is right now the better of the two safeties. This does not guarantee the end for anyone, the calculus looks tough right now, the Redskins have plenty of strong safeties with a first round pick that never gets injured taking the lead. There may not be room for two others, even two with starting grade experience.


It has been hard to wrap my head around Joey Galloway as a Redskin, not because he played for Dallas or New England, not because he has more than ten thousand yards receiving in the NFL and not because his average yards per catch is over fifteen yards, no the thing that gets me here is this dude was drafted in 1995, that was fifteen years ago!

The dude knows the deal, he may not make the team and I have no idea what he plans to do after football, I can say with confidence that he would not even be this far with the Redskins if new real actual general manager Bruce Allen and head coach Mike Shanahan thought Joey had nothing to contribute, whether as a receiver on the field or a player-coach on the sideline, Joey is well past the point in his career of resenting younger players as the league inevitably turns over to youth, if he is smart he wants to cement a legacy and go out with his head high, playing the game he loves and communicating that passion to a new generation of players.

I hope Joey makes the team, he will need to be able to contribute and not just ride on his name, after all Mike Shanahan is the coach the ended Jerry Rice's career because he would not hold Jerry for name value, Joey will need to be able to play and I hope he can and he does (hat tip to Matt Terl at the ORB [Official Redskins Blog] for the link).


After playing nine years with the Redskins, the team did not attempt to re sign long snapper Ethan Albright aka the Red Snapper, after last season, Ethan was a consistent if low key player who made the Pro Bowl in 2007, he will be remembered for being the lowest rated player in EA Sports Madden 2007 and for the football wonks, for how he re upped with the team every year: A FedEx letter would arrive in the mail with a standard veteran minimum contract, Ethan would sign it and send it back, with so few complications Ethan did not need an agent.

So I cannot understand why the team would not at least bring Ethan back, and maybe they yet shall as new presumed long snapper Nick Sundberg is off to a shaky start (op. cit.), the team using guard slash center Will Montgomery at long snapper yesterday would tend to indicate they are not confident in Nick, all of 23 years old and with no NFL game experience. Maybe new real actual general manager Bruce Allen needs to keep 39 year old and with 15 years experience Ethan on speed dial.


Washington Post Training Camp Tracker: Offensive lineman Chad Rinehart, Washington's 2008 third round draft pick out of Northern Iowa did not play in 2008, he did not seem to progress from offseason to preseason to regular season, going into 2009 Chad was not projected into the lineup, when right guard Randy Thomas went down with a season ending injury for the second time in three seasons Chad was pressed into duty in what became a sad meat grinder at the right guard position.

Chad started two games after Randy went down and was unimpressive, he was replaced by former 400 pound man Mike Williams for a game, Mike was even worse. Head coach Jim Zorn then opened a competition between Chad and fifth year free agent Will Montgomery, Will won and started three games, all losses before offensive line coach Joe Bugel lobbied hard for Chad to be given another chance.

Coach Zorn bent over agreed and Chad started the next game, the Redskins best win in 2009, at home against the Broncos, tailback Ladell Betts ran for 114 yards as the Redskins played one game worthy of the jersey. Chad kept it going with the next game against Dallas... where he suffered a broken fibula in his right leg and was placed on injured reserve, missing the final five weeks of the season.

Wait it gets worse for Chad, in January of this year he was arrested for public drunkenness at a pizza joint in Cedar Falls Iowa, home of his alma mater Northern Iowa. The Redskins Insider piece from the time (op. cit.) is short on detail and sure makes it sound like Chad was arrested for the high crime of attempting to order pizza at 2:00 am.

Back in the now, Chad feels one hundred percent recovered from his injury and has dropped ten pounds, consistent with head coach Mike Shanahan's preference for lean and quick offensive linemen. Chad is currently slotted behind offseason free agent signing Artis Hicks at right guard, I have no idea how Chad is playing or where he will land as far as the roster, I would have to look at him as a borderline player and with the stench of last year's debacle on him, through no fault of his own, that is just how it played out. However with former 400 pound man Mike Williams on injured reserve with blood clots near his heart, Chad may have an opening to make the team.



Colt Brennan practicing early on his last day with the Redskins: AP photo from here.

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Albert Haynesworth: I DID NOT EMOTIONALLY ABUSE THAT STRIPPER

SO. MUCH. WIN.

The intrepid journalists at TMZ, a celebritology media property taking its name from the thirty mile radius or zone around Hollywood in which the largest movie studios built their empires, found me today and wanted to share a story. A story about our friend and defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth.

Redskins fans already know about this, back in February in the days leading up to Super Bowl 44 Miami, Albert allegedly met a stripper from Brooklyn, they began what is euphemistically referred to as a relationship, when the woman first announced she was pregnant, according to her, Albert promised to support her, emotionally and financially. Surprise surprise, Albert broke it off before February was over.

In May, when the woman was four months pregnant meaning now she is somewhere around seven months pregnant and will be giving birth in the first month of the season, she sued Albert for ten million dollars, citing a lack of financial support. The brief Redskins Insider piece on the lawsuit indicates a quote assistant unquote of Albert's suggested the woman go visit an NFL doctor, which to this expectant mother must have been like asking sit back for a transvaginal ultrasound with a ferret.

According to a TMZ piece in May, Albert has acknowledged having sexual relations with that woman, swears he wore protection. *chuckle*

Now Albert's lawyer is quote fighting back unquote. Quote going on the offensive unquote, according to TMZ, Albert through his lawyer claims he never emotionally abused that stripper after he learned she may be carrying his child, and that the ten million dollar lawsuit should be dismissed because even though that emotionally unabused stripper may feel aggrieved, she does not actually have a legal case, principally because she has yet been unable to prove the child is Albert's.

Looking forward to more details and the results of what must be a forthcoming DNA test.


Just another great week to be Albert Haynesworth.



Albert Haynesworth: AP photo from here.

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Redskins Training Camp Day Four: And Albert Said He Was Sick of This Shit on Thursday

Trash that takes you out

Sunday 1 August 2010 | Forty-two days until kickoff

The story is turning into a saga as neither side was able to meet the other's terms again today on day four of Redskins 2010 training camp: Defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth rested his sore knee another day, did not take the required conditioning test for the second straight day after failing it on days one and two. He has now missed four days of practice and is taking valuable one on one time from defensive coordinator Jim Haslett and defensive line coach Jacob Burney that would much better be spent on the full defense.

Albert is still lining up against trash cans. They still do not even give him a tackling sled. And he is pissed (ibid.).

And an interesting aspect if this whole drama broke today, one that might ultimately make everyone look silly here: In every sideline trashbin session with coaches Haslett and or Burney, Albert has been focusing on right defensive end, not nose tackle (op. cit).

So what does that mean? Not too sure at this point, it was principally Albert's objection to the position he thought he was going to play, that being nose tackle, and the hints and foreshadowings of head coach Mike Shanahan to that effect, that set Albert off onto his spring and summer no show show. Albert wanted the team to want Albert to be Albert so badly that any hint of the team not letting Albert be Albert, which is shorthand for line up and go that he got all big baby and went away.

Meanwhile back at the ranch it was all a ruse or early reflection by the coaches on where Albert might fit, and either their position on Albert playing nose tackle has softened, or we have not seen the Albert practicing nose tackle portion of camp yet. The other guy at nose tackle, Maake Kemoeatu is still less than one hundred percent in a return from an Achilles tendon rupture, so with no other perfect nose tackle on the roster make of that what you will.

I think the coaches know and always knew that Albert would be playing different positions in scenarios and once they heard of his opposition to nose tackle they just let that story ride to see if it would get under his skin, how he would handle it and whether he would trust the team to play him in a way that maximizes his abilities. The old thou doth protest too much strategy.

Something has to give here, either Albert has to buck up and pass the test or coach Shanahan has to give him a pass or lengthen the running times.


Talk of a contract extension for quarterback Donovan McNabb continues to build, this time columnist Mike Wise of the Washington Post advocates for a three or four year deal in the thirty million dollar range for Dono, he deserves it and I hope he gets it, I would like to see Dono stay in Washington at least a couple of years. I will say again, back after the Dono trade I read somewhere that Dono was ineligible for a contract extension until this month, August, due to contract actions with the Eagles last year, something about players not being able to rework some or all of a contract twice in the same year. I have not been able to find anything on this, anyone with a link or info drop a comment or shoot me a note.

There was also some other interesting Donovan McNabb news. Seems last week Dono got together with a bunch of business leaders and executives, not to give them a motivational speech or to fish for endorsement deals, but rather to start getting to know the Washington area, network with the movers and shakers and start looking at potenial business partners in which to invest money. This piece, from the new awesome Washington Post Capital Business weekly, seems to portray Dono as interested in potentially any kind of venture, and also as surrounded tightly by a coterie of family and managers, all of whom work for Team Donovan, this family as team concept is also featured in the Sunday WaPo Sports anchor piece from Sunday.


Receiver Malcolm Kelly got some more bad news today (op. cit.), no not his hamstring, that injury kept Malcolm out of action for a third consecutive day, and fellow third year second round pick receiver Devin Thomas is making the best of it with strong camp performances. Devin would appear to be moving up from the depth chart basement while Malcolm sits there. Come cut day some veterans are going to get their papers and I would not want to be a guy on the line dealing with an injury, at least one that was not season ending because then they have to keep you and pay you.


In other news we are hearing more about details of Jim Haslett's 3-4 defense, one aspect of it is more blitzing, former Redskins defensive coordinators Gregg Williams and Greg Blache were both averse to continual blitzing, philosophically Gregg and Greg believe too much blitzing actually exposes weaknesses more than hiding them. Both love a good blitz to be sure, you were more likely to get a blitz heavy game every so often from those guys than a philosophy of finding the holes and getting through them right at the snap.

Jim Haslett on the other hand wants to force the opposing offense to make bad decisions early, so he has multiple blitz packages built into the base defense. Players like cornerback Carlos Rogers will be blitzing more often than ever before (op. cit.) which is probably just as well, we have established that he cannot catch a ball thrown into his hands so maybe playing him more like a small strong safety would make sense.


CEO Mike Shanahan canceled the afternoon practice, instead the team held player meetings, presumably inside in the air conditioning.


Washington Post Training Camp Tracker: Cornerback Justin Tryon, 2008 fourth round pick, was stuck behind Carlos Rogers, DeAngelo Hall and Fred Smoot for his first two years, by the end of last season we saw Justin as the regular nickel back in place of Fred Smoot, and it was largely Justin's improvement that rendered Fred Smoot moot. This season Justin will still be playing behind Carlos and DeAngelo on the front line, and competing for time at third cornerback with 2009 third round pick Kevin Barnes and free agent signee and 2002 first round pick Phillip Buchanon, Phillip has morphed into a journeyman. Among the Redskinserati, Justin looked better than Kevin Barnes last season, I confess I was unable to distinguish one from the other.



Image macro by lifetime Eagles fan, season ticket holder and Curly R reader/lurker Wilbert Montgomery from an image by John McDonnell / Washington Post from here. From left to right is Philadelphia's offensive line featuring left tackle Winston Justice, left guard Stacy Andrews, center Nick Cole, right guard Todd Herremans and right tackle Jason Peters, an awesome front five that Albert will see twice this season.

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Redskins Training Camp Day Three: When Your Setback Has a Setback

First I was like go then I was like no

Saturday 31 July 2010 | Forty-three days until kickoff

Maybe too early to call it the downward spiral, maybe too early to call it a pissing contest, how else rationally to look at what is happening to defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth? After missing the entire offseason program, Albert failed the dual twelve increment, 300 yard shuttle runs Thursday and Friday and when he reported in Saturday, talked to the coaches and decided not to take the test, it was first assumed that Albert would pass on his third time charm time to rest his legs. A couple of hours later we discovered the real ostensible reason, a swollen knee.

So he did not take the test. Do you know what that means?

More trashcans. More sideline time with high level coaches that should be dealing with issues larger than Albert. More time for this story to fester and another step toward it becoming the caricature of Redskins 2010 training camp. It means Albert has missed three days of work with teammates and five practices. Nota bene: If things work out well and the Redskins have a good season it will be an awkward situation that worked itself out for the benefit of the team.

Making matters worse of course is now that the media smells a story they are all over it, here Dan Dan the Sports Bog Man finds DC FOX 5's Lindsay Murphy trying the test, she passed the first part and failed the second part, and former Washington Post and current Comcast SportsNet's Ivan Carter passing it with relative ease. Forget that neither Lindsay, maybe 110 pounds with her briefcase, nor Ivan, a former St. Olaf's Division III football receiver (PDF), would have been timed like a defensive lineman for this drill, at 70 and 73.

If things do not then this is head coach Mike Shanahan's slip and slide. Lucky for coach Shanahan that Titans coach Jeff Fisher walked in quietly and said I'll just leave this here.


As is often the case with Redskins training camp, other things happened besides Albert not taking or passing a test. Quarterback Donovan McNabb's agent, Fletcher Smith, visited Ashburn and expounded upon heretofore ephemeral plans to do a contract extension, Dono's current deal expires after this season and irrelevant of the trade terms, those two draft picks, a second rounder and a third or fourth rounder, it would be a tragedy to see Dono depart after on year.

As you might expect, Dono's agent said Dono wanted to stay in Washington for years to come blah blah blah and a deal would get done in due time (op. cit.). I wonder if the reference in the Washington Post Redskins Insider piece to the agent being escorted off the field by a Redskins public relations rep means the team was treating Dono's agent like a VIP, or if they were collaring him to keep from negotiating in the media.

Back not long after Dono came here there was some discussion about the extension and why it could not happen immediately, as the Redskins are wont to do, I would assume the team braintrust an exact idea of what they want to pay Dono, and irrespective of any league rules on collusion that the team and agent are all good on this matter.

I remember reading somehwere, and I am unable to find a reference now, that due to the timing of Dono's last contract renegotiation in Philadelphia that he would be ineligible for a second contract renegotiation in the same calendar year. I have not read this in mainstream reporting that I have perused and I wonder if this is a league rules constraint that no one wants to talk about for some reason. Any lurkers out there that can drop a comment or shoot me a note with a hard reference to this rule, I will put you on the front page.

Dono was also the subject of an enterprise profile in Sunday's Washington Post, in his first season in Washington Donovan is seeking to present himself as hungry and capable as he ever was in Philadelphia, he is a pretty well put together operation and has managed to capture a difficult to bottle essence among top drawer established athletes and that is a student of a particular type of competitive spirit that seeks to lift all those around him, even when it means he will draw personal criticism. Washington area sports fans have not had a player like this since Cal Ripken.


Speaking of quarterbacks, there are four on the roster now, Dono, Rex Grossman, Colt Brennan and late 2009 signee Richard Bartel. It would seem historically that Mike Shanahan prefers to go with two quarterbacks on the roster, meaning a problem for two guys currently on staff. The rules of the practice squad dictate who can be on it, and the politics dictate that if a guy was truly good another team would claim him.

In the immediate term all four are probably safe, one thing that former head coach Jim Zorn was very upfront about was the need for quote camp arms unquote, there is so much happening on a full team practice field that even three quarterbacks is not enough arm to feed the beast.

In the longer term though, likely by first cuts, both Richard and Colt should be concerned. We know nothing about Richard Bartel and Colt Brennan is an undersized freespirit chucker with an emerging pattern of injury. That Colt and Richard are camp roommates is all you need to know about the grim realities of NFL life below the line.


Over in the world of receivers, third year second round pick Malcolm Kelly is still watching his career stall with a hamstring injury (op. cit.), suffered in Hell Week three weeks ago in Arizona with Donovan McNabb, Malcolm was on the sideline getting one on one attention and not with his teammates for the early practice Saturday.

As with Albert Haynesworth it is still too early to say Malcolm is circling the drain, here are the facts: Malcolm is not coach Shanahan's draft pick; Malcolm has underperformed in two seasons with the Redskins; there are eleven receivers on the roster which means coach Shanahan is serious about competition; every rep Malcolm misses is a rep someone else gets. Add it all up and if Malcolm's hammy does not brighten up this week... dot dot dot...


The afternoon practice was a quote jog through unquote, Mike Shanahan's first training camp is shaping up to be hard charging morning sessions followed by lighter non contact work in the afternoons.


Washington Post Training Camp Tracker: Defensive end Jeremy Jarmon, the 2009 third round pick in the supplemental draft was thought not to be a factor in the 2009 season, saw action late in the year and like about everyone else in Washington last season had a serious injury, tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. Jeremy is back and has put on twenty pounds, now at 295 pounds and is projecting as a defensive end rather than a linebacker in the new 3-4 defensive scheme. How this is all going to work with none of these players accustomed to playing in a 3-4 and players floating between positions... I trust Jim Haslett and these guys know what they are doing.


Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, possible player Albert Haynesworth and defensive line coach Jacob Burney: AP photo from here.

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Redskins Training Camp Day Two: The Silver and Back

Just fit in baby

Friday 30 July 2010 | Forty-four days until kickoff

Though real news of players and performance began trickling through on day two of the Redskins 2010 training camp in Ashburn, two stories dominated coverage, both about guys making a lot of money and in totally different places right now.

First Redskins fans awoke to learn that presumed left tackle rookie number four overall pick Trent Williams aka Silverback had ended negotiations and signed with the team, it happened in the wee hours, around 4:30 am, Trent's agents and the team agreed to a six year, 60 million dollar deal that features 36.5 million dollars guaranteed. Trent, already not sleeping well in anticipation of this moment, was at Redskins Park by 6:00 am to sign the deal and get to work (op. cit.).

This story parallels last year's latenight signing of first round pick hybrid defensive endbacker Brian Orakpo following the first day of camp, hopefully as with Brian having Trent in camp this early will bode well for his conditioning, performance and spot on the depth chart. Trent was the first top five pick from the 2010 draft to sign, though by the time I could fact check this, number five pick safety Eric Berry had signed with the Titans. All the top picks will now fall into place with a market set by Trent. Trent went right to work and practiced with his teammates, today...


...Which is more than can be said about defensive slash nose tackle Albert Haynesworth.

After failing his first conditioning test on day one of camp due to a potty break then being forced to suffer the humiliation of lining up alone opposite overturned trashcans, Albert came loaded for bear on day two... and failed the test again and was barred from practicing with the team at large. Cue game show fail music, wanh-wah.

This time there was no potty break, he did not fall for that one, this time Albert missed the time by one second, coming in at 71 seconds on the first set of twelve twenty-five yard shuttles, he needed to do it in 70 seconds and as such there was no opportunity to run the second half of the test.

Albert will get a third attempt, Saturday morning, to pass the test.

We will find out soon if this is purely procedural, if it is vindictive on coach Shanahan's part or if three times is enough groveling for Albert to join the team, coach Shanahan seemed to indicate that he is fine with Albert taking the test every day until he passes (op. cit.), when asked about it again at the end of the second day coach said he was done talking about it. Albert obviously thinks it is all bullshit, he told NBC 4 in Washington that he was quote tired of this shit (op. cit.), and that was after failing only one test.


As indicated at the top, there was other news of the team. Receiver Malcolm Kelly, who hurt his hamstring at Hell Week in Arizona with quarterback Donovan McNabb then surprised me and others by going full speed on day one of camp, was slowed by the hammy today (op. cit.). The Redskins, perhaps more or less like any other NFL team, I have no idea, have had a problem in recent years with players suffering strained hammys in camp and having them linger all year. Of course Malcolm Kelly is a borderline NFL player so maybe it is not surprising.

Too early to make a sourpuss prediction, Malcolm is a guy that cannot afford to miss any time. He and fellow underperforming receiver Devin Thomas have started camp as not-starters, with 38 year old Joey Galloway and 2005 fourth round pick Roydell Williams tied for one spot with Santana Moss firmly in the other. It is of note that while the Redskins traded their 2008 first round pick to set up the second round picks of Malcolm and Devin, Roydell's career statistics in five seasons are not even one season's worth of production for Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Wes Welker, Steve Smith, Hines Ward or Roddy White. Frickin Roddy White!


Presumptive right tackle Jammal Brown, acquired in trade from New Orleans in June, has a new position, right tackle. In looking at that sentence I did not adequately communicate the core concept so let us try again: Two time Pro Bowl left tackle Jammal Brown is now a right tackle. For the life of me I cannot figure out why Trent Williams, a right tackle in college is now on the left and Jammal is on the right. Maybe both will line up in both places, maybe performance will dictate, maybe the talent guys know what they are talking about. Seems to me whether you have a rookie or a veteran that you have an easier time leaving a guy at his natural spot if is better than average at that spot BUT WHAT THE HELL DO I KNOW I'M JUST A BLOGGER.


Meanwhile out in Oakland, former Redskin Jason Campbell has been named the Raiders starting quarterback, no word on whether head coach Tom Cable has yet tried to break Jason's jaw, this Q&A with Jason, recorded after he was traded but before he reported to camp, shows a guy in the dumps, bummed about doing his best, doing his part and still being misunderstood. Good luck to Jason and we will be following his AFC West exploits with great interest.



Newly signed rookie tackle Trent Williams signing autographs on day two of Redskins training camp: Getty Images from here.

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Redskins Training Camp Day One: Taking In the Garbage

Don't forget the [excuse] recycling

Today Curly R begins coverage of its fifth Redskins season, yes we have been here since 2006, we will bring you daily roundups of camp activity, if there is something I missed, drop it in comments or shoot me a note.

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Thursday 29 July 2010 | Forty-five days until kickoff

The Washington Redskins began the 2010 season today, and there was news. Not like 2009's first day of camp when number thirteen overall pick hybrid defensive endbacker Brian Orakpo ended contract negotiations and signed with the team late in the day, this year we had no such luck with number four overall pick [projected] left tackle Trent Williams, who as of midnight Thursay had not signed.

Also not like 2008's first day of camp when defensive ends Phillip Daniels and Alex Buzbee both suffered season ending injuries and Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato engineered a hurried trade of second round and sixth round picks to the Miami Dolphins for defensive end Jason Taylor, that turned out to be such a bad move in the grand scheme that when I saw a guy wearing a number fifty-five Taylor jersey in the DC Metro last month I wondered if I should give him my Uno's leftovers.


The second biggest story of training camp day one was actually a story from before training camp opened. Third year receiver Malcolm Kelly, a guy in definite need of a good season, hurt his hamstring at Hell Week out in Arizona last week with quarterback Donovan McNabb, and was expected to miss at least a day, maybe two of practice. This is of course a big bummer for Malcolm, a guy the Redskins drafted injured, struggled in year one, had surgery in the offseason after not playing much, entered year two with some really put-on OMG HES GOINH TO BE SO AWSUM hype that saw him win the starting spot then lose it to fellow underachiever Devin Thomas. Malcolm is a suspect route runner and I have no sense that head coach Mike Shanahan believes Malcolm will be anything more than just a guy. He ended the day practicing, I wonder if that was because his leg was better or if Malcolm cowboyed up and went in, competition can make you heal fast.


In offensive line news, as expected the team placed right guard slash right tackle and former 400 pound man Mike Williams on injured reserve, Mike was diagnosed early this month with blood clots near his heart and will be on blood thinners for the immediate future, the heart is nothing to fuck with and football or no football I hope Mike takes care of himself and is ok, and if he is cleared to play football again next season or in the future, we will welcome him back to the fray.


But BY FAR the most compelling story of training camp day one was of course Albert Haynesworth. Mister twenty one million dollar check waltzed into Ashburn Wednesday after missing the entire offseason program except for the day he stopped by to say he was going to miss the entire offseason program which does not really count as attending, he has lost either thirty five or forty pounds, depending on who you ask, this photo appears to show a trimmer lardass, as do these two from Dan Dan the Sports Bog Man.

Once he realized he was not going to be traded, Albert resigned himself to showing up and playing, and just hoping for the best. And he got it all right, fans have a new milestone and answer to the future trivia question, Who was the first Redskins player to get the Mike Shanahan treatment?

Albert showed up, and coach Shanahan said we need you to run a little conditioning test, no big deal, if you are as in shape as we have been hearing all offseason from third parties then you will have no problems: two shuttle runs, each series of sprints of differing lengths and objectives totaling three hundred yards. Albert pass the first test then, and get this, asked for a potty break between tests.

When he came back from the potty, he discovered his results from the first test were void and he had to run both tests again and was unable to pass the test on the second try. I read this today and split my sides, join me:

What was the potty break? To puke? To go and vapor lock in private? To take a dump?

Did Albert know that taking a break between tests would result in negating the first run, thereby requiring him to run both again? Because I am betting he did not.

Ostensibly the reason Albert had to take these tests, and no one else today ran this test, was because Albert missed every chance he would have had in the offseason program to run. According to the coaches, every other player took this test at some point in the offseason and passed it (op. cit.), meaning even though it looks like Albert was being singled out, Albert was actually the one to single himself out. Apparently Albert and coach Shanahan exchanged words after Albert was assigned the failing grade (ibid.).

Wait it gets better. Failing the test rendered him ineligible to practice with his teammates (op. cit.). But Albert did not sit on his big hands, oh no idle hands are the devil's tools, he got direct reps with defensive line coach Jacob Burney... lining up against overturned trashcans!

You read that right, look again at the image above, Albert was not even allowed to have tackling sleds, the coaches turned five trashcans over, each one representing an offensive lineman, and made Albert walk through his putative assignments against trashcans. And from the image above, you can see on that particular play that Albert is in the nose tackle position.

Whether this will continue into day two and beyond I cannot say, what I can say is that Albert showed up and tried to be cool and do his thing and Mike Shanahan made sure Albert's first day back with the team was spent in public humiliation. Albert will get to take the conditioning test again Friday.

Never forget AH also stands for asshat.



Albert Haynesworth and defensive line coach Jacob Burney: John McDonnell / Washington Post from here.

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Donovan's Not Mark Rypien, and Jason Was Not Jeff George - Part Two

OMG HE'S LIEK GENERAL PATTON

Donovan McNabb is in town, this is really actually happening, and 2010 training camp starts today. This is a time for Redskins fans to rejoice every year, and this season there may be a team for us to be proud of no matter the record. Win or lose, Redskins fans never forget. Curly R's two part series on Donovan McNabb and Redskins history concludes.

Part One: More Than One Way to Lead
Part Two: Compared to What

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In a Washington Examiner piece by longtime Redskins writer Rick Snider, Rick writes about a new quarterback leadership in town with the arrival of Donovan McNabb, a type of leadership Jason Campbell was incapable of demonstrating, that Clinton Portis' criticism of Jason was unfortunate but inevitable in the face of Jason's resolute stay medium approach to the game.

Then it gets even more jumbled in Rick's piece, he trots out Mark Rypien, and also revives the ghost of Jeff George, even if Rick's intentions were not direct, the effect of the second half of his Examiner piece is to draw the parallel between Donovan McNabb and Mark Rypien, and another between Jason Campbell and Jeff George. I think as an exercise in tugging the emotions this works, as a series of football analogies it does not.

Rick writes,

Mark Rypien was a decent quarterback with a great team around him. He led the Redskins to the 1991 championship and was named Super Bowl MVP because teammates knew Rypien could win late.

Jeff George was a much better passer than Rypien -- not even close skills-wise. But teammates hated George so much in 2000 that no one came to his defense when he was dragged by the Dallas Cowboys after a sack. His linemen saw it and didn't care. If that happened to Rypien, the game would have been delayed 20 minutes for fighting and the entire offensive line would have been ejected. (op. cit.)

That Redskins team, the 1991 team, was built to play with a lead and had a defense designed to force opposing quarterbacks into bad decisions, such as the 3 November 1991 game against the Oilers that the Redskins surely would have lost without Darrell Green's late interception of Warren Moon. Most of them though were big Redskins wins.

More typical of Mark Rypien's performance in a tight spot was the Redskins second playoff game in 1992, the Redskins had backed into the playoffs at 9-7 and beaten the Redskins lookalike Minnesota Vikings and headed to San Francisco. Mark threw a critical interception and botched a handoff to Brian Mitchell late in the game, it all came down to Washington needing a touchdown to tie, first and eighty from the Redskins 20 with ninety seconds left in the game. Washington spent forty seconds going twenty yards then it was fourth down and the game was over before the Redskins even crossed midfield. Why? How?

Because Mark Rypien was not a stretch leader and the Redskins were not known for their two minute offense, this Redskins team had never really had one. A no huddle offense designed to tire out the defense and keep the clock running, yes. A quick strike two minute offense with well oiled plays designed to play against opposing weaknesses, no.

So when you say Mark Rypien's teammates knew he could win the game late, what you really mean is that the defense kept the Redskins in tight games late and the offense was out there hoping to hit a long one or make something happen. Hardly the stuff of legends, working the huddle, sacrificing the body and playing sandlot ball for two minutes. That was not Mark's game.

As for the Jeff George reference, if I take that at face value then Rick is comparing the time Jeff was sacked and dragged fifteen yards downfield by Dallas defensive tackle Alonzo Spellman in December of 2000, no Redskins players came to his aid and the game continued, to the time Clinton Portis broke bad on Jason Campbell in a radio interview. And there are some similarities.

First though it is a bad analogy simply because it draws a parallel between a game situation and a non game situation, and a friendly fire scenario at that.

Beyond that though, in 2000, Norval Turner had been fired, receivers coach Terry Robiskie had been named lame duck interim coach, the team was falling apart and morale was at a low point. In 2009, the team had fallen apart, head coach Jim Zorn had been fired before the team plane had landed following game sixteen and in the disarray of a terrible season and abject lack of leadership, the remains of the team was at a morale low point.

And that is where the comparison ends. Jeff George was a prima donna player and a locker room cancer. The very definition of a jock asshole Jeff was foisted on the team by owner Dan Snyder who just wanted to watch that cannon release. Never mind that the guy blamed every bad read and interception on the receivers and treated his teammates like assholes.

Jason Campbell on the other hand got knocked to the ground dozens of times in 2009 and every time, many times in visible pain, got up and got back to work. If there was ever a time for a player to get bitter at a team simply unable to protect their quarterback it was Jason last season.

And yet he did not, he did his job and he was not the reason for the Redskins failure.

Neither comparison is valid an inch below the surface.

I do not think I am ready to throw analogies out there for either player.


Do not take it personally Rick, your insight into Donovan McNabb's leadership qualities are spot on. And comparatively speaking you are also right about Jason Campbell, it is not in his nature to dominate his teammates, Jason has a simple philosophy that motivation should come from inside, he has it and if you do not, he cannot give it to you so you better find it or GTFO.

Jason was not the problem in recent years and an analysis of Jason's performance in isolation will show he did his job and he improved every year. If Donovan brings success to this team it will be because the Redskins are playing like a team and not a bunch of guys that are either scared for their jobs or getting paid and don't give a shit. And that will be the difference, Dono will just be a symptom.



Donovan McNabb: Detail of photo from the ORB (Official Redskins Blog) here.

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