July 28 Post AM practice, Saunders says ARE #2 WR

Rookie LB HB Blades left the field dealing with cramps, we will see if he returns for the afternoon session.. Rookie TE suffered a strained groin and was taken off the field, we’ll get the severity of it later in the day..

T Chris Samuels turned 30 years old today..

Offensive coordinator Al Saunders says Antwaan Randle-El is the #2 WR heading into the pre-season and Brandon Lloyd is the #3 because “that’s how it ended last year.” Saunders says he believes the team has three qualified starting WR’s and that on many occasions the team will have 3 wide sets, however “until he starts doing things more consistently, which he is going in that direction,” he will remain behind Randle-El..

Saunders said the perception that the offense changed mid-season when Joe Gibbs had his talk with the team was unture.. The offense wasn’t shifted but scaled back because of the unfamiliarity of the offense for Jason Campbell.. Campbell’s progression has been vast according to Saunders but there is a level of familiarity that still needs to be reached.. Campbell’s pocket presence was lauded by Saunders who called him very courageous.. The team is also looking forward to taking advantage of Campbell’s downfield passing abilities, but last year Saunders admitted the team kept 7-8 blockers in to help protect Campbell, whether they loosen up that plan will be known when the pre-season begins..

Saunders says Clinton Portis is the undisputed starter at running back and that Portis offers a game breaking ability when he breaks into the second level of the defense.. Saunders says he wants to see Portis grow as a pass receiver and that would make him less one dimensional.. They aren’t looking to turn Portis into a Bryan Westbrook or Reggie Bush per se, but if he were used in the flat more then usual, it might help loosen up the D’s who treat him as a good pass blocker…

Chris Cooley can be expected to run more deep patterns this fall, that is the part of his game that the team hopes to exploit more.. Cooley told me he is not concerned with the state of contract extension talks which have been quiet around here lately.. The team would like to lock him up this summer.. Cooley said because he has never been through it before he has no concerns over how or when it happens.. Cooley readily admits that he and many of the offensive teammates weren’t comfortable with their knowledge of the offense heading into the regular season because of a lack of reps in the summer.. He feels much differently about the state of the offense come this fall..

Santana Moss said he took much of the summer off to be safe about his ever ailing hamstrings and groin.. Groin was the bigger issue for Moss who has taken part in both practices of camp thus far, but any tweak will get the staff’s attention.. The staff remains worried about keeping him healthy.. He is a lynchpin for the offense, Moss admits the way it is structured, he “could be a beast in this thing.” Saunders described him as “that guy 89 can do anything.” He didn’t say that about his other players..

Kudos to Mike Wise who had the shirt of the day wearing a burgundy T-shirt that read "Homeland Security, protecting America since 1785" Something like that.. It had a picture of American Indians on it.. I wanted him to approach Dan Snyder in that shirt just to see what would have happened..