Covering The Redskins

2009-- Hello, I promise to start writing again..

2009-04-19T20:53:00.001-07:00

I'm going to start blogging again..

Check out MeTalkAthlete.blogspot.com

May 21-- The Opt Out

2008-05-20T12:49:00.001-07:00

Meet the new New York Yankees. They reside in Washington and they've never hit a home run or stolen a base. But they will be part of the biggest arms war in sports in 2 short years.

The NFL owners might be the ones who ultimately kill their own golden goose. The most successful and profitable sports league in the United States is in position to go baseball on us, radically changing the competitive landscape come 2010. The owners opted out of their current labor deal which gives the players a whooping 60 percent of all revenues.
Feeling they've conceeded too much on a group of players who leave them little recourse in terms of recouping those sums should a bad decision be made, the owners have determined to scarp the plan. The problem is when/if the current labor pact runs out, the two sides have an agreed cap less season to come. That's right, no salary cap at all..

Who would that help? Quite obviously, the Redskins and Cowboys. Both big spenders in free agency anyway (and now with Dallas set to open a state of the art gem in Arlington, TX with the league's highest seating capacity), the America's team title might belong to who's owner opens up the wallet more often.
The Giants will be opening a new stadium as well.. The frugal Eagles may be forced into a radical shift of salary spending just to keep up.
No one has spent more on free agents in the past decade then the Redskins, who in turn have had little in terms of success to show for their efforts. But in an uncapped year, they'll be able to outbid for every free agent at every position. Teams will be forced to lock players into longer term deals because small markets like Cincinnati, Green bay, etc. will have no shot retaining a star.

In vogue right now is the malcontent line. Brian Urlacher has 5 years left on his current deal yet is skipping voluntary workouts because he wants a better contract. Chad Johnson has four years left on his pact and has promised to never play for the Bengals. Waiting out a season for their teams to drop them if they hold onto their convictions would pay off in an uncapped year. They could recoop all lost wages, currently an impossibility due to cap restrictions.

Parody has been behind the continued growth and popularity of a league who had a shocking Super Bowl champ, and survived a media hyped cheating scandal by the league's standard. Nothing turns the TV needle in the industry then football Sundays and the mammoth Super Bowl viewing. The draft has even become some of ESPN's most watched programming. Yet, the league can't seem to come to terms on a long term deal in turn might allow their league to become a have and have nots landscape.

selfishly, we all know the Skins would be one of the major players in this. January football would certainly follow on a relatively annual basis. Their divisuion figures to be among the most profitable and competitive with three majoe cities with major revenue streams going against one another. But imagine the NFC South, with four smaller less competitive markets getting a playoff team with a home game in every season only to be set up for the monsters from the East..
Are pre-season games even worthwhile if the team's have no semblence of competition? Will viewing of the average NFL game decrease if the team's are perceived as being part of a caste system? How will attendence be affected in cities like New Orleans or Charlotte should their teams become glorified farm teams? What will the prices for Redskins, Cowboys, Patriots, Giants etc. tickets be should the reality of super teams emerge?

Two years is a long time for the two sides to find a happy medium. The players want more of their deals to be guaranteed. I don't blame them. The owners want easier forms of recourse should an off field incident threaten their playing status (see Mike Vick and Pac Man Jones). I don't blame them.
There are certainly better ways for both sides to achieve their assurances without letting the whole thing turn into a wild west cash grab for the big boys. Gene Upshaw promised if the owners let the league have an uncapped year, the players wouldn't agree to go back. Should that happen, we will have seen the end of the NFL as we know it. The Skins might have many Lombardi trophies to show off, but if their competitive advantage was significantly higher then 70% of the league, what does that really mean?

OK men

April 8-- Live from Bristol

2008-05-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone.. So I'm settling in here at the ESPN headquarters in lovely Bristol CT.. In case you were curious, you won't see me on air for a few more weeks.. But I'll keep ypu posted when that day is coming..

So I'm reading about the Skins mini-camp this weekend (weird because I never really needed to read about the team) and I'm getting the impression that the Z-Man might have been a little underestimated in regard to his training regimen..

I found it strange that a new coach would not take advatange of all the available practice days allotted. New coaches are privy to extra off-season practices then returning coaches but Jim Zorn declined, likely for numerous reasons. His team has five pre-season games so he will get an extra week to ten days of actual training camp. He also was as surprised as the rest of us to be named head coach, so the lost time preparaing for practice might have affected his decision.

That said, here's the impression I got from talking to some folks in Ashburn, this guy's practices are going to be a little rougher then first expected. In turn, Antwaan Randle-El suffers a knee injury and has surgery, Clinton Portis is sitting out a practice with a hip injury (not a surprise considering his disdain for practicing especially this time of year) and Jason Campbell did so many reps in a new crouched position he slightly pulled his hamstring. The last is obviously the most disconcerting. If the quarterback is uncomfortable (obviously since he pulled a major muscle) to what length does that affect his overall mechanics. Campbell is a tall guy, they can't make him shorter so maybe they need to work with him as he is instead of trying to change how he does it.. But I defer to Zorn on this one and assume it's just a minor setback in what will be the hopeful growth of Campbell, but that news was troublesome to say the least.

Zorn's practices were desribed to me as vigorous, so we'll see how that plays and what the carryover effect is cpme June and into camp..

OK men

April 27-- The draft

2008-04-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

The Redskins pulled off one of the more shrewd moves under the Dan Snyder ownership by trading out of the first round acquiring two second round picks from Atlanta (while exchanging a few other selections) and ultimately picking at need and getting what is believed to be the top receiver in the draft. So the Skins nab Devin Thomas, a player believed a possible selection at 21 had he fallen to that point in the draft.. Vinny Cerrato had told me numerous times he beleived the draft was very deep at receiver (a need spot if the team couldn't land Chad Johnson/Anquan Boldin etc) in the second and third rounds.. He was very right with no receiver going in the first round..
So they select Thomas.. Then they go with Fred Davis, who certainly is a highly regarded prospect out of USC, but with the financial committment already in place for Chris Cooley, how he'll fit in will be in question.. maybe this is a team that can run two tight ends, only Jim Zorn can answer that..

The third second round pick is where I have a some apprehention. The Skins personally worked out Malcolm Kelly, the receiver from Oklahoma, but it was my understanding that the Skins didn't think Thomas would be available to them when they drafted at 21 or at whatever spot they landed had they traded down. Once Thomas fell into their lap, the necessity to spend that high a pick on Kelly seems moot.. So the Skins try to solve a void with two potential prospects.. Is this overkill? Possibly. Does this mean James Thrash is in danger of losing a roster spot? Possibly. Does this mean Chad Johnson is definitely out of the Skins potential plans? Possibly and probably.

Day two.. I love the selection of Colt Brennan, QB from Hawaii with a 6th round pick.. This is a win win for the Skins. Brennan owns NCAA records mainly because he was a competent gunslinger for a kitshcy offense that does nothing but throw. He certainly is not mobile, had some character issues which led to a transfer to Hawaii but by all accounts has been a good citizen since going to Paradise. The 3rd QB on this roster right now is former Terp Sam Hollenbach, therefore, this spot is open for a young prospect to grow.. Todd Collins should and could be the back-up for two seasons. Jason Campbell is the starting quarterback.. Brennan comes here with no pressure, prove you are worth a roster spot, and sit back and learn from Zorn for two seasons. At that point, you are either the primary back-up, or who knows...

I also applaud the team for taking the best punter in college football.. Derrick Frost has been an erratic performer and needs competition. Spending a low round selection on that was imparative.
The Redskins got a CB, DE and a swing O-lineman, all needs, but honestly I know so little about any of them, we'll see if they are hots or misses..

In all, I like what the Skins did, targeted WR as a need, got value by trading down and landing the right guy with their first pick.. The next two 2nd's need to be scrutinized. I firmly believe in the "best player available" mantra but the next two picks stunk of overkill.. Still, a core with emerging players like Kelly and Thomas with ARE and Santana could be an upgrade, certainly if one emerges, the other doesn't need to be an immediate impact player. The inherent competition the Redskins just created will be one of the most intriguing of camp..
Day two is day two. You take your shots. Grade: B to B+

April 25-- Skins Pick will be...

2008-04-25T09:14:00.000-07:00

The Redskins are not moving up in this weekend's draft unless somehow, someway the deal involves a convoluted way of getting one of the three primary receivers possibly available: Roy Williams, Chad Johnson or Anquan Boldin.. My guess is no deal involves them moving up under any such scenario, so lets assume they stay or move down..

The pick at 21 tells us everything we need to know about their confidence that either Boldin or more likely Johnson is a Skin by the start of training camp.. Should the Skins go with Oklahoma WR Malcolm Kelly with the 21st pick, then they are saying that they are convinced Cincinnati is not going to deal Johnson despite his proclamations most recently that the Bengals "will not win this war."

If the Skins take Clemson defensive end Phillip Merling who they went and watched work out at an unusual last minute field session yesterday, then that tells you that the believe Johnson is still in play.. Or if they select CB Aqib Talib or should the Florida's D end Harvey somehow be available, again same thought process..
Even with a selection of Merling, the Skins have three more picks in the second and third rounds, enough to likely land a receiver maybe even Limas Sweed of Texas should he fall into the second round with injury concerns.. Even then, I don't think that selection would be a sign that Washington thinks Ocho Cinco is out of play..
The deal then become a post June one, likely closer to training camp deal where Cincinnati likely deals Johnson for next year's first rounder and likely a second pick, quite possibly the third offerd whivh could escalate to an '10 first rounder with performance levels reached..

As for the rest of the draft.. The Skins will take at least one interior O-lineman likely in he first three rounds, likely a defensive tackle in the first three rounds and defeinitely a quarterback late to develop behind Jason Campbell looking at a possible long term future when the team finally parts ways with Todd Collins after two more seasons..
If there is a young punter worth looking at, I would suggest that selection in the latter rounds as well.. They have 3 seventh rounders, likely few will make the team so why not take the shot on a possible punter to groom..

OK men..

April 23-- Chasing Chad

2008-04-23T17:20:00.000-07:00

It's going to happen.. Just not now.. I'm convinced Chad Johnson will not be a Bengal and I'm convinced he'll be in the NFC East which is why the offer the Skins made though possibly an overpayment for the disgruntled receiver is necessitated..

The Skins, Cowboys and Eagles all want Chad Johnson, all three (maybe the Eag;es more so then the other two) need a secondary receiving threat.. So this is turning into a Red Sox/Yankees arms race where the deal not only ensures you get a top flight talent but keeps him off a main rival.. Whoever ends up with Johnson or in my opinion the more valuable Anquan Boldin suddenly becomes a significantly stronger team heading into 2008..

I figure the Skins to land either Johnson or Boldin based if for no other reason that Drew Rosenhaus represents both and he and Dan Snyder are in the business of making each other happy campers.. The Cardinals sincerely want to keep Boldin who watched Larry Fitzgerald get a major deal, but it must be noted that Fitzgerald overperformed his initial rookie contract which in turn turned his deal into a albatross on their cap.. Certainly the Cardinals weren't going to release Fitzgerald outright. So Boldin wants the big bucks too. Certainly he has every reason to believe he'll get a new deal, but he wants Fitzgerald cash and the liklihood of Arizona breaking the bank for both receivers is unlikely. In the end, this is a good problem for Arizona, they don't have to deal Boldin and are more then happy to try to negotiate a fair deal, but they can also force Boldin to play it out.

Johnson is different story. He has said he won't play. Marvin Lewis dared him to keep his word on that threat and the Bengals for now are playing high stakes chicken with their best receiver. I expect Cincinnati to pay TJ Houshmanzadeh and move Johnson. Chad is 30 and although his numbers are among the most reliable in the league, Bengals brass can sell Houshmanzadeh and someone else as a reliable attack with string armed Carson Palmer at QB. In essence, Boldin is young and probably has a lot more upseide then Johnson as good as Johnson is. The Cardinals would be nuts to get rid of Anquan, the Bengals could try to sell that Johnson's performance will decrease in the ensuing years if not in the very immediate future.

In the defense of Johnson, he has received a lot of the blame for the team's failures, but he wasn't one of the numerous players in that locker room who was arrested in recent years. Is Chad really the bad cat in the locker room? Truth is Johnson also wants to be in a big time city for a marquee franchise. He's that kind of star. So Washington and Dallas certainly fits the mold of a team worthy of Johnson's histrionics.

In the end, I expect the Bengals to relent and deal Johnson probably closer to the start of camp, and next year's draft pick will still be in play when that time comes.. Selfishly, I think Johnson will be an unbelievable addition in terms of interviewees, and I certainly believe the Redskins do need a stable force opposite Santana Moss.. You could make a case that the Skins would have the most dangerous core of receivers should Johnson or Boldin come to DC. Besides, did you really think the Redskins would sit on their hands and not do anything dramatic the entire off-season?

See you in July 85..

Ok men..

April 22-- The Sleeping Giant is Awake

2008-04-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

I remember going to Caps games at US Air Arena in the 80's, wearing all white, not a seat unfilled and screaming my head off for a team that annually would break my heart. But I went back year after year, not because I had faith when game six against the Penguins went to double overtime that the outcome would be different, but because it mattered.

Since the Caps shift to the Southeast division (and subsequent crumbling of the true divisional rivalries the area cared about) and since the move to Verizon Center (ticket price hike and new downtown home), something eroded from that experience. Sure the Caps became less competitive in the subsequent years, but the stadium would often be overrun by Flyers, Penguins, even Sabre fans. On the few playoff nights against Tampa Bay, indifference prevailed.

Next came, the media who steamrolled the sport as second tier. The Caps became an ignored property on it's own local airwaves. The hosts treating the game and it's perceived dwindling fan base as a waste of air. The new adage was if the Caps beat the Flames in a shootout and no one talked about it, did it actually happen?

This troubled me on numerous levels. Caps fans were passionate, now they weren't? It continued to propogate the tiresome perception that DC is not a sports town unless your name was Redskins. The frinedliest most accessible owner in town had to turn into a door to door (or in Ted's case email to email) salesman just to get people to give his product a shot.

Put aside the Caps and Flyers enterring a must see game seven tonight at Verizon Center; the biggest game in terms of interest Ted's team has played since Washington's run to the Cup Finals in 1998. Something has pushed the right button in the inner sports concious of this town and has re-energized a fan base for hockey, exemplified by the atmosphere of game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Suddenly, like it was 1988 all over again, the Caps mattered, and I'm thinking it's here to stay this time.

"I think we have finally dispelled the notion that this town can't support a hockey team," a beaming Ted Leonsis said in the locker room following a thrilling game one win where his Caps came back from down two goals to start the 3rd period to win 5-4.
It wasn't just about the sea of red or the building being barely able to handle the sound generated from it's suddenly raucous fan base. It was about recapturing something that was already there, rekindling a love affair the Caps created back in the 80's. "This was the most schiovanistic crowd we've had. They want to protect our building. We want to make this place inhospitable."

Was it Alex Ovechkin's season of 65 goals (a feat produced by no other player in the league in a dozen years). Is it the fact that despite popular belief, Alex isn't the team's one trick pony, indeed a line of Nicklas Backstrom, Alexander Semin and Ovechkin figures to quite possibly become the NHL's next version of Gretzky, Kurri and Messier?
Was it the team's hiring of a weeble-wobble coach who's only NHL shot was afforded because he happened to win a title with 7 of the young up and comers on this team two seasons ago in Hershey? Bruce Boudreau has all but admitted he didn't think he'd even get a shot to coach in the league after toiling for years in towns better known for chocolate then sport.
Was it the final 2 months where Washington never lost back to back games, cruised to victory in their final 9, all necessitated must wins and pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in NHL regular season history to steal the Southeast division?
Or maybe it's something that everyone can relate to. "I think something special is going on here," said a buzzing Joe Beninati, play by play voice of the team to me in the bowels of Verizon after the stirring game one win.
Beninati and Criag Laughlin have become a remarkable duo in the booth, presenters of a game that by ratings standards, no one knew existed. But colorfully and artfully, they called every game for years while the rest of the city pretended it could care less.

Leonsis took his first real risk as owner of the team by spending Snyder style on effortless Jaromir Jagr among others. He had a good team and figured, a boost of star power and veteran leadership would carry him over the top. Jagr didn't like DC, and DC didn't like him or his penchent to play when he felt like it. So the strip mining of a team with an eroding attendence was a death sentence for Ted's checkbook. "I lost 100 million dollars since taking over as owner, but the team has appreciated since I bought them. What's a hundred million dollars between friends?"

In turn, the Caps started to sell a new plan, one that involved a lot of draft picks (many of which wouldn't see NHL ice for 3-4 years if at all). Even fervent hockey fans in fervent hockey towns (outside of Canada of course) would have any clue whether the front office was picking the right guys. They are European or Canadian and there is no Mel Kiper to help us break it down. The team also traded away the gut of the team, well liked Peter Bondra and Sergei Gonchar. Shipped off the old timers like Robert Lang and finally got out from under the Jagr albatross (despite paying a good portion of his slaary to watch him emerge as a star again in New York). This team was not recognizable in a division that provided locals no rival to hate.

Today, that plan is paying off. Regardless of whether the Caps beat Philly tonight or get on a rediculous run to the Cup, Ted's plan finally took shape. It's as if his dream came true, he'd wake up one day and he'd have a good hockey team. "It wasn't hard to change the team back then. The definiton of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. There was more risk not ripping that team apart."

Left was Olie Kolzig, who is ironically only along for this ride. Left is the fruition of remarkable draft selections, Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, possibly Defenseman Karl Alzner who the Caps are very high on.
This series has also shown something in DC we weren't accustomed to back in the 80's. The Caps have adjusted to the physical play of an opponent and become the aggressor. Brooks Laich, Steve Emminger and Matt Cooke might not be household names in any town, but their physicality is a huge part of the Caps not only standing up to the Flyers, but in recent days appearing to be the more physical team. It's fun when the bullies are the ones cowering.

And the best part is anyone who follows sports knows that this is only the beginning. Until toay, I'd never actually wanted to give a contract extension to a player who'd just signed a 13 year deal, but in the case of Ovechkin, lifetime contract seems to fit. Backstrom is going to be the NHL assist leader within five years. Semin might have more true offensive skill then Ovechkin. And they are tough thanks to a checking line that in my opinion has kept them in this series. They are the embodiment of the popular sports credo of being a "player or two away." And yet that time might come sooner then we thought. Get by the Flyers, and who knows right?

In the end what's most rewarding to a lifetime fan is the return of the atmosphere. In covering sports, all I ever can ask is that the fans give their heart to the team when warranted but not desert them when times are tough. And for the players, leave it on the field of play and don't disgrace the uniform. The latter half appears in good hands. The first part is up to us, not to let this be a fleeting moment, but to support what could be the beginning of an amazing run. And in truth, could it happen to a better guy then Ted?

OK men..

April 20-- This isn't goodbye

2008-04-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

But Friday was my last official broadcast as a full time member of Redskins Radio.. I will be helping out with our draft coverage but certainly will take a less prominent role then in the past..

My first day at ESPN is in early May and I don't know when my first air shift will be, but I'll certainly update you via the blog so you can see your little reporter all growns up.. I will continue to post blog entries as well, stories from Bristol, thoughts on the Skins etc..

But, it is time to say thank you. Working at Redskins Radio and being part of the gameday broadcasts was a dream come true.. I remember going to RFK as a kid and listening to the post game show coming out of the stadium, hearing Sonny and Sam from the locker room, Ken Beatrice breaking down the game and taking your calls. It's all I ever wanted to do. And for 8 seasons (the last two most prominently) my employers and you allowed me to live that dream.
For 8 years I have seen every game the Redskins have played live, the last two from the unique perspective of the sideline. It's an experience I'll never forget and always cherish.

I'd like to thank Tod Castleberry, someone who took a major chance on me, allowing a 26 year old to take over a very public and prominent position at Sportstalk 980 covering the Redskins. Tod was integral in getting me to make the move from the competitor to Redskins Radio, but considering my expertise and passion, it was not a difficult choice to make because I knew Tod would help me find a higher profile, plus the lure of being part of the official broadcasts was overwhelming. Bennett Zier and Jeff Wyatt were also believers in my work and always beyond supportive of my own personal growth.

Chris Owens is responsible for the opens and overall sound of our shows and in particular the Redskins pre-game show, my favorite program to work on. He was by far the best producer in this regard I ever got the opportunity to work with. The show Kevin Sheehan and I hosted the last two years was leaps and bounds superior to the one I was part of on 980. And it was mainly thanks to Chris and Kevin's passion for the best sound and content we could muster.

I've had the great fortune of working with legends, Joe Jacoby for 8 years on the postgame show. John Riggins who might as well be the Beatles when he walks into a room. And the great John Thompson who was integral in cementing me as more then a neophyte in the eyes of the team early in my run as Redskins beat reporter.
Dexter Manley was one of the most unqiue individuals I've ever met. Doc Walker is easily one of my favorite people in the world. Smokin Al K, Andy P, Czabe, Gary Braun, B Mitch all talents I've had the great fortune of getting to work with and learn from. Special thanks to Dave Feldman, Russ Thaler (and the crew of Washington Pst Live), and the folks at CN8 who rpoduce one of the best sports shows on TV (Out of Bounds) a show I became a regular contributer on and ultimately opened up a creative forum that I hadn't delved into in a while.. And of course the legendary team of Larry, Sonny and Sam, what an honor to be with them every Sunday.

Redskins Radio is currently being run by one of the greats in our business, Bruce Gilbert. The fate of Redskins radio is in the best hands possible. Trust me when I tell you this, this station is ready to turn a major corner.. He was amazing with the tranisitional process for me and I can only hope that he will consider me for any and all limited work with the team down the road possible..

As for the Redskins, I'm not going to tell tales about the team's relationship with the media, but certainly it's no walk in the park covering them. But as I leave daily reporting duties at Ashburn, I can honestly say I have nothing but admiration and respect for the way they treated me. Dan Snyder didn't have to let me do a daily show from an area of Redskins park off limits to the rest of the media. Vinny Cerrato didn't have to do a weekly show with Larry and me every Thursday, but he did and did it as open and honest as he could. They treated me to a different level of access few reporters are privy to and I appreciated it and tried hard not to break that trust. That said, when the team wins one playoff game in the 8 years I covered them, had 6 year different head coaches and numerous players come in and out, certainly I couldn't have done my job with any kind of integrity without analyzing the zits.
Despite popular belief that Redskins Radio couldn't be unbiased in it's coverage, never once did Mr. Syder, Vinny, Joe Gibbs, or anyone in the organization ever tell me I couldn't say this or I couldn't say that. Sure they disagreed with some of my opinions and reporting, but as long as I never made it personal, and I tried hard not to, everything was fair game. In that regard, I want to thank the Redskins for letting me in the door despite the knowledge that not everything I was going to say would be music to their ears. It was tough love, but always behind it was love.

Lastly, I want to thank you, for reading the blog, for listening to my broadcasts and reports and for being so very supportive in my next adventure. I will miss covering the team, I will miss hosting radio shows (not currently part of my ESPN deal) and will miss DC dearly. But this opportunity is amazing. Very few in my business get a shot like this and I am going there with an attitude that the sky is the limit. I can't wait to get started and see where my career goes.

So it's off to New England to start fresh, to find out if I got the goods to hang with the big boys and to take an opportunity of a lifetime and go for it. I always covered the team my way, and I plan on going to ESPN not trying to be like anyone else but be me.

So for one final time: Covering the Redskins, I'm Bram Weeeinnssteiinnn..

OK men..

April 16-- Day 3 Final Thoughts, the Front Office

2008-04-16T14:22:00.000-07:00

While many seem to naysay the promotion of Vinny Cerrato to whatever title he has now as a sign that things will go back to the way it was done prior to the Joe Gibbs hiring, I have to say I am pleasantly surprised by the restraint and plan Cerrato has implemented..

What is certainly different now that Gibbs has left is that the head coach will have far less say in the determination of who will be on his roster.. Joe Gibbs was not only the President of the team but the de facto GM with Cerrato and Dan Snyder at his side.. Now, Jim Zorn will be the team's coach and coach only.. Surely his opinions will be voiced and heard but he owns no rubber stamp.. That said, Gibbs earned the right to run the ship, Zorn has not and it would be hard to argue making the case to continue the decision making process via a triumverate..

So Cerrato is in charge, and since that promotion, Vinny has been open much more frequently to discuss the team's direction.. This is important on many levels.. The Redskins and the press core haven't had a great relationship under the ownership of Snyder.. Personally, I've got no complaints, the team treated me to a certain level of access that is appreciated.. But some of the others were left in the dark and that in turn garnered a lot of negative attention to the team.. Being more open about moves, potential moves and general team direction is always best.. The people who write and talk about you are an important arm of your operation.. They need to be in the loop or they will start guessing, and sometimes you don't want to read or hear what we might guess..

More importantly of course is how the team is truly built and what the results are on the field.. Should the Redskins win, the media will talk about how great they are.. Lose, and well, you've read that story a lot recently..
The team has shown remarkable restraint this off-season opting so far to hang onto the bulk of their draft selections and shying away from the big money of free agency.. I don't want this to be perceived as the way things will go on from here.. As it turned out, this free agent crop was thin to put it bluntly.. The few available difference making players broke the bank because there were many teams who unlike the Skins weren't flirting with the cap ceiling heading into this off-season.. In other words, teams like the Browns, Bears, Bucs, Titans, all had big money to spend so they might as well overpay.. The Skins did not have the luxury of outbidding teams this time around and truthfully, there wasn't anyone worth doing so for anyway.. So the Skins held back.. The fact that they were able to restrain the typical tendencies still is worth praising..
So the draft becomes a very important part of this team once again.. And that is where Cerrato has done well..
This team has drafted Derrick Dockery, Ladell Betts, Sean Taylor, Chris Cooley, Chris Samuels, Jon Jansen, Jason Campbell, Fred Smoot, Rocky McIntosh, LaRon Landry, all very capableand in some cases pro bowl caliber players..
The amazing part to me during the boom or bust era of free agency for the Skins was that their draft classes were rarely poor, they just chose not to use many of their selections.... I've always felt that this team needed to emphasize drafting more.. Good drafting plus the willingness to spend (which the Redskins do, don't let this off-season fool you) is the key to success.. Seeing them supplement a good core of drafted players with key free agent acquisitions is more in line with how the good teams stay that way.. In the cap era, Having Cooley for four years on a rookie contract is so much more worth it then trading for Jeremy Shockey and breaking the bank.. When your pick fits, you pay him (a lesson learned after letting Smoot and namely Antonio Pierce go), when they don't, no harm no foul on your cap.. Relying less on free agency means the misses won't sting you as much in terms of team chemistry and cap breaking cuts..
In this regard, I like how the Skins handled this off-season, and it would only be fair to credit Cerrto with that..
This team now has a de facto GM, despite Cerrato not carrying that specific title.. If the team has issues, we now know who to look at..
Snyder of course has a large role in determining the team's roster too.. But I do honestly believe Cerrato's opinions are being taken into consideration.. Of coursem, big deals like maybe one for Chad Johnson or the close call with Lance Briggs run through Snyder.. This is not going to change.. But Cerrato seemingly has the power, or at least is reprensenting publicly that he does..

While I don't think this roster feels championship ready, the Redskins took what was handed to them this off-season and didn't make any ghastly errors by overpaying this off-season.. That level of maturity is something I think we all hope continues into future seasons..

OK men

April 15-- Day 2 Final Thoughts, The D

2008-04-15T06:24:00.000-07:00

Maybe the biggest question surrounding the state of the defense is whether this unit of players will be willing to play as hard for Jim Zorn and Greg Blache as they did for Joe Gibbs and Gregg Williams.. The longer I got to cover the sport, the more I realized how important accountability became.. Some teams are fortunate to have players who become the type of on field that demands acountability from their teammates, Ray Lewis and Brian Dawkins come to mind..
Other teams get it from their coach, Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick come to mind there..
My gut tells me that Gregg and Joe had a lot to do with the way this team played.. Overall, I don't look at this roster and see mismatches. Certainly with health, this team can be competitive and considering the Giants won the Super Bowl, special, but they need to show desire to win. Basically, it won't come easy and that's where the coaches come in.. It's been an assumption by most that Greg Blache taking over means a carryover from the Williams era where 3 of his four seasons, the team ranked in the league's top 10. I don't know for certain that will be the case. Will the team feel as if they made a mistake letting Williams walk when all is said and done?

As for the players, the D-line is a major concern in my opinion... I like Phillip Daniels, great guy, great quote, plays with injuries and is a very large human being. But there can't possibly be a lot left in the tank and his replacement doesn't appear to be on this roster. Plus, 16 games out of Daniels appears like an unlikely prospect consideirng the ammount of issues he's dealth with over the years, ankles, wrists, shoulder, the list goes on..
Andre Carter to me remains only an everydown player because he is one of the most well conditioned athletes on the team.. Come the third and fourth quarter, his speed and tenacity will take over esepcially on a tackle who might not be in top shape.. Andre is a workaholic and though a bit undersized, his preparation is second to none..
On the interior of the line, Cornelious Griffin is a difference maker, on the field and in the huddle.. The problem is his long injury history.. Like Daniels, he'll need to avoid some train wrecks to stay healthy for a couple more years.. The duo of Anthony Montgomery and Kedric Golston make for fine back-ups particularly against the run, but neither has emerged in my opinion as a viable starter (Monty however did improve greatly last season from his rookie year).. The team is openly tal;king about drafting a defensive lineman, likely an interior presence who can get some pressure on the quarterback (the Skins version of Justin Tuck). They continue to claim they need not find an ample replacement at end, I certainly disagree with that feeling, but if Chris Wilson emerges as a viable rusher on pass downs then maybe the need isn't as dire as once thought.. Maybe..
Regardless, long term future of this unit is in desperate need of a youth infusion, this team needs to draft someone who is going to be a fixture at one of the four spots for 5-10 years.. This is the year they need a Glenn Dorsey, but drafting 21st with no inclination to move up suggests we'll wait another year..

There has to be growing concern about the long term future at linebacker as well.. Marcus Washington is one of the best people in the locker room.. Well liked, he plays hard and fast and enjoys being on the field as much as anyone.. But for three years running now, he's been dealing with a hip injury and last year missed a month with upper leg issues.. He has had a benign cyst removed from his lower back tice. Basically, he is not as reliable a starter as before.. When he is on the field, he makes plays, keeping him on the field has been the issue..
London Fletcher was a rock and a needed leader.. He'll be 33 this year though and while he has shwon no signs of slowing down, at some point you have to think someone must be ready to step in when he slows a step.. That said, with his track record, you have to figure Fletcher will remain in his spot at least 2 more years, hopefully longer.. He is a tackle machine and one of the smartest players the Redskins have, a great pick-up last year..
I love Rocky McIntosh's abilitty. His feel for the game was leaps and bounds better then his rookie season.. But he did suffer a major knee injury. In college he was plagued with knee issues as well.. McIntosh is very fast for a weak side backer, and if on the field, seems like a perfect fit for the position.. Khary Campbell to me is a special teamer only.. HB Blades is way underszied but like Fletcher seems to just know how to play.. He might be a a good spot player for this team.. Someone will make this team this year that we don't know as a back-up LB..

At CB, Shawn Springs is underrated, if you can be underrated as a former top ten pick.. He has an inate skill set that is rare but often times is the difference between a capable corner and a good one, quickness.. Springs can close on a play faster then anyone I've seen in this uniform outside of Champ Bailey.. He is in his mid 30's now though which is typically ancient for a CB unless your name is Darrell Green and after a year of contractual wranglings, I figure Springs probably has one year left here.. Fred Smoot isn't just a class clown anymore.. He truly emerged as a leader last year taking a hard line with the media after what he believed was unfair characterizations of Sean Taylor immediately following his passing.. Smoot has no fear of throwing his body around even at his own detriment.. He plays hurt, constantly.. Now while I would not place him in the top 10 of corners in terms of cover skills, his heart and likability in the room are priceless.. As a #2, I am very satisified with him.. Carlos Rogers will have a long rehab to go, that will hopefully have him ready by week one.. But a major knee injury like the one he had almost always means a two year recovery before the player is truly back to full strength.. He'll play this year, but I'm not sure how effective he'll be or if he'll even be close to being able to generate his typical speed.. More and more it looks like the team will address this issue by drafting a corner.. The reasoning obviously is two fold.. How much longer will Springs be here? And how much can the team rely on Rogers this season? CB Aqib Talib could be the choice at 21 if he is available.. I still think they go D-lineman with the first pick but if Talib is there, he might be hard to pass up..

At safety, Laron Landry couldn't have been a better fit.. he plays the aggressive style the defense demanded.. He can cover the field and honestly, with some better hands, might have had a friendly competition with Sean Taylor over who'd have more interceptions.. Landry now assumes Taylor's position full time after the tragedy.. So while it seemed taking a safety didn't appear to be the most necessitated move last spring, it is now extremely fortunate that they did.. Reed Doughty isn't particularly fast or big, but he plays hard and like Smoot has no issue throwing his body around.. I don't know if he is considered the long term solution at SS, but as a back-up and spot starter, I'd certainly give him the chance.. Competition for back-up spots there will be interesting with Pierson Prioleau gone and Vernon Fox returning mainly as a special teams contributer.. The obvious comparisons Miami draftee Kenny Phillips would be forced to undertake if he were the selection at #21 are almost too much to bear.. It would be unfair to him to saddle him with thos headlines and expectations should the Redskins go this direction..

Overall, I like this group, but they are going to need some luck and band aids to keep it together.. Long term, this team needs to find a defensive tackle who can start, I believe an end who they can groom for the near future, a corner for the immediate and long term future and some depth at linebacker and safety..
All that said, heart can outweigh limitations.. This group plays with heart, the only question is whether they will continue to do so now that their former coordinator who they supported during the coaching primaries is gone..

OK men

April 13-- My final week, time for final thoughts

2008-04-13T19:56:00.000-07:00

So as I head into the final week of shows on Redskins Radio, it's dawning on me that I won't be talking about the Redskins constantly for a living.. So, while I'm sure this blog will broach what's happening in Redskin Land, this week (while I'm still payed to do so), I might as well vamp on the five major aspects of the team, O, D, Teams, the front office and coaching..

Call it a few parting thoughts..

Lets talk offense today..

The genuine needs remain a true #2 wide receiver and depth along the offensive line.. At WR, I still believe Santana Moss has the propensity to be an eltie receiver. He may be running out of years to prove that out, but his speed and hands (although there were some hairy moments with his hands a season ago) make him practically uncoverable.. The issue has always been and always will be his ability to stay healthy.. Moss dealt with groin/hamstring and ultimately heel issues last year.. Moss took it easy this off-season choosing to lay off the workouts for a few months, focussed on his wedding instead and got himself as he put it "out of shpae." His "out of shape" isn't a you or me "out of shape" but his body needed a break, hopefully it pays dividends come this fall..
Antwaan Randle-El in my opinion os overpayed. This is not to suggest I don't like him as a compliment to Moss, but I have felt for a couple of years now that Randle-El needs to be moved back into the slot. There he can be moved with pre-snap motion to elicit what wuld hopefully become a mismatch.. Randle-El can run and throw as well making him dynamic but despite having what I'd call an adequate year as a number 2, he remains a better option as a three.. His punt returning has a lot left to be desired..
James Thrash is a tremendous competitor and in spot duty can help on offense but is no longer a viable number 3.. Anthony Mix is big and has potential.. Jerome Mathis figures to make this team if the Skins don't use a high pick on a wide receiver.. I expect one of the top two picks to go for a WR..

TE Chris Cooley is only getting better. A well liked force in the locker room, and now anchored in for the long termw ith a new extension, Cooley might become the best TE in the NFC soon.. I like his back-up Todd oder who has surprisingly good hands. Not much speed, but you can try to squeeze a ball into in.. He isn't fast, not particularly big, but all the same will make a play here or there for you..

At Fullback, Mike Sellers is a freak and there is nothing wrong with a few freaks on your team.. At 270 but can run like a skill player, Sellers has a unique blend of natural ability.. What I'd like to see Sellers stop doing is his annual moaning about carrying the ball.. Has Sellers make big plays running with it consistently, I'd get it, but his delusion about being a rusher has become tiresome.. That said, he can be a tremendous blocker and is an asset in the locker room, it's just time he realzied that the ball is in good hands with Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts.

At running back, Clinton Portis to me is a step below top 5 or elite status.. He's a top ten back to me who could ascend into the top five with one improvement in his game.. He needs to become a better pass receiver.. Portis hands are suspect and he appears at times uncomfortable in space.. The best backs to me are the ones who can be used as dump off options and the Redskins have yet to rely on Portis that way consistently..
There is one other spot I'd like to see Portis improve, hios goal line rushing.. Big time backs don't get stopped consistently inside the five.. While Portis is good, he hasn't been great exemplified by the team choices at times last year to give Betts or Sellers shots inside the five..
Portis however is an aggressive pass blocking and giving the right crease is a home run hitting back.. He's still young and with hopefully the knee and shoulder issues behind him, I'm expecting a big year out of him in the new offense..
Ladell Betts is a perfect back-up.. Better then Portis between the tackles with a more decisive approach and minor shiftiness.. He's not a home run hitter like Portis, but should Portis go down for a couple of games, Betts has proven he can carry the load..
Rock Cartwright is a good number 3, but like Sellers, should lose some of the delusion that if he got his shot, he'd be a Portis..

At quarterback, I still remain hopeful of the promise and progress of Jason Campbell.. He has all the tools, big arm, can run, thinks on his feet, has the inate feel for the game, players love him.. Now he has to start winning.. The worst thing that happened to Jason was Todd Collins coming in off a ten year hiatus and winning four games to make the playoffs.. If he can't replicate a playoff run, then it will appear a 37 year old immobile quarterback would have been a better option.. The bottom line is winning and Jason while promising has yet to provide that.. But Jim Zorn may be the right guy at the right time.. Campbell needs help better managing a game and getting the ball out quicker.. This new offense will demand quicker decisions.. Campbell's athleticism howveer meshed with a proven system could be dynamic.. I think it's safe to say Campbell is more athletic then Zorn Protege Matt Hasselbeck.. So should a play not feel right in timing, Campbell has an option to run or make a play with his arm Hasselbeck may have been uncapable of.. It's a big year for Jason to prove he's ready.. It's year four and it's time to start showing an ability to lead, and that means winning..
Collins is an ample back-up but is older and is learning a new offense himself.. He is not a long term solution at the position..
The Redskins will use a late pick to draft a young quarterback to groom..

The O-Line: Chris Samuels has been a rock for the team for going on a decade, and minor injuries don't stop him from playing.. I've never felt Samuels was elite, but his pro bowl selections suggest other wise form his peers, I'm hoping we get anothe good 3-4 years out of him.. They need to considering the lack of depth..
Pete Kendall figures to be the starting left guard, at 35 with arthritic knees, this is probably the last run for Kendall, once again another sign of necessitated depth..
C Casey Rabach is a smart player, who is the only member of the unit under 30.. He should remain a long term soltuion at the position..
G Randy Thomas is a monster when he is on the field, the problem is keeping him on the field.. After losing large poritions of one season with a broken leg and another with a torn triceps, keeping Thomas healthy appears almost impossible.. There is a lot of wear and tear on him but there is no doubt he is the most versatile and aggressive lineman the team has, IF he can play..
T Jon Jansen is heading toward what I believe is a pivotal year for him.. He must remain healthy and he must perform well or it is my beliefe that this will be his last season in Washington.. Some are arguing, the renegotiated deal between he and the team is the only reaso n he will be back for 2008.. Once nicknamed "The Rock" for his long stretch of games played without missing due to an injury, Jansen has long since been reliable,.. He missed a season with a torn achilles, another with a broken foot and good portions of another with a variety of ailments.. After ten years with the Skins, there has been few better representatives of this team and I applaud Jon for that.. All you can ever ask for from a player is that he will work hard, he will play hard and he will not embarrass you off the field.. Jansen does all of those things in the highest regard.. He often was the first to lead the team onto the practice field, sometimes among the last to walk off.. No one enjoyed game day more then Jansen and off the field, Jansen has constantly been trying to do broadcasting gigs to up his profile in DC and nationally.. I like Jon very much, but reality is when you are advanced in age and unreliable on the field, changes come.. This season, Jansen not only must prove he can stay on the field, he must prove he can be adequate on it as well or we might be seeing the last of one of the most likeable players of this era..
Depth is a huge issue.. The team wants T Stephon Heyer to get in the weight room and build some lower body strength.. When he is ready, he will supllant Jansen.. There is an obvious lack of depth at every other position.. The team will draft an interior lineman.. They will once again come next off-season need to address the age and durability of the line.. Right now, all Joe Bugel can do is keep his fingers crossed he won't have the issues he had a year ago, but this line is one year older with no answers behind them.. It's the biggest risk the team is taking, hoping band aids hold together a line that's very good when together..

OK men..

April 8-- Yes it's true

2008-04-08T14:43:00.001-07:00

There have been so many well wishers about my impending move to ESPN, I can't thank everyone enough..

I'm not quite ready to say my goodbyes yet, I am on Redskins Radio until April 18 and will be starting in Bristol in early May, just thought it was appropriate to say thanks to the readers of this blog, (which I won't stop publishing, even though I have no idea what I'll write about) and the listeners and viewers of Redskins Radio..

Check back in next week when I give a formal swan song..

OK men..

April 4-- Skins workout the locals today

2008-04-04T08:23:00.001-07:00

The Redskins are hosting approximately 70 local prospects.. "Local" includes member sof the area collegiate teams, i.e. Maryland, Virginia Tech, Howard etc..
It also extends to players who are originally from the region but played at out of area schools like FB Owen Schmidt who projects as potentially a third rounder.. he is from northern Virgin ia but played at West Virginia..

Standout Terps LB Erin Henderson is among the name players here today along with Schmidt..

Among the success stoires from this workout in the past are QB Sam Hollenbach and CB Byron Westbrook who both ended up on the Skins practice squad and late season roster after being "discovered" here..

Talked to Vinny Cerrato yesterday and he intimated that he believes the re-seeding discussion at the owners meetings that was tabled will not pass.. The argument is over whether a team that won it's division should be automatically hosting a first round playoff game even if their wild card opponent had a better regular season record.. The NYG played at TB in January despite having a better record then the Buccaneers.. Cerrato thinks the owners currently are more apt to continue to reward division winners...
On why the Skins voted against the radio communication in one defensive player's helmet, which did pass, Cerrato said it was offensive coaches who all voted against it, including Jim Zorn, but conceeded he thinks it will be a good advancement for the game and the competitive balance..
Vinny was not in the room for Bill Belichick's apology speech over spygate and had no further comment..

The team cannot trade compensatory picks so packaging the newly acquired selections (a 3rd and 2 7th's) is not an option..
Cerrato continues to assert that the Skins are much more likely to mover down from their top pick at 21st overall then to package anything and move up..

CB is starting to look like a possible early round target.. The team likes Kansas CB Aqib Talib and should he be available, he could be the first pick.. WR is expected to be addressed with any one of the 4 picks in the first three rounds and defensive line feels like a certainty.. The team is most interested in an interior D-lineman who can provide pressure on passing downs..

OK men..

April 2-- Checking In

2008-04-02T07:36:00.001-07:00

Hi all--

Been a while, but such is the off-season especially one where the team literraly interviews one free agent and doesn't sign him..

I got Larry so good yesterday on the air.. For the last couple of weeks, I've been making a case to get Chad Johnson if and when the Bengals ultimately trade him.. Since the Super Bowl, 85 has been moaning about Cincy to anyone who will listen and I mean anyone..
The Skins need another WR, that much is clear so much so that Vinny Cerrato told us last week on air that we can expect one of the 4 high draft picks (!st, 2nd, 2 3rd rounders) to be used on the position.. More on that in a minute..
Anyway, I have been pushing hard for the Skins to be the Skins and make a bombshell move, give us a high draft pick, give Ocho Cinco his money and let him be a star here.. The west coast offense with Chad, Santana and ARE looks like a juggernaught to me..
Larry doesn't want Chad, thinks he might be a distraction in the locker room and has been openly suggesting that the team should not overpay for him..
So yesterday my producer Brian Corson and I cooked up a scheme to see how quickly Larry would flip flop on 85 if he thought he was actually coming to DC.. I had Corson call me and we pretended that he was a "source." I was talking vaguely about numbers, then left the room.. So the scene was set.. We come back from a break and I said on air we have some breaking news and then reveal to Larry that the Skins are in "deep trade talks with the Bengals where Washington would send their first round pick and thier original 3rd round pick (I loved throwing in original 3rd round pick for effect) for Chad Johnson and that Johnson would get a 7 year 62 million dollar deal with 18-20 guaranteed."
He took the bait suggesting how great an addition Johnson would be, how he wouldn't be a problem, the utter opposite of his position a week ago.. I kept reminding him how much he didn't want 85 and he kept defending the move as a good one for the Skins..
April Fools Larry!

As for WR, the Skins appear not to be too hot on Texas speedster Limas Sweed who many believe could be a target for them in the first or second round.. ESPN pitched the idea of CB Aqib Talib from Kansas, Vinny admitted he liked him very much.. I'd be surprised if the Skins went CB in the first round..
G Randy Thomas was on the show yesterday and said if he was making the pick, he'd take a O or D lineman even if it meant the Skins were drafting his eventual replacement saying this team needs youth on both lines.. Can't say I don't agree.. I like Randy, he's a straight shooter, that's something you will not hear very often, a guy suggesting the best move might be to find the person who will take your job..

Love the schedule with the opener on a Thursday night.. Sure playing at the NYG makes week one a big game with a hole to climb out of if you lose, but if they knock them off then get an extra 3 days to prepare for week 2, me likey..

The Skins got 3 compensatory picks in this year's draft for their free agent losses namely Derrick Dockery getting a supplemental 3rd rounder.. So the Skins have nine picks and what should be perceived now as their full allotment for the first time in six years.. The team does not have a fourth rounder (TJ Duckett deal) however do have 2 3rds now..

OK men

March 19-- Cerrato talks draft and Hackett

2008-03-19T11:25:00.000-07:00

The Redskins are determined not to overspend for anyone this off-season.. Vinny Cerrato joined us for an interview that will air tomorrow on Comcast and re-air when I fill in for the Riggo crew next week..
Among the topics: DJ Hackett, who Cerrato said the team offered much less then the 2 million he received as part of his 3.5 million dollar two year deal with Carolina.. The Redskins wanted Hackett to prove durability and if so, prepared to pay him following this year a salary more commensurate with that of a full time producer.. Hackett chose to go with the better deal..

It's a strange shift from the Skins off-seasons of the past where if the Redskins wanted a player, they spent in picks and salary to ensure it got done.. I asked Vinny about this philosophy and he said the team isn't holding onto it's 8 mil in cap space for a big splash move for say a Chad Johnson, but that the team is determined not to overpay any longer and hurt their locker room chemsitry..

I also spoke with Joe Gibbs last night at a Urban Youth racing event where he was the keynote speaker.. It's another interview that will air next week during the Riggins hours on Redskins radio.. He described Dan Snyder as an owner who was very wide-eyed when he first arrived for his second go around as head coach, but described Snyder as someone who has matured significantly in terms of the way the team does it's business..
I asked him if the Redskins were to make a deep run in the playoffs next year, how much credit would he deserve for setting up the team or success, "None," he responded..
he feels Jim Zorn's entry as a first time head coach is really no different then when he came as an unheralded offensive coordinator to the Skins back in the early 80's.. That Zorn will learn his way, but in typical Gibbs form, praised Zorn as a good person which is a criteria that will shine through..
Gibbs is obviously focussed on his Nascar teams right now but he said he is preparing to become more involved in an evangelical side as his enters this next portion of his life.. When I asked him how life is now 3 months after leaving the Skins for a second time, he succintly said "Good."
Honestly he looks younger, it seemed very happy and it was nice to see Joe with a smile on his face..

Back to the Skins, Cerrato went to Chris Long's workout at UVA yesterday and said it wasn't overly impressive, however he expects that the defensive end very easily could be the top overall pick in the draft, describing that selection as almost a "no brainer."
As for the Skins draft position, asked how he feels about their spot at 21, Cerrato said that "if we don't pick there, we're more likely to move down then up." Obviously it's early to have any real sense of that, but it was a striking dose of honesty about where the team stands.. They don't mind their spot in the lower third of the first round..

March 13-- No Hackett Today

2008-03-13T16:47:00.000-07:00

It appears as if DJ Hackett is going to find out what else is out there for him before signing with a team.. Hackett has rejected the initial offer the Skins have given to him..
The Seahawks receiver only played in 6 games a year ago dealing with a high ankle sprain but had a big game in the Seahawks playoff win over the Skins in January, 6 catches 100+ yards and a touchdown..

Carolina and Tampa Bay are said to be interested and Hackett is expected to visit with them before signing, so I suppose the Redskins aren't out of the picture but unless they increase their offer (a promise they have vowed not to do) then it appears the Skins will continue through the off-season having not signed any free agent rom any other team..

DT Ryan Boschetti was resigned by the team..

The mini-camp and OTA workouts which are closed to the public were released today.. There is a mini-camp in early May following the draft and some OTA dates in June prior to the early start of training camp..

Mark Brunell's playing career will continue in New Orleans where he was signed as the primary back-up to Drew Brees.. Brunell spent much of the past couple of months working out at Redskins Park hoping to stay with the team should Todd Collins leave (he didn't) or latching on to another (he has).
I really liked Brunell, a nice guy who could have done without the weekly media sessions while he was struggling as a Skins starter, but a class act nonetheless.. There was some thought that Brunell could return to jacksonville where ultimately his jersey will be retired, but there is belief from my sources that suggest the Jaguars were interested but didn't want to bring Brunell back because his presence could make starter David Garrard uncomfortable.. Either way, his days as a starter are over, but he remains a viable back-up.. I expect when he retires, he will return to Florida where he still owns a home and work in that community, potentially as someone who might run for public office..

OK men..

March 12-- DJ hackett Update

2008-03-12T10:09:00.001-07:00

Hey we have a brief Skins update today..

Vinny Cerrato was on Redskins Radio and said WR DJ Hackett would come in for dinner tonight and meetings tomorrow.. The team is hoping to get a deal done with the former Seattle WR in the near future.. He would essentially replace Brandon Lloyd as an outside WR with Antwaan Randle El moving into the slot in 3 WR sets.. In two WR sets, Randle-El would likely remain the starter opposite Santana Moss..

The team has no interest in resigning free agent linebacker Lemar Marshall..

Cerrato described the free agent market as one with “nothing left.” There was a small pool of impact players available, none of which the Redskins actively pursued and so the bulk of free agency went as this team expected, overpayment for the few players worth chasing and little to no major roster overhaul..

The Redskins do have offers out to free agent OL Jason Fabini and P Derrick Frost and are waiting to hear from them their plans.. Cerrato says he believes the offers out “are competitive.”

Lions WR Roy Williams is not “available” per se, but the Skins believe if someone were to overpay drastically, the Lions would listen.. The Skins don’t figure to be among those trying to pry him out of Detroit.. But Philly could be..

The team is hopeful to receive a compensatory 3rd round pick after losing Derrick Dockery to free agency last off-season.. Because Dockery was among the top 5 highest paid free agents last spring, the Skins will receive a compensatory pick, just how high has yet to be determined.. It was a be a boon should the Skins get a third rounder..

OK men..

Suisham In, Brunell, Broughton Out

2008-02-29T21:09:00.000-08:00

As promised the Redskins have sat back during the start of free agency to let the big money go first..

As far as team news goes, Mark Brunell is done as a Skin, with the team signing Todd Collins as the primary back-up to Jason Campbell, Brunell will not be among those receiving a contract offer from the team..

FB Nehemiah Broughton who has dealt with injuries throughout his short tenure with the team was not tendered a deal as an excusive rights free agent, so he becomes an unrestricted free agent..

K Shaun Suisham was extended a tender which means the Skins retain his rights, he likely returns s the kicker for the team next season..

OK men

February 29-- Collins agrees to terms

2008-02-29T08:24:00.000-08:00

Todd Collins has agreed to terms on a 3 year deal worth reportedly 9 million dollars.. The signing bonus is believed to be 3 million, so my guess, and this is a guess, would be that the final year of the deal has a large base salary making this more likely an effective two year deal with a low cap number for this season..

Collins posted a 100+ QB rating in 3 of the four regular season games he played in winning all four and helping the Skins back to the playoffs..

Jacksonville and St. Louis made strong pushes to get Collins to come there, but like in Washington, he would have been a primary back-up..
Collins returning likely signals the end of Mark Brunell's tenure here in DC..

OK men

February 28-- This time, Skins will watch what happens during free agency

2008-02-28T14:26:00.001-08:00

Expect the Skins to make few if any moves at all as free agency opens tonight at midnight..
Vinny Cerrato told us today on Redskins radio that we will all be shocked by the amount of money that will be given out to players who might not deserve the size of the deals, i.e. they are not in the bidding wars for the big names, Asante Samuel, Lance Briggs etc..

As for Briggs, who was a target last off-season, that ship appears to have sailed.. Briggs is expected to land a huge deal and as Cerrato put it, "I can't talk specifically about certain free agents but let me put it this way, we like our linebackers."

The team is looking for help along the offensive line, specifically an interior lineman, but Cerrato says that will likely be addressed through the draft.. The team is also vying for another receiver.. The Skins have reached out to free agent WR Reche Caldwell and told him they have interest in resigning him but are expecting him to test the market first..
The Skins have also been very public that they want to retain back-up QB Todd Collins, but the Rams are expected to make apush to bring him in with former coach Al Saunders, the Rams just released back-up Gus Frerotte.. Collins is looking at options to be a starter however and that wouldn't be a likely scenario with the Rams, so if it comes down to St. Louis and Washington, the Skins would retain a shot..

Cerrato was calling the money that will be put out there with numerous teams well under the cap "crazy." Ironic coming from the Redskins point of view that others will pay "crazy" money but the Skins have been at the forefront of large bonus/back-loaded deals, so this off-season, the bills have come due in terms of ability to be a major shopper.. That said, the team has been consistent in their belief that the pool of candidates is shallow..

Look for a WR (DJ Hackett, Jerry Porter) and a CB (Drayton Florence) as possible signings if the price is right.. Free agent RB/KR Rock Cartwright will test the market and see what he is worth..

QB Jason Campbell was on the air with us as well, he said his knee is 100% and that the new offense he will be running is very similar to the one he ran at Auburn his senior season.. Campbell said he did not need to hear Jim Zorn announce he is the starter because he has the inner drive to compete no matter the situation.. That said, he expressed excitement to work with the former quarterback and hopefully trend the way Matt Hasselbeck was able to in his time in Seattle..

OK men..

February 26-- I'm back, B Lloyd gone

2008-02-26T17:55:00.000-08:00

In a one sentence press release, the Redskins announced they have released wide receiver Brandon Lloyd.. 25 catches, no touchdowns, a paltry 1.8 yards per game last year, Lloyd turned out to be a huge risk with absolutely no reward..
LLoyd had numerous run ins with coaches including Joe Gibbs, Al Saunders and Receivers coach Stan Hixon in his two tumultuous years and never seemed to believe any of it was his fault..
He came to Washington with a bad reputation, ripped by former teammates in San Francisco for being selfish and preferring to make the highlights then to go home a winner..
In the end the Skins gave up two mid round picks and 10 million guaranteed who I can promise to you a person who won't be missed in the locker room.. This is certainly an example of addition by subtraction..

Lloyd was not scheduled to make a large base salary this year, but I am pretty sure he had a roster bonus coming and for certain the Skins weren't about to throw more money at a guy who was the fourth wide receiver at best even when healthy..
The signing bonus was 10 million spread out over a 7 year contract so 2.4 or so was already spent for cap purposes over the first two years of his deal..
If the Skins spread the cap hit out over the next two years, they owed some 7.7 but can take the bulk in '09, and they save on this year's cap by not paying the roster bonus.. Only those with exact knowledge of the contract could tell you the cap ramifications, but it goes without saying that there will be a bill to pay, likely in 2009..

So the Skins have made it clear they are in the market for a wide receiver.. The Bengals have adamantly denied the desire to trade Chad Johnson.. Randy Moss figures to resign in New England, but I suppose you never know.. DJ Hackett, Seahawks free agent to be, Jerry Porter, Raiders free agent to be seem to be the most likely targets..

There are a few very good options in the draft including Texas speedster Limus Sweed, Oklahoma's Malcolm Kelly and Michigan's Mario Mannigham so I suppose we'll know if the Skins are thinking about their first round pick at that position dependent what happens in free agency...

The Skins continue to contend they are not expected to be big players in free agency, the reasons are two fold: There are not many viable candidates as exemplified by the numerous franchise tags utilized even on some players who arguably don't warrant being paid in the top five at their position.. Also, the Skins do not have the cap freedom as numerous other teams who figure to use their money overpaying for the few players worth spending on.. Basically, the Skins will beaten at their own game this time around.. But if there was ever a year not to have the cap wiggle room, this year might be it..
I expect a corner to be signed, maybe Drayton Florence.. A swing G/C, I'd say unlikely to be Alan Faneca from the Steelers who should field big cash..
We'll see if the Skins find the room to break the back as they were going to with Lance Briggs a year ago, but my guess is that ship has sailed and Briggs will find the money he wants elsewhere..

I saw some quotes from Rock Cartwright to my man John Keim who writes for the Examiner saying he is looking for a shot to be a #2 and wants a payday.. Look, I can't blame him and he is squarely behind Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts, so at this point, all I can say is we wish you the best..
The team wants Todd Collins back as a back-up, he wants to see if he can land a starter's job and this is likely the last time in his career that this is even a possibility so I expect Collins to land elsewhere, but if the money is not outrageous and he appears not to have a guaranteed starter's position, I think the Skins will have a shot..
Mark Brunell is working out daily at the Park and wants to play next year, where that is, I don't know, his contract expires in a few days..

OK men

February 16-- Cerrato sheds light on off-season direction for Skins

2008-02-16T13:45:00.000-08:00

Vinny Cerrato joined Redskins radio for the full hour on Friday and was very open and candid about the decision behind hiring Jim Zorn as the team's new head coach as well as giving a sense of the direction the team will take in rebuilding the roster during the off-season..

First on Zorn: There was some assertions that Zorn was close friends with Vinny and therefore led to his promotion as the head coach from offensive coordinator.. Cerrato says that is untrue, that the first in depth conversation he had with Zorn came when he was here to interview for the offensive coordinator position..
On the reasons behind Gregg Williams not getting the job and being allowed to part ways with the organization a few weeks ago before a head coaching decision was made, "It was not going to be a good marriage for both sides. We let him go when we started getting requests to interview Gregg for other defensive coordinator opportunities." So the timing of it had a little to do with Williams ability to find his next employer and not just the fall out of the leaking of the potential hiring of Jim Fassel..

The compensation for the Jets will receive for the acquisition of G Pete Kendall last summer will be a 4th round draft pick in 2009, so as of now the Redskins have their full compliment of draft selections..
Cerrato fielded calls from listeners regarding the philosophy of trading away picks and acquiring some many free agents on the roster.. He used the Kendall scenario to explain some of the decisions that are made particularly with lower round picks.. "Last year 52 of the picks from rounds six and seven were cut. Sometimes the draft is not deep." Cerrato explained that it is cheaper or all teams to select undrafted free agents, with less money guaranteed necessary to sign them especially if the beliefe is there are few if any diamonds in the rough that low..
As for drafting, Cerrato said the team firmly believes in the draft but is always willing to move picks for more established players..
He said he accepts all responsibility for moves that did not work out such as Adam Archuletta, Brandon Lloyd and TJ Duckett (not as much for Duckett considering the circumstances that Clinton Portis was hurt in the team's first pre-season game that summer).. He explained that the Archuletta and Lloyd signings were a little different then some of the others, namely, Fred Smoot (who the team already knew), London Fletcher (who played under Gregg Williams and Jerry Gray) in that none of the coaches knew either of those players before the team decided to make moves to get them.. He also wanted to be clear, "No one is going to be perfect, but I am accountable."

As far as free agency goes, the Redskins don't sound as if they plan on being major players. Vinny said, "There are not a lot of free agents out there. We probably won't be a big player."
As far as needs, Cerrato stressed finding a "big" WR, a swing o-lineman who could play center or guard or one who could be guard or tackle.. Back-up ecnter Mike Pucillo likely won't be back with the team and the age of the guards and tackles are at issue.. Also, the team wants a another FB because the offense may call for more out of that position then before.. Mike Sellers is certainly safe as the starter..
On D-- Cerrato will likely be after a CB based partially on the health of Carlos Rogers who may not be ready to go by camp after suffering a major knee injury.. The team wants depth at safety and wants to find a defensive tackle who can help with pass rush..
Cerrato denies the team is in need of a edge pass rusher.. he cited the 10.5 sacks of Andre Carter and the 10+ sacks combined from the other edge as signs that the glaring deficiency comes from the lack of a rush on the interior line.. Expect the Skins to make a play for a Justin Tuck style player whether it be in the draft or via Free agency..
DT Cornelious Griffin has a large cap number, but is safe on the roster..
The Skins will likely use a late draft pick on a young quarterback..
LB Rocky McIntosh is "looking good" as he rehabs a surgically repaired knee, the hope is he'll be back for training camp..
Cerrato says the team and Zorn have both talked to free agent QB Todd Collins, the Redskins are hoping to re-sign him to be the back-up at the very least..
FB/KR Rock Cartwright likely will be allowed to enter free agency to see what his market value is.. The Skins would like to retain him however if a back-up or starting RB spot comes to him, the Skins likely will not match whatever offer comes his way..

The Redskins have no interest in a possible reconciliation and resigning of former LB LaVar Arrington..

With Sherman Smith as the new offensive coordinator signed, the Redskins staff is now complete.. the team will send a contingent to Indianapolis for next week's combine..

OK men..

February 14-- Zorn on Redskins Radio

2008-02-14T11:13:00.001-08:00

Jim Zorn joined Larry and myself for our first of hopefully many segments on Redskins Radio today, he said there is no news on the potential hiring of Sherman Smith as the offensive coordinator saying Smith is weighing his options with his family and hopefully something will happen soon..
Stump Mitchell is in as assistant head coach-Running backs, meaning Earnest Byner is out.. It doesn't appear as if a quarterbacks coach per se will be hired as this is Zorn's speciality..

Zorn said he started preparing his thoughts on being a head coach well before he knew he was going to become one saying basically he was prepared for the eventuality even if he didn't know himself that it was coming so soon.. He admits to not even being able to sleep for a couple of days after he was given the job but it is all sinking in now and he is focussed on rounding out the staff and heading to Indy next week for the annual scouting combine.. Zorn also won't be pulling Gibbs-esque all nighters, he said he can't function that way..

The Bengals say Chad Johnson is not available thus the trade talk can die, but the Skins know most everyone has their price.. Johnson's agent is Drew Rosenhaus and he and owner Dan Snyder have struck numerous deals so I'm fairly certain that even if Marvin Lewis continues to claim there is no deal to be had, should Chad continue to bad mouth Cincy, maybe push will come to shove..

Would the Skins take LaVar back? Probably not, but after seeing some ads for his restaurant in PG county, I started to wonder if Arrington is physically able to go, whether a reconciliation between he and the franchise would be worth pursuing.. The Skins can't be 100% certain that LB Rocky McIntosh will be a full go come training camp, so help in the LB corps will be something of issue in the draft and free agency, Lance Briggs aside of course..
Arrington was one of the speakers at Sean Taylor's funeral and had a mea culpa of sorts taking the opportunity within the context of the proceedings to suggest he may have taken for granted what he had in DC before the contractual fall out with the team.. If Arrington can play, a big if considering chronic knee issues before his motorcycle accident last fall, he indeed would be an interesting choice for a back-up LB/pass rush option.
LaVar still lives here, will always be associated a Redskin and in turn loved being a Redskin. Maybe a victory tour even if in a limited capacity would be best served for both he and the Skins moving forward.. In the end, you hate to see a beloved member leave with such a bad taste in everyone's mouth..
It's too late to have this type of relationship repair with Brian Mitchell, but I'm hoping one day the team could find a spot in the ring of fame for Mitchell, the best special teams performer in the team's history and potential Hall of Fame candidate.. Like LaVar, Brian left on bad terms.. I'd like to see some maturity in the franchise and welcome Brian back, admit a mistake in letting him go for Deion (this was Dan Snyder's first real run at free agency, so lets cut him some slack for making a mistake there) and allow Mitchell to become part of the Skins valued alum family.. Just a thought..

OK men..

February 12-- Bring on Ocho Cinco

2008-02-12T12:07:00.000-08:00

First off some coaching news, John Palermo is the new defensive line coach.. Chris Meidt is the new offensive assistant coach.. Both are making NFL coaching debuts..
The team is expected to interview Sherman Smith today to be their offensive coordinator.. Earnest Byner could be out as Redskins running backs coach.. Nothing is official, but let me put it this way, at the Park today, it didn't appear as if Byner was staying on..

Now the off-season can finally get going as a coach is in place and it smells like a doozy.. Chad Johnson wants out of Cincinnati.. he wants to play for a more high profile franchise.. The good news is his agent is Drew Rosenhaus.. Rosenhaus and the Skins have done numerous deals in the past (Santana Moss, Clinton Portis, nearly Lance Briggs) and he is a favorite of owner Dan Snyder..
The bad news is Johnson's agent is Drew Rosenhaus. When Drew dangles some fresh shiny new free agent, Dan is apt to pay a steep price to make it happen, not only in guaranteed money, but in future considerations. Thus the Skins could be looking at forking over a first rounder if not more for a 30 year old receiver.

In this case though, Johnson's numbers have not taken a downturn, in fact his 90 catches this past season is about average for him over the last 5 (of course 90 being an exceptional number to be at on an annual level) and his 1400+ yards was among the best in football, also a typical average.. he has not scored less then 7 TD's in any season the last 6, another strong number..

Selfishly, I love talkers and nobody is a talker like Chad these days.. Sign me up for a weekly visit with him. And considering his flare for the dramatic, I'm all for letting Chad do his thing in a big market like DC.. Johnson likes the Skins (why not, they pay) and the Skins probably like him.. There's no better way to re-ignite the hopes following the Joe Gibbs retirement and tumultuous coaching search then adding a prime time player. Plus, Chad, Santana, Randle-El, Cooley and Portis (who despite a big cap number is very safe in this organization) make for one of the more feared groupings of skill position players in the league. Me like what me sees..

Now typically I'm a little more concerned about these types of off-season moves, but I believe another WR is necessitated even if maybe the prominence if this one is a little extreme. The price will be high which is the part of it I don't like. I've been on record that I'd like to see the Skins use a more traditional method of team building using the draft more and paying their own over the quick fix method of gunning after everyone else's players.. But in this case, I'm for it.. He'll get a big contract, but unlike B Lloyd, ARE and even Santana to a certain degree, his past warrants it (at least on the field). The future considerations is disconcerting to me, but this is the way the Skins do business, so on this one, I'm giving out a seal of approval.

Dan and Drew, enjoy your off-season of negotiations.. But please please please, save a few draft picks for spots we need to fill for young players we can groom..

OK men..

February 11-- I'm not freaking out, I'm just saying...

2008-02-11T13:18:00.000-08:00

I still can't believe Jim Zorn ended up the prize behind door number 2, and while I am 100% percent the "give Zorn the benefit of the doubt theory," the end result has left me scratching my head.. I'd like to call this entry, "I'm not freaking out, I'm just saying..."

Jim Zorn has been an offensive coordinator for two weeks during his professional coaching career.
"But Bram, Andy Reid was never a coordinator before he took over the Eagles and he was much fatter. Look what he's done."
Point taken. You found the one example of 8432 hirings over the course of NFL history who made the leap successfully..
I'm not freaking out, I'm just saying..

Jim Zorn has never even been interviewed for a head coaching position. In fact he wasn't interviewed here as a head coach until Thursday, 2 weeks after he was hired in a different capacity.
"But Bram, some guys just Wow you when you open the door to them."
Indeed. But how many times have you talked to someone you knew little about and decided they should just be sent to the White House minus an election?
I'm not freaking out, I'm just saying...

Jim Zorn was not interviewed here to be the head coach.
"But Bram, Just because they didn't interview him for that position doesn't mean they didn't think he'd be capable of the job"
Whatever.
I'm not freaking out, I'm just saying..

Jim Zorn thought the colors of the team were maroon, black and yellow.
"But Bram, give him a break. It was his first press conference. And the colors could easily be confused."
And North Carolina wears turquoise.
I'm not freaking out, I'm just saying..

Jim Zorn praised the Redskins for honoring Sean taylor by starting the Bills game with ten men on the field.
"But Bram, that was an emotional tribute that showed the unity of the locker room after the franchise's darkest hour."
Good point. The guy who was behind it was fired by the team.
I'm not freaking out, I'm just saying.

Jim Zorn said he so much on his plate he didn't think he'd have time to got to Dan Snyder's house for lunch where he would be told he was going to be the team's head coach.
"But Bram, that just shows his dedication. He isn't here to kiss the owner's rear, he's here to work."
He didn't know that was what this meeting was about, otherwise he would have beemed himself there. And well, if my boss calls, I don't blow him off, ever.
I'm not freaking out, I'm just saying.

Jim Zorn was announced as Redskins head coach on Saturday night.
"But Bram, what does it matter when they tell you who the coach is? Don't you think the search went on long enough?"
Yes it did which is why I could have waited until Monday for the press conference. Here's how these things work in the media, we are used as the free advertising wing of sports franchises. A new coach equates to a coronation. The media needs time to be mobilized to help the team make the most of any and all announcements. If a press release is filed on a Saturday night, it has the feeling of being buried to avoid a negative reaction.
I'm not freaking out, I'm just saying..

Jim Zorn is on a staff that has four former and current coordinators on it and yet he got the job.
"But Bram, no one was interviewing Joe Bugel or Greg Blache or Jerry Gray to be a head coach either."
I know. What's your point?
I'm Not freaking out, I'm just saying..

Jim Zorn was deemed a perfect for for the Redskins. Steve Spagnuolo was said to "not be ready to be a head coach." And Gregg Williams was "not the right fit."
"But Bram, you weren't in the interviews with these people. How would you know who's right and who's wrong."
Delusion is one of the more endearing aspects of the sports fan.
I'm not freaking out, I'm just saying..

February 10-- More popular then Bush? I'm feeling Zorny

2008-02-10T16:32:00.000-08:00

Jim Zorn was named the 27th head coach in Redskins history. Of the assembled media, coaches, and other gawkers, he appeared the most surprised of all of us. Zorn admitted that he had not discussed the possibility of becoming the head coach until last Thursday when he said he was called to Dan Snyder's house to have lunch. Zorn joked he he felt like he was too busy to take time away from his work but went over anyway and said he was practically speechless when Snyder asked him if he'd be interested in the head coaching vacancy.. Snyder said that throughout the interviewing process, after each candidate was discussed, Vinny Cerrato would almost always say he thought Zorn was the right guy..

Zorn said that he had no apprehension taking the Skins offensive coordinator job prior to a head coaching announcement because he was told by Snyder that during the interviewing process, the other candidates seemingly always had him on their short list of potential offensive coaches.. Zorn said he will hire a new offensive coordinator to replace himself and he is unsure who will call plays until that person is chosen.. It is unclear if there will be a quarterback coach hired as well (his specialty).
The offense will be a west coast style, but Zorn wouldn't go so far as to say that he is going to implement what has become a standard west coast formation.. His eyes lit up at the idea of having Clinton Portis as his back and asked about Jason Campbell and whether he believes he is definitively the quarterback of the future, Zorn succintly said, "for now." He reiterated what Joe Gibbs said at the end of the season, that Todd Collins being resigned is a priority for the Skins come free agency..
In one footnote, Zorn said one of his first impressions in helping Campbell improve was that center Casey Rabach is going to have to get his butt higher so that Campbell doesn't have to get so low to the ground so that he will have an easier time exploding away from the center.. A shotgun formation could help alleviate that as well..

Greg Blache spoke to us on Redskins radio for the first time since his promotion to defensive coordinator.. Zorn by the way said "I'll have nothing to do with the defense." Blache wouldn't go into detail as to how his unit would attack differently from the style Gregg Williams implemented calling this "the Redskins defense. It's been here for 75 years and it will be here for 175 more." Basically, he doesn't want to be attributed to how the team succeeds, he wants that for the players. So gone are the days of the second G = genius and fittingly Blache only has two G's in his first name, not 3.
Blache, Gibbs and Cerrato both spoke vaguely about Gregg Williams only to suggest it wasn't going to work out for Williams to remain solely as the defensive coordinator and that while the Williams was dissapointed to not get the job, both sides understood it was best for both to part ways..

On Vinny's new promotion to executive vice president, he would not go so far as to call himself the GM of the team and hinted that indeed not much has changed in terms of how personnel decisions will be made by the Redskins. While his title says the buck ends with him, Zorn will have a say and Dan Snyder certainly will be intimately involved..

In his one moment of humor, Zorn said he was happy to see a straw poll out on ESPN last night saying he had 41% of the people's support that he was the right choice saying "I've got a better approval rating then the President of the United States."

The Skins will have a five game pre-season taking on the Colts during the Hall of Fame weekend in Canton Ohio, fitting considering Art Monk, Darrell Green and former assistant coach Emmitt Thomas will be inducted that weekend..

On a personal note, I saw Craig Heist who works mainly for WTOP for the first time since he suffered a seizure at a Wizards game a few weeks back and he seemed to be feeling very well.. I won't go into detail about his personal information, but Craig is a friend and one of the hardest working reporters in the area and it was nice to see him back where he belonged..

I suppose I'm supposed to give some form of opinion on the hiring of Zorn, but I feel like I'm still processing it. So check back later in the week.

And finally, my off-season begins!!

More to come as the week progresses..

OK men

February 9-- Final Answer: Zorn

2008-02-09T21:59:00.001-08:00

I think it's too late and I'm in too much of a sarcastic mode (after seeing Chris Rock live) to actually comment on the hiring of Jim Zorn as the successor to Joe Gibbs.. I think I'll reserve my feelings about him until after I actually get to meet him, which will be tomorrow..

The process by which we ended at this decision however is worth a quick once over..

Is there reason to believe his hiring was announced around 7PM on a Saturday night for a reason? Maybe I'm thinking a little too much about this, but that screams of trying to bury the story. Locally, it will always be a big deal, but nationally, there is no way for ESPN and the like to fire the big guns at what at best is an extremely curious decision.. Instead of a cattle call of live shots for the local and national broadcasts had the subsequent press conference been held during a weekday, now the Skins are asking the media to line up on a Sunday afternoon where there is no live programming of note.. It smells a little of trying to make the hiring with as little criticism as possible.. Dan Snyder knows marketing, he made millions on it.. This seems to make little sense in terms of the marketing buzz it would generate..

2) Had the Cowboys just pulled the trigger on Wade (Dead Coach walking) Phillips and given their head coaching position to Jason Garrett, then I suppose the Skins would be playing a little NFC East follow the leader in terms of hiring an assistant, and then just giving him the job a couple of weeks later.. But Jerry was a little gun shy at the notion of firing a 13-3 coach for a first year coordinator. The Redskins apparently were not.. In the end, the series of events that will be described should be interesting to say the least.. I cannot wait to hear the spin on how Jim Zorn went from right guy to run an offense (he'd never done that before) to head coaching material in two weeks.. Let this not come off as a bashing of the choice, Zorn deserves the benefit of the doubt, but there is one part of this that is a little frightening: The Seahawks named their coach in waiting and it wasn't Zorn. Certainly they could be wrong about him, Zorn deserves that, but it's curious.

3) The Redskins quite obviously misjudged the field of candidates following the surprise resignation of Joe Gibbs.. In Snyder's defense, Gibbs owed the owner better then a "I only thought about leaving last night and then decided I'm done," excuse.. He didn't need to make it public that this run would be his last, but he could have told Snyder to allow him time to better assess who'd be the successor before the off-season bullets started flying. Bill Cowher and Pete Carroll couldn't be bought. Jim Fassel didn't fly, and the rest of the candidates lacked the sizzle of "the right choice for this team." So the Redskins settled (again, meant not to disrespect Zorn). Jim Mora appears now as the first real candidate of merit. Fassel certainly green lit the choice of Zorn, but the team was strong armed out of pulling that trigger, and they already ran Gregg Williams out of town. Once Steve Spagnuolo used the Skins for leverage with the Giants, the Skins were left with their pants down. No clear cut favorite, so they might as well take chance, and in Zorn, they may ultimately get a diamond in the rough..

Now, to be fair to Zorn, Snyder and everyone involved, lets hear them out before we make any rash decisions about whether this thing will work as the team moves forward..

OK men..

February 8-- Does Russ Have a Shot?

2008-02-08T12:24:00.000-08:00

I think Russ Grimm has a legitimate shot at the head coaching position of the Washington Redskins, not necessarily because I know that he has interviewed for the position (I don't) but because logically it makes sense and there is one little thing that's been eating at me all week..

Dan Snyder spoke to Russ Grimm last week at the Super Bowl.. This I know to be true..

On two separate occasions when I had a chance to speak with Snyder after the Art Monk/Darrell Green presser at Redskins Park, Snyder said he spoke with Grimm following the Hall of Fame announcement.. When asked about the continued slight of the Hogs in the Hall, Snyder said he spoke to Grimm and told him the organization will fight for him and the Hogs as they have for Art Monk for so many years..
Now this shouldn't be taken out of context.. All Snyder said was he spoke to Russ about his desire to see the former Skins guard get in but the mere fact they conversed while Russ is contractually with the Cardinals suggests there might have been something else worth contacting about..

Considering a month of fumbles trying to find Joe Gibbs successor, Grimm certainly would be a welcome surprise if he were to be announced as the next head coach.. He'd be immediately welcomed by the fanbase and considering he was a two time finalist for a head coaching slot, and currently and assistant head coach, not a stretch to suggest he is ready.. Plus they Skins could spin this as a keep it in the family moment..

I think Meeks, Mooch and Fassel would be in place if they were the team's obvious choice to succeed Gibbs.. Now that the Super Bowl dust has settled, what's obvious is the Skins don't have an obvious successor in place.. Their apprehention to hire someone says everything about the field of public candidates remaining.. Does this team need Russ to save face? Probably. Does Russ need this job to prove he shouldn't have been overlooked elsewhere? Not sure. The longer this goes on the less credible any head coach becomes if it is not someone who appears to be an obvious choice.. The longer it goes, the more it becomes clear Gregg Williams should have gotten the job at least in the short term.. But that's water under the bridge now.. If Russ can take the system as set up (can't pick his coordinators, can't pick his players, little to no personnel power) then I think the job is his.. And the Skins need him now more then ever..

OK men

February 7-- Spagnuolo out of running

2008-02-07T09:01:00.001-08:00

League sources have told me after interviews and discussions, Steve Spagnuolo will return to the Giants "to see if they can do it again"..
He will sign a new contract to stay as the Giants defensive coordinator..

So Spagnuolo is out of the running.. More when we hear it..

OK men

February 7-- Where we stand this afternoon

2008-02-07T08:39:00.000-08:00

There has been no offer to anyone yet.. League sources have told me that the Steve Spagnuolo talks lasted the same amount of time as all of the other candidates thus “he’s been treated the same as the others.”

The league source told me discussions about the various candidates will continue this afternoon with follow up interviews/conversations possible..

Also, one note.. My sources have told me that no coach has been offered any deals including Jim Fassel.. It has been reported that a contract was prepared and discussed with Fassel nearly two weeks ago when he interviewed, my sources tell that “never occurred.”

It is not to suggest Fassel does not remain a candidate for the job, only to say according to the people I spoke with, his hiring was never imminent nor close to completion..

OK men..

February 6-- Here's where you can hear the Snyder Interview

2008-02-06T15:22:00.001-08:00

http://www.redskinsradioespn.com/insider/audio_vault.shtml

That's the link if you want to hear the one on one interview with Dan Snyder conducted yesterday..

February 6-- Snyder Speaks

2008-02-06T12:19:00.000-08:00

I had the opportunity to speak with Skins owner Dan Snyder yesterday during the reception honoring Art Monk and Darrell Green who will enter the Hall of Fame this summer..

I found Dan to be as open as possible, and patient with the media perception of the coaching search which is lasting longer then even he expected.. Snyder preached patience saying he wanted to conduct a full search with their original list of candidates which ultimately included coaches who were taking part in the Super Bowl..

Steve Spagnuolo's interview went into today and is expected to be ending by this evening so the liklihood of a decision is forthcoming.. Spagnuolo could be using the interview as leverage to get a better deal to stay in New York as the defensive coordinator with the Giants.. Or maybe he'll take the Skins job is offered.. Spagnuolo apparently went to New York and accepted a number of his assistants already hand picked when he took over as coordinator, so I suppose there is reason to believe he would be satisifed with the coordinators that have already been chosen here if he were to take over as head coach..

Steve Mariucci is not out of the running, but according to people I spoke with inside the organization, is viewed as behind Jim Fassel for the job.. So it appears there are three possibilities here, Fassel (unpopular among the masses) but was on board with the coordinator hirings and may have been named coach ten days ago had there not been a adverse reaction..
Spagnuolo likely gets it if he impresses Snyder today and wants to bolt New York for what would be his first head coaching gig..
Ron Meeks is still in play and is well liked, but like Fassel hasn't been offered the job, so the wait continues for him..

Snyder said that no candidate seemed overly concerned with having to follow in Joe Gibbs's footsteps but said it has been a topic of discussion.. As for Gregg Williams, Snyder only would say that "he's a good guy, but we felt it was not the right fit for the team and we wish him well." It was his first public comment since Williams was jettisoned out of Washington, and while it was vague, it reads to me that personality clashes were the likely reason..

New Odds: Jim Fassel 50%, Steve Spagnuolo, 30%, Ron Meeks 15%, Steve Mariucci 3%, Rabbitt out of the hat 2%

OK men

January 5-- Dan Snyder Interview tomorrow! Art/DG honored

2008-02-05T20:02:00.001-08:00

Who knew the Art Monk//Darrell Green press conference would become a roast.. It was a light hearted afternoon where Monk spoke openly about how much the community and the Redskins mean to him and Green taking a more light take on his induction as a first ballot Hall of Famer..

Green and Monk are very close, more close then I ever knew.. He said that Desiree Monk (Art's wife) is indeed his aunt.. And the old jokes started flowing after that.. Monk said when he came to the Redskins he was not given feathers on his helmet because back then you had to earn them.. Green kidded Monk by saying "back when I was playing, we already had feathers on our helmets."
Many Redskin greats were in attendance including Hall of Famers Sam Huff and Charley Taylor.. Brian Mitchell, Joe Jacoby, Ken Harvey, Dexter Manley, Mark Moseley, Brian Mitchell, Roy Jefferson were among the guests..

Monk admitted he had a letter written to the Hall of Fame where he was going to ask to be taken off the list of finalists had he not gotten in because the spoiled expectations of seven years waiting had gotten to him.. I spoke to Dan Snyder who said he had written a letter to the Hall last year and "took a lot of grief for it," chiding the selectors for not inducting a man he believed was one of the best receivers in league history.. I asked the owner about the Hogs and he said he spoke with Russ Grimm and said he will continue to lobby for inclusion of a representative of one of the best offensive lines in league history..

I spoke with Mr. Snyder one on one, an interview about both the Hall and the ongoing head coaching search, that will air today on Redskins Radio from Redskins Park at Noon.. He commented on Gregg Williams leaving the organization and a search that has gone longer then even he expected.. Check it out..

February 5-- I can't believe the Giants are champs

2008-02-05T12:53:00.000-08:00

I've got a couple of hours to kill before Art Monk and Darrell Green get their Redskin Park press conference to celebrate their induction into the Hall of Fame, so I found myself checking out the Giants parade in Manhattan and then it dawned on me: This might be the most unlikely champion in the history of the NFL..

I couldn't help but think back to the week 15 game in the Meadowlands where the Insane Todd Collins posse was born as the Skins back-up quarterback was dusted off and led the Skins to a must win against the Giants.. This was the last meaningful loss of the season for New York..

Lets put aside who they beat in the Super Bowl for just a second.. That night, after the Skins won 22-10, I was on the team plane openly talking about the distinct possibility that the Giants would loss out and that would be the Skins best way into the postseason. They had games at Buffalo and versus unbeaten New England left on the schedule.. We all assumed the Pats would win which left the Giants in a must win in what turned out to be a blizzard..

While New England beat them (which now looks like the best loss of all time), New York appeared to have none of the attributes of a Super Bowl champ.. No NFC team had ever reached the championship game after playing 3 road playoff games.. So the team that was out of their division race by week 13, was now only playing for one of the two wild card spots.. The teams they would face in their final three games were teams they went 0-4 against in the regular season, 0-3 at home.
They ended up 3-5 in the Meadowlands. Their quarterback (maybe the most unlikely Super Bowl MVP) had a completion percentage under 60%. Of the top 30 quarterbacks, only five didn't hit the 60% benchmark, among them; Cleo Lemon and Trent Edwards.

The Giants ended up in 23rd in passing offense, their total O ranked 16th, middle of the pack. Their defense while leading the league in sacks and ranked 7th overall in yards allowed (which equates to overall ranking) was giving up over 22 points a game, that ranked them 17th in the league. They were 20th in interceptions and because Eli was among the worst in the league for interceptions thrown, it added up to a horrendous -9 in the turnover margin stat.

So a team that gave the ball away more then they took it away, was mediocre at best on offense and aboved average in certain aspects of D, but below average in scoring defense was the team who beat the best two teams in the NFC on the road and ended the league's best team who was only going for history.

Yet throughout all three of those playoff wins, the Giants certainly outplayed their opponents. This was no fluke, unless you consider a 6 week period a fluke. Eli was far from even being considered a pro bowl quarterback, after the playoffs, he was certainly playing at an MVP calliber. They were easily the more physical team in their wins, their scoring defense and lack of turnovers suggested this was not the case for the bulk of the season.
And they not only beat New England, they beat them on a neutral field when they were incapable of defeating them on their home turf just a month earlier. They held the league's highest scoring team in the history of the game to a season low 14 points. A team also known in recent years for choking leads and seasons for that matter, became the most clutch team in the league for a month..

All of this adds up to one obvious glaring truth about the NFL, parody makes this league the most unpredictable of any of the professional team sports. I would have given 100-1 odds after that December game between the Skins and Giants that New York would WIN the Super Bowl let alone get there.
2 of the last 3 years, a five seed or lower won the championship both of them playing 3 road games en route to the title. The Giants got no breaks on their way facing the highest possible seeds each subsequent round and yet they never reverted to the more unpredictable team they were earlier this season. It makes me wonder, had the Giants lost the Bills game and snuck into the playoffs as the 6 seed, would they have beaten Seattle with all the crowd noise? Would the Skins have beaten those same teams the Giants did. Certainly, you could have made more of a case for Washington wunning that table having beaten Dallas and having had true near misses with Green Bay, Tampa Bay and the Cowboys earlier in the season.

In the end, maybe they aren't the most unlikely champion. Maybe there just is no such thing as a favorite anymore. Or maybe the Giants are great, they just decided not to show it until it mattered most..

OK men..

February 5-- One interview to go!

2008-02-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

Steve Spagnuolo, defensive coordinator of the Super Bowl champion Giants will meet with owner Dan Snyder today (or at least that is expected).. Snyder is supposed to be at Redskin Park today for a 5PM news conference to honor the newly inducted Hall of Famers Art Monk and Darrell Green, so the interview process figures to go into Wednesday..
Patriots cherubic offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will not interview for the job..

So assuming Snyder does the same due dilligence with Spags then I expect no decision to come before Thursday, but I'm expecting a decision to be made and possibly, if contractual negotiations go well, a new coach by the weekend..

So lets give some odds again: Steve Mariucci 30%, he just fits, west coast O, knows Vinny, knows Blatche, has a "Redskin Candidate" resume and name and won't be roundly criticized if he gets the job.. Spgas 30%, after shutting down the best offense ever to win an unlikely championship, it's hard not to think he's the right guy for the job.. He also has intimate knowledge of both the Eagles and Giants which makes him attractive, no one says a bad word about him, yet..
Jim Fassel 20%, the guy who was in line but then everyone in Washington acted as if Snyder about the give the keys to the car to OJ..
Ron Meeks 19%, Snyder went out of his way to say how much he likes Meeks to my man Paul Woody over the weekend so to dismiss him would be foolish.. He has coached here before, he has had success in Indy helping an undersized D become relevent, and well two interviews has to mean something..
1%, Bill Cowher/Pete Carroll/The Ghost of Paul Halas/or just someone we haven't heard about..

OK men

January 30-- Time for an endorsement

2008-01-30T19:53:00.000-08:00

Al Saunders is back in St. Louis as the new offensive coordinator of the Rams.. He was the O coordinator for Dick Vermeil's Super Bowl during the Greatest show on Turf years.. Best wishes to Al.. I really enjoyed him while he was here, very genuine with me and very patient with his time..

I just saw the Lewis Black (Silver Spring and I'm pretty sure Springbrook HS grad-I went there too) do a hilarious piece about the impending Fox broadcast which will mesh politics and football prior to the Super Bowl.. A must see..

News is slow with the Super Bowl impending and the Skins obviously not going to make any head coaching announcements before next week.. So I guess it's time to throw some support to a candidate..

Jim Fassel. Everyone who has covered him says he's a fine fellow. He certainly must have done something right if he was in the Super Bowl, survived the New York media for seven years and was recently in charge of an NFL offense as of 12 months ago. But for some reason, when his name is spoken, the most ardent of fans rush to bathe themselves in holy water and start wailing in tongues. How can you replace Joe Gibbs with such an unpopular hire? The answer is, you can't. I'm not sure I'll ever understand why so many have freaked out over Fassel, it's not like Dan Snyder was thinking about hiring Rich Kotite, but the damage is done.

Ron Meeks. Dan Snyder hired Marty Schottenheimer, Steve Spurrier, Joe Gibbs and Ron Meeks. It just doesn't feel right. He does not sound like a "Redskin candidate." This job isn't for the meek, no pun intended. This job is truly not to be entrusted to a head coaching neophyte. This job is unique for the pressure not only to be applied by the fans, but certainly by the free spending owner. This isn't a place to learn on the job. Ron might actually be the right guy, just not for this task.

Josh McDaniels. He's 31. Why not just give the job to John David Booty because he played under Pete Carroll? He'd get trampled by the pressure. No offense, but he seems to be living proof that Tom Brady is the best quarterback of all time. What scheme has this 31 year old devised? I smell fresh meat.

Steve Spagnuolo. Now this one makes some sense. He's got intimate knowledge of the Giants and Eagles. Was tutored under Jim Johnson who along with Gregg Williams and Monte Kiffin, have my respect for current aggressive schemes. He didn't buckle under the pressure of an 0-2 start after his team gave up 80 points. The Giants defense is nothing to sneeze at and they have dealt with numerous injuries to a secondary that wasn't exactly a strength to start with. Everyone raves about him to the point of suggesting, "If you interview that guy, you'll want to make out with him before dessert comes." But...He has been a coordinator for one year and he's with Meeks on the green side in terms of head coaching responsibilities. Plus, he'll realize that he'll have no say over personnel or his staff. Granted all of them are aware of this but the Skins want us all to believe the people they have previously spoken with all agree, the Zorn/Blache train is destined for immortality. He couldn't have agreed to this notion because he hasn't and wasn't allowed to interview for the job. Honestly, this isn't the right job for him and in the end his apprehension due to the circumstances will probably be evident. I'm going with No with a caveat of down the road he might be a good one.

Pete Carroll/Bill Cowher. The job is yours if you'll take it. But you won't. I imagine we'd have had a press conference by now if you were.

Steve Mariucci. Worked with Vinny Cerrrto while in San Francisco. There are conflicting thoughts on whether the two see eye to eye but the longer I've followed this sport the more I realize nobody likes anybody so what's the difference. He worked with Greg Blache when the two were on the same staff in Green Bay. He would implement a west coast style offense, already in the works with the signing of Jm Zorn to be offensive coordinator. He's got the right demeanor for this job. Besides, in his mind, how could this possibly be worse then Detroit? He obviously wants back in. Did you see him nearly beg for the job while being interrogated on NFL Network? He was smitten, like a high school boy leering at the hot cheerleader. And his eyes are already wide open. He's been on set watching what the Skins have done since Gibbs retired and analyzing it.
The team wants someone of substance with an impressive resume to trot out for the fans. He wants back in and will be paid generously for keeping his mouth shut about the way it is around here. And, well, he was a pretty good coach in San Francisco when the Niners went through a huge cap purge and had to replace Steve Young.
Therefore, I'm pledging full support to Mooch. God speed Moochie.

Quick promotional note: I have a second blog where I write about things other then the Skins. It's pretty dumb.
hennydangerfield.blogspot.com

Check it out..

OK men..

January 29-- Skins State of the Union

2008-01-29T12:07:00.000-08:00

Before I move on, tomorrow I plan on discussing (on the radio) what stupid questions I'd ask the Giants and Patriots had I been at the media day circus, so if you've got a good one in this vein: "Hey Eli, were you adopted?" or "Is Plaxico short for something?" let me know by using the comment section of the blog or e-mail directly to bram@bramshow.com
This probably will happen in the mystical second hour of my show aired on 1021. FM the Game and the Mighty 1490 in the Norfolk/VA Beach area but can be heard on line via their station web site.. I might bring it up with Larry tomorrow too, so all good stupidity is welcome!

So I was watching George Bush's final state of the union address last night and couldn't help but feel the similarities of issues we the people of the United States are dealing with juxtaposed against those of the Skins.. I wonder, what Dan Snyder would say if he were forced to give a speech outlining the Skins state of the Union.. Here's my best guess

On National defense: We have had consistent success through the four years under what's his name but it came time to commit our forces to a new voice, a new leader. Greg Blatche has reigned on our joint chiefs of staff for four tours of duty. He will be our Petreus to what's-his-name's Rumsfeld. We have stressed continuity, staying on message and achieving the common goals of eradicating the terrorists (Giants,Cowboys, Eagles, Al Queda) so we aren't changing attack, but more streamlining it to fit it's new leader.. So we stand behind our decision to continue the surge, we just need a new voice behind it.

Leadership: These are uncertain times. To quote the great Rick Pitino, "Joe Gibbs is not walking through that door." History will look kindly on Washington football's version of JFK. Gibbs was camelot, but camelot can continue with Jim Fassel er, Ron Meeks, I mean, Steve Spag-noo-na-na, er Steve Moochee, or whoever we hand the the kingdom over to. Some call our decision to hire a new offensive coordinator and promote a defensive coordinator unorthodox, I call it brilliant. And so will our new coach because he has to.. We cannot replace Joe Gibbs because we are incapable of legally cloning people, but we are working on that legislation as we speak.

Motto of 2008: "if it ain't broke don't fix it." We didn't have a general manager while Joe Gibbs was in office, and we didn't need one, right? We've been to the playoffs two of the last 3 years so Rich McKay and Phil Savage can stick it. Besides how would anyone know if it "is broke?" We haven't played a game in 2008 yet. Something can't be broke until it's broke, so we are asking for patience and trust. During the time of uncertainty, we will prevail. Or so you have to believe.

Economy: I keep hearing about all this recession stuff, but we make more money then anyone else. Sure our cap runneth over, but who'd you rather be behind, the team that hides during free agency or the team that calls the credit card company for a higher spending limit? We're rich beatch. Don't you like being rich? Ask Yankee fans if they think outspending is the wrong way to build a contender. Stimulus legislation and $500 tax breaks are for the Cardinals and Jaguars.

Overall: The state of the Redskins is good my friends. We know the uncertainty can be alarming in these trying times, but we will find a new leader, we will continue to spend heavily and we will move forward with more continuity then what appears at face value. We ask you to turn your attention to Iraq, gay marriage, Britney, dog fighters and the housing slump. Up here, you can be assured what we are doing is Super Smart.

Thank you!

OK men

January 28- ooh yeah, one more thing

2008-01-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of the e-mails, posts, comments and personal reaction to the Redskins coaching search, but please please please spare me this sentiment that I've found in my inbox an inordinate amount of times. It goes something like this..

"Hi Bram,

My name is Joe. I have been of the Redskins since I was a fetus. But if they hire Jim Fossil over Gregg I'm never going to watch them on television again.
Please tell Dan Snyder that I am personally angry and plan on telling my mother what a terrible job she did while I was in her woom. "

A) If you are like me and are lucky enough to have tickets in the upper or lower bowls, and you are that moved by the search that you are going to e-mail me with your pain, then you are not someone the Skins are "worried" about losing. This is what I would call a veil threat. I'm frustrated too, but I'm not giving up my seats. It took my family 25 years to get them, so lets all realize this isn't Cincinnati.

B) I'm not a shrink. I feel the same way as you. So what are we going to do about this, huff paint to ease the pain?

C) If you give up completely on the Redskins, here are activities you will be doing next fall: Driver of car pool to 6 year old ballet class. Make pottery with new age girlfriend. Take a walk, outside. Try new things like chai or broccoli.

D) You could switch allegiances, but give me a break. What, you're really into the Titans now? Why don't you just go to work without wearing pants on Monday.

My advice is this: Calm down. They haven't even hired a coach yet. Give it a week. If Dan comes out with a whistle around his neck claiming he will only be referred to from this point forward as "Supreme Coach" then, well, I take it all back. I'll be there with you at the next club meeting of the Washingtonians for Dick Jauron club. Maybe we can just move to Toronto and hope the Bills come with us.

OK men..

January 28-- Pete Carroll was in play

2008-01-28T16:34:00.000-08:00

So I was driving around tonight and ESPN Sportscenter pops on and says Pete Carroll spent 9 hours with Dan Snyder talking about the Redskins vacancy. When I asked the team directly about this possibility over a week ago they refused comment by not even responding.. You'll recall Larry badgering me on the air about throwing this possibility out and then poo-pooing it on air..
This is not a surprise..
The team is in a hole in terms of PR and Carroll would certainly have helped perception, but alas, Carroll reportedly said no thanks..

The Skins are expected to talk to Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks for a second time tomorrow with any announcement about who becomes the head coach on hold until after the Super Bowl..

The Steve Mariucci rumors remained quite rampant around the Park today.. Easy conclusion to make, he's got a big name, he worked with Vinny Cerrato in San Francisco, he would implement a west coast offense- already in place with the hiring of Jom Zorn as offensive coordinator, worked with Greg Blache, new defensive coordinator when both were in Green Bay..
But alas, that rumor was being debunked as the day continued as an unlikely mix if for no other reason, that Mariucci would want a say as to who his staff is.. Those decisions have been made..

Jim Fassel remains in the race, however many believe the negative reaction to him possibly being named coach has cooled Dan Snyder's jets about moving forward and thus the Super Bowl detente.. Steve Spagnuolo is expected to be interviewed and of course the Mariucci thing I suppose could become a possibility..
The team is in a hole, they'll dig out, but when the go public, there's no telling at this point what the end result in terms of perception will be..

OK men

January 27-- This Takes the Cake!

2008-01-27T18:58:00.000-08:00

I spent the weekend in New York, a trip planned weeks ago assuming that once the Redskins used an Angel to soar into the playoffs, all was well in Ashburn. Yet yesterday, I spent the afternoon trolling around midtown fielding calls from around the country all asking the same question, "What the ---- are they doing?"

There are two appropriate answers: complete silence or psychopathic rant. I found myself tip toeing around both emotions.
You can't defend firing Gregg Williams and promoting Greg Blatche. So I guess what is being said is "we like the defense, we just don't like the guy who was responsible for it."
Doesn't every workplace include someone who despite being a blowhard happens to be too valuable to get rid of? I call that person, Bill Parcells, Bill O'Reilly, or Bill Belichick. On second thought, maybe need to hire someone named Bill.
That statement would suggest Gregg is the second coming of somebody. Far from it. But he might have been. All I am merely suggesting is not everyone has Joe Gibbs demeanor. And sometimes we have to sacrifice the notion of hanging out at Happy Hour with the boss.

Let me see if I have a full grasp of where the Skins stand as of right now. They don't have a head coach but they do have a two coordinators, one replaces the lead candidate who's been ushered out of the running despite a lack of a better Gibbs successor. This makes sense to who?
So is anyone of any merit going to accept this job now that they will be told they'll have little to no say in personnel and certainly no say in who their staff is? That seems backwards to me, but I'm no Bill.

Do you like watching people feign happiness? Then wait till you see the smiles on the faces of the Snyder/Cerrato/New Coach in waiting the day of the eventual press conference naming this person head coach in charge of everything and nothing all at the same time..
So who has the 10 million dollar smile? I'd go with Steve Mariucci, he certainly could pull off the role and besides, could this situation be worse then Detroit?
Don't answer that..
Or my NY friends posed this one, what's the bigger disaster, The Skins or the Knicks?
Don't answer that one either..

OK men..

January 26-- Well, didn't see that coming...

2008-01-26T13:49:00.000-08:00

A month ago that is..
When the Reskins finished 9 and 7, stole a playoff spot and lost their wild card game in Seattle, I expected a fifth year by Joe Gibbs, and the staff to remain mainly unchanged.. I expected some finagling with the cap, maybe a couple of tough player personnel decisions, but this group to make one more run before Gibbs rode off into the sunset.. But he resigned and now all hell has borken loose..

Gregg Willaims is out as defensive coordinator and has broke ties with the orgnaization.. Williams denies he had any kind of rift with the team, although not winning the head coaching race considering the pool of candidates suggests otherwise..
Greg Blatche who was the defensive coordinator in title only and mainly coached the defensive line is promoted to defensive coordinator.. The rest of his staff remains in flux and I guess we'll see where Williams lands..

Al Saunders is out after two years of trying to implement his spread style to Gibbs's power run attack.. It never meshed (although in fairnes injuries were brutal to the team's continuity) and so Jim Zorn takes over..

This would lead one to believe that Jim Fassel would be THE front runner to get the job, but labelling anyone a front runner, especially after I learned Fassel was told to cool his jets for a few days and the team now openly says no hiring will happen before the Super Bowl, who knows..

The rest of the staff is undtermined at this point.. So from continuity to complete makeover, what a difference a few weeks make.. Incredible!

What did Gregg do to deserve this? Good question.. One source told me it was one of the interview sessions where he and Snyder ended up on different planes of understanding of how things were to be run.. Others say he and Cerrato don't quite see eye to eye on personnel decisions.. Truth is, Gregg would have gotten the job a week ago if the team thought he was the right guy.. They held onto him as a fallback option, but as things collapsed around them in what turned into plan A, Williams was left dangling and obviously spurned, so he's probably better off.. Whether the team is will be something of extreme debate until next season kicks off..

So I expect Steve Spagnuolo to get a shot to win the job after the Super Bowl and I expect Fassel to remain a possibility..

Let the consternation begin..

OK men..

January 24-- Search on Hold through weekend?

2008-01-24T14:40:00.000-08:00

Few if any coaches were in the building today, day 17 of the Skins coaching search..

This one is convoluted, but one person told me through a source that Jim Fassel has been told the team will get back to him in a "few days" after what appears to be the process of finding his staff fell through..

Rex Ryan told the Baltimore Sun he is willing to stay in baltimore and work under new coach John Harbaugh and he denied that he has spoken to any other team about a defensive coordinator position.. I spoke to a Ravens official today who said that the only comment they had was Ryan "is under contract with us." The Ravens can by rule deny Ryan an interview with the Skins for a lateral position of defensive coordinator, however if the Skins were to interview him about their head coaching position, well, you fill in the blanks.. As far as I can tell, the team has not gone to that length yet.. The Ravens are believed to be attempting to retain Ryan..

Seattle QB coach Jim Zorn is back in Seattle after talking to the Skins about their offensive coordinator position.. The Seahawks reportedly are attempting to retain Zorn for their staff.. I reached out to Seahawks officials today, but they have yet to respond about Zorn..

So the coaching search will possibly be expanded by unlikely before the Super Bowl ends.. So I suppose it is possible Giants D coordinator Steve Spagnuolo or New England's O coordinator Josh McDaniels could be interviewed, but that cannot happen by league rule until the Super Bowl ends.. The Skins also continue to refuse all comment regarding their coaching search and will not comment if the team intends on interviewing anyone else..

The best I can tell you at this point is we are on hold.. The team would not comment about the negative reaction to the possibility of Jim Fassel being head coach so who knows.. And one other bizarre note, when asked who is representing the Redskins in Mobile at the Senior Bowl, I was told, "there is no list and I'm not going to make one." Essentially, no comment.. That one takes the cake..

Asked whether there was anything new on the search, one prominent search said succintly, "No."

So we wait and wait and wait..

OK men

January 23-- Looks like No announcement tomorrow

2008-01-23T19:37:00.000-08:00

Things are trickling out, but now it appears the Redskins will not name Jim Fassel their head coach tomorrow as has been widely reported..
The Skins have interviewed Jim Zorn to be their offensive coordinator, however that interview does not appear contingent on any specific head coach and Zorn is not a candidate to be the team's head coach according to sources..

The team continues to issue no comments in regard to the coaching search, but some sources I believe think Gregg Williams is not out of the running to be the head coach and indeed any decision may wait a couple more days..

Again, we'll see tomorrow.. The Skins like the flare for the dramatic, so maybe we'll have something tomorrow, but right, it appears as if the team still has no offers out..

OK men,.

January 23-- Skins won't confirm Fassel Hiring

2008-01-23T16:53:00.000-08:00

The Redskins refuse to comment publicly about rampant reports that Jim Fassel would be named the team's next head coach as early as Thursday.. I was told by one team source in response, "Well, we don't have any press conference's set up."
Jim Zorn, Seattle QB coach has been linked to the new team as a potential offensive coordinator and there is rampant speculation that Rex Ryan, currently the Ravens defensive coordinator would take over here in the same capacity which would mean a complete overhaul of the team's staff..

This would mean Gregg Williams is completely out, according to some sources I spoke to, Williams is unaware of Dan Snyder's intentions at this point and is not aware he is out of the running.. A couple of people in the building wanted to continue to suggest Gregg is not out and still could be the head coach and considering the job has not been confirmed by any team source (trust me I've tried feverishly over the past few hours) I suppose anything is possible..

So I guess we wait until tomorrow when some kind of clarification could be forthcoming..

TE Chris Cooley and T Chris Samuels are going to wear "21" jerseys at the pro bowl in honor of teammate Sean Taylor..

If I hear something tonight, I'll post it..

OK men

January 22-- Vinny gets promoted, search continues

2008-01-22T13:09:00.000-08:00

Vinny Cerrato was promoted to executive Vice President, said to now be in charge of the entire football operation from salary cap management, player personnel acquisition through free agency and the draft as well as scouting departments..
Cerrato was formerly the VP of player personnel mainly in charge of personnel acquisition anyway.. Essentially my read on the whole thing is that the team President role filled by Joe Gibbs has been replaced if not in title by Cerrato.. Cerrato and Snyder are the two main forces in determining who will be the next head coach of the team and said head coach will not have as much decision making power in terms of roster control as Gibbs had..

That said, I had an inkling Pete Carroll may have been that mystery candidate that's been bandied about however Carroll has made it clear he wants huge money (he'd get it) and full control of decisions (won't get that). So that would suggest he is an unlikely candidate to replace Gibbs as coach..
The mystery candidate stuff stemmed from one of the plane trips to pick up a coaching candidate being in Arizona.. Many assumed this was for Russ Grimm, assistant head coach of the Cardinals, but that has been debunked and now it appears the mystery candidate was former Giants head coach Jim Fassel who met with the Skins for a second time yesterday after he was taken from Green Bay to Washington following his work calling the NFC Championship game.. Fassel lives in Arizona and may have been that initial unknown candidate..
Fassel was interviewed back in 2004 before Gibbs accepted the job with the team..

Whether Fassel is a clear cut choice for the head coaching spot remains unknown as the Skins remain underground declining to publicly comment on any candidates... It is possible among the folks I talked to at the Park that Fassel could be hired as a QB coach/Offensive coordinator for whoever the next head coach may be which would lead one to believe that Gregg Williams remains very much in play..

So the front office make-up has been settled, now the coaching carousel could be coming to an end.. If Fassel does not get the job, I'll be curious to see if the search is re-opened to new candidates..

More on Carroll, I spoke with a USC source who when asked if the Skins had contacted the school for permission to speak to him, the response was that Carroll does not comment on speculation because it just leads to more speculation.. But I didn't ask the spokesman for a Carroll comment, only if the school had been asked for permission to speak to him.. On that front, they simply said they were not inclined to answer that and referred me back to the Redskins.. The Skins in turn have declined to comment on whether any such contact was made.. It was so evasive on both ends, it led me to believe Carroll might have been the prize, but now it seems Fassel was the original mystery candidate..

And so the wait continues..

OK men

January 21-- What next?

2008-01-21T13:42:00.000-08:00

All the little birdies who suggest they know flight itineraries have floated out the possibility that a Redskins plane was in Green Bay today to pick up someone as the Redskins coaching search continues..

The team is not commenting publicly on who they have or will speak to, but one look at the Packers staff suggests there isn't anyone outside of Mike McCarthy the that might stand out better then Gregg Williams, but that is the purest of speculation as possible.. McCarthy is expected to receive a pay hike and contract extension, so I'm assuming it isn't him..

You know who else was in Green Bay yesterday? Jimmy Johnson.. Hmmm.. All reports suggest Johnson likes his off-seasons to have personal time and hasn't been interested in a return to coaching, but who knows with the money thrown around these days..
I didn't watch NFL Network, but I suppose it's possible Steve Mariucci was in Green Bay as well.. Vinny Cerrato worked with Mooch in San Francisco and Cerrato certainly is not in jeopardy of losing any control in DC so I suppose there could be a connection..
Bill Cowher said on CBS Sports web site that the Redskins job "has a lot to offer someone, just not Bill Cowher." So he is staying steadfast in his convictions to remain retired at least one more season..

This thing remains so underground, having any sense of where it is going is all guesswork.. Hell, if the Fox guys are finally talking about a "mystery candidate" then even they don't know.. So kudos to the Skins brass for staying underground..

I know the Skins are not particualrly pleased that Jim Mora said anything about the search, mainly he was dropping out but neither side has suggested he was going to be offered the position, although many watching this thing closely felt he was the team's choice.. At least he had the dignity to drop out before any offer could be turned down and putting the Skins cards on the table..

So I'm not sure if the search is officially re-opened but if it is, that suggests Gregg Williams falls lower down the priority list and while he certainly is not out of the running, this is becoming quite telling about their feelings about whether he is their top choice.. The process has gone long enough to give him the job, that hasn't happened so we'll see..

Ooh yeah, Pete Carroll just might be that mystery candidate.. Why not? He flirted with the Falcons, who's to say he isn't dating Dan right now..

OK men..

Mora out of running

2008-01-18T14:19:00.000-08:00

Seahawks assistant Jim Mora Jr. has withdrawn his name from consideration for the Redskins head coaching vacancy.. He cites he wants to not move his family back to the east coast, many believe he is the front runner to replace Mike Holmgren when he steps down as Seahawks head coach whether that be next week or next year...

The Redskins search has ceased in terms of interviewing candidates as far as I can tell.. There are some clarifications that I have gotten in terms of the search, 1) Dan Snyder never flew to Seattle and flew back with mora.. He did send a plane for him did not accompnay him.. same goes for Ron Meeks, both were interviewed at the Snyder house in Potomac..

As for the continued perception that Gregg Williams remains the front runner, I was told by a league source, "No one has told Gregg he is the front runner and if he doesn't know whether he is the front runner, why would anyone else know that?" So the team continues to downplay Williams as the eventual successor to Joe Gibbs.. Still, with Williams being the only known candidate with head coaching experience, I'd be hard pressed not to believe that he has a more then 50/50 shot at the job now that Mora has bowed out..

There is a fifth unnamed candidate that did interview last Friday with Snyder and the team is continuing to lay low and not publcily comment on who that may be.. So, while I had the impression an announcement could come this weekend or early next week, I am unsure of that timeline with Mora out of the equation.. I have to say the Skins have done a miraculous job keeping this searcj so underground.. The information is quite hard to come by..

Another thing on Williams, the source I spoke with said the number of interviews that Williams has received is "irrelevant" in terms of an indicator of how close he is to getting the job.. Williams works in the building and it was easier to speak with him on numerous occassions as opposed to the long drawn out interview process for out of town candidates..

So my new odds are this: Gregg Williams 50%, Rabbit out of the hat 50%

OK men..

January 17-- Critical mass

2008-01-17T19:30:00.000-08:00

So we are getting close to a decision on a new head coach, well, not we, they..

The rumor creeping around these days is that Gregg Williams is not the top candidate to get the job.. This of course is not to suggest that he won't get it or is out of the running by any stretch, but there was pertinent feeling that Jim Mora Jr. or a surprise candidate might be in line to be introduced as early as Monday or Tuesday of next week..

The Redskins PR department has the weekend off according to some, thus while they would be on call, it suggests the Skins are not preparing to make any major announcements until Tuesday.. So are we waiting on Mike Holmgren and whether he is going to leave Seattle? Maybe..

Mora, from what I have heard was the one and only candidate who actually interviewed in DC outside of Williams.. The team did speak to Colts defensive coordinator Ron Meeks but I've heard it was a shorter interview then the others and most do not believe he is among the lead candidates for the job..

So here are my new odds for the job: Gregg Williams 40%, Jim Mora Jr. 30%, someone who we haven't discussed who has a big name with a big resume 30%

OK men..

January 16- Nodbody knows anything

2008-01-16T12:22:00.000-08:00

I had a couple of conversations with those in the know at Redskins Park today and found out they are as much out of the know as I am about the coaching search..

Here's what I do know today, former Falcons coach current Seahawks assistant Jim Mora Jr is interviewing for the job somewhere.. This candidate (of the ones we publicly know about) seems to be the most serious contender to steal the job from Gregg Williams thus far. Williams has interviewed (if you can call it that) numerous times over the last week and is considered still the front runner for the job..

One person I spoke with says Gregg "really wants it." This is contrary to what Williams has presented in recent years saying he is satisfied working as an assistant and allowing a lot of the media/off field issues for a head coach to worry about.. In the mind of those I spoke with, they suggested he wasn't hiding his true ambition, only he was satisfied working under Gibbs in that capacity and that he wants to, and likely will be successful at whichever head coaching position he eventually gets..

I started having a conspiracy thought.. Miami's job is closed, Baltimore's is close to being settled.. Atlanta likely will move quick with either Jason Garrett or their fall back should Garrett take the Ravens job or stay in Dallas as an assistant.. If the market closes, then the Redskins are not obligated to allow Williams to speak to other teams about their vacancies as a lead assistant coach.. Indeed they could essentially force him to stay as a top paid defensive coordinator and work under a new head coach.. Hmmm.. Gregg likely wouldn't be happy undr that scenario, but may have no choice if this is the way the Skins went.. Maybe the job gets turned over to Greg Blatche or Jerry Gray if Williams left after being passed over..

Plus, I'm still waiting for a rabbitt to get pulled out of Dan Snyder's hat not unlike the surprising Gibbs trick he pulled four years ago.. So we wait and wait.. In all liklihood until next week, there appears to be no expectation for any announcement by Friday and I doubt the Skins would do anything during the weekend of the conference championship games, I'm sure the league wouldn't appreciate that..

So my new odds right now are: Gregg Williams 60%, Jim Mora Jr. 20%, Some big name we just flat out don't know about %20

OK men

HOF Finalists Named

2008-01-15T14:29:00.000-08:00

Darrell Green, Art Monk and Russ Grimm were among the 17 finalists for election to the pro football Hall of Fame..
Green and Cris Carter are the only first time ballotees potentially to be elected..

So who is the shoe in? Probably Carter, certainly not Monk who's been shafted for years for no other good reason then he didn't spend his free time at the White House, not that White House nor wear Mink coats to press conferences he shied away from..

Monk gets in when class becomes a criteria.. Considering the lack of marquee names, the time is now for Art..

While Monk seems to be the poster child for Redskins fans ire, my heart is desirous for Grimm or Joe Jacoby (who for some ungodly reason can't even make it to the finalists) to be elected. This is the Hall of Fame, yet there is no representation of the greatest offensive line in the history of the NFL. There is a Hogette in Canton (true) and not a Hog. Hmmm..
If "Fame" is one of the criteria for the Hall of Fame, then why wouldn't someone from the most Famous offensive line ever be there?

As for Mr. Green, he likely gets in first among all of them. 20 years one team. 7 pro bowls. Among the best at his position for a long period of time. Champion. Highlight moments defensively and most famously a punt return in a playoff game where he tore a rib cage muscle leaping a coverage Bear and returning it for a backbreaking touchdown. Green also is a community leader, something that certainly shouldn't be a main criteria, still..

My guess, Green gets in if for no other reason, he doesn't have significant competition. Art stays out because Carter gets in and his numbers are better. Grimm fails to make it although, one day he'll be enshrined and the oversight of passing over the Hogs finally comes to an end..

OK men

January 14-- Secret Search

2008-01-14T18:27:00.001-08:00

What is the fear behind disclosing who the Redskins wish to speak with regarding their vacancy at head coach and presumably team President?

Why can't the team even go so far as to suggest that Gregg Williams, the top in house candidate, received as much as an interview for the position?

The last time the Skins went this underground, they pulled Joe Gibbs out of their behinds. Whoever the hire is this time around, the team can't possibly be as dramatic. Still, the lines have gone so silent, it makes you wonder what's happening in that submarine.

Gregg Williams has spoken to Dan Snyder. So has Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz who one would have to believe is a long shot if for no other reason, Snyder isn't the type to turn his free spending expectation laden franchise over to a neophyte, as impressive as his agent might want us to believe.

The wall of silence feels loud, like Bill Cowher is going to stop pretending he doesn't want a 5 year 40 million dollar deal to ditch CBS to be the next in line of the Snyder coronations? If Pete Carroll is speaking to the bottom feeders in Atlanta, then he's got to be flirting in DC right?
Is this thing going to end with Jim Mora or Ron Meeks emerging the victor? That feels anti-climatic. It would be like going to Cirque de Solieil and having the clowns enter in a mini-Volkswagon bug.

So, and this is just opinion, because the Redskins are going out of their way to not allow anyone to have any true insight into their intentions, here are my personal odds for who will be the Skins next head coach..

55%-- Gregg Williams. The team believes they could have gone farther, the team is set up for the next coach to win (Gibbs said it and he said it, it's part of Snyder's new Ten Commandments). Somehow I don't think Gregg would get that team President title though. Just a hunch.
15%- Bill Cowher. Lets face it, if someone came up to you and said you can spend the next year watching your daughter play high school basketball or you can buy Aruba and let your daughter own/coach a basketball team, what would you do? That's what I thought. Convictions are a funny thing, they only count when their put to a test.
10% Pete Carroll-- Big splash name. Unlikely considering the Spurrier debacle, but he's not Spurrier and has NFL coaching experience and well, seems like he actually reads books.
10% Russ Grimm. Long live the Hogettes. He's not Gibbs, but the fans know him and he's hungry, litterraly and figuratively.
10% Somone nobody is thinking of and is currently eating at some undisclosed Morton's location in the greater 48 states right now.

OK men..

January 12-- Williams expected to interview

2008-01-12T11:38:00.000-08:00

Gregg Williams is expected to get a formal interview as early as today and would be the third head coaching candidate to interview since the resignment of Joe Gibbs..

Williams has remained silent during the process declining interview requests as the team continues it's search to replace Gibbs..

I haven't gotten 100% confirmation on this, but it is believed Dan Snyder and Vinny Cerrato were in Arizona yesterday to interview former Skins offensive line coach and great Russ Grimm who is currently an assistant head coach with the Cardinals..

The Skins do still have to comply with the Rooney Rule having not publicly interviewing any minority candidates as of yet.. Colts assistant head coach Jim Caldwell is a candidate for that, but he might be in line for the Colts job should Tony Dungy retire after this season.. D-line coach Greg Blatche could be a long shot candidate.. Former Skins defensive assistant, Colts D-coordinator Ron Meeks is another possibility..

Belief is Williams remains at the top of the list of candidates, but nothing seems final, and the team is being extremely cautious about allowing information about the search filter out..

OK men

January 10 -- Search begins with Titans Coordinator

2008-01-10T18:36:00.000-08:00

The Redskins are meeting with or have met with Titans defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, depends who you ask at this point.. NBC Sports is reporting that the interview "blew away" owner Dan Snyder.. I can't confirm that as the team isn't issuing comments in regard to their search..
This is an interesting beginning to the search as the Redskins have a defensive coordinator who used to coach under Jeff Fisher who the players have firmly endorsed as the man they would like to see get the head coaching psotion..
With neither Joe Gibbs nor Snyder publicly endorsing Gregg Williams it's starting f=to feel like Williams is certainly not at the top of the list of candidates, but more of a failsafe should the Skins fail to land the person they want.. That's a guess though, and certainly not meant as dissrespect to Gregg.. Just a gut feeling at this point..
It also opens the dor to the idea that Williams isn;t particularly interested in becoming a head coach again.. It's been a while since the subject came up, but in the past, Gregg has talked openly about enjoying being here as a coach and not having to deal with the many responsibilities that go along with being a head coach.. Williams has denied interview requests at this point so to know what he's thinking is impossible, but the possibility that he would prefer to remain an assistant could be plausible here..
Until the process ends and Gregg speaks, this one will remain an interesting conundrum..

Bill Cowher continues to publicly dismiss the notion of returning to coach next season and as far as I know at this point, the Redskins have not met with him in an attempt to change his mind..

OK men

January 8-- Gibbs says good bye again

2008-01-08T19:26:00.000-08:00

The shock and surprise of Joe Gibbs decision to resign as head coach and team President of the Washington Redskins was prevalent throughout the building.. The numerous players and coaches I talked to had no idea he was leaning toward leaving..

There won't be two hirings to replace Gibbs, at least it's not expected after owner Dan Snyder was clear that he feels the front office structure is something needs not to be fixed. "If it ain't broke, you don't fix it." So whoever the next coach will be, the Skins appear as if that person will cotninue to work with Snyder and Vinny Cerrato in all player acquisitions..

It turns out that the well reported successor clause in Gregg Williams contract does not exist. For a few years it was beleived that Williams had a seven figure payout owed to him should he not be named Joe Gibbs successor when Gibbs decided to leave.. Redskins sources told me that this clause indeed does not exist.. Williams however is considered one of the candidates to replace Gibbs..
Snyder would not label anyone as a candidate at this point saying he would begin the process of finding a new head coach soon.. He also expressed surprise at Gibbs's decision and said that he tried until the wee hours last night to talk him out of it.. Gibbs even joked that at one point he was asking for paul bearers to be part of his deal since Snyder wanted him "to work until he was 93." Gibbs refuted any notion that his decision would be based on money, he said he is not in need of money and that it was family that was calling for him to leave.. He said the decision was his, and that even some in his inner circle wanted him to go back for the fifth and final year of his origianl contract.. Gibbs did say he was regretful for not fufilling his initial promise..
Asked how he can replace Joe Gibbs, Snyder responded, "You can't replace Joe Gibbs."

Popular beief is the Skins will approach former Steelers coach Bill Cowher.. Snyder said he has not spoken to any candidate including Cowher saying the last time they even ran into each other was maybe 6 years ago on a handball court. I was told the search committee was not planning to go to North Carolina as of last night to meet with Cowher and Cowher has said through sources he remains uninterested in coaching anywhere in 2008..

Gibbs said he will keep an office as long as Snyder wants during the transition period but he does not plan to remain in the building once the new coach begins his work.. He "does not want to oversee anyone here." He did express hope for the roster and suggested that whoever takes over will be walking into a situation where he believes the team is primed to contend for a title..

Snyder called Gibbs "a friend for life" and admitted the franchise's stability is in a much better place then where it was 4 years ago when Gobbs replaced Steve Spurrier.. The owner contends he has learned a lot since Gibbs coming on board and Gibbs credited Snyder for "never giving any excuses for anything we asked for." He also said Snyder is the right person to make a decision as to who will be the next head coach and seemed to want to distance himself from whatever decision Snyder may ultimately make..

Yet another surreal day to say the least..

I suppose I should give some personal thoughts on the matter.. I will miss Gibbs. He truly proved to be the right leader for this team never more exempliied then his strength during the tragedy of Sean Taylor.. He made many mistakes during games, which honestly was hard to watch, but the team played hard for him, the ultimate barometer of the effectiveness of a head coach. The players galvanized for him, played for him and respected him.. His Hall of Fame bust was made because he was a motivator, a fair general, and someone who stood for dignity and respect.. In that regard, it was hard to take the same critical eye to his decisions based mainly on the fact that my own biases always leaned toward hoping in the end he would be right. That said, his on field production, 31-36, needed to be taken into context. That's only fair to his predecessors and his eventual successors.. While I will always believe that this coach will be held to a deserved higher standard, if the fanbase is to be fair in it's own expectations, then it is only fair to Gibbs to suggest the bar in terms of success was not met.
That bar was set very high, by Gibbs himself..
It has been an honor and privledge to get to know Joe and I wish him the very best in his future endeavors. I appreciate his time and patience for the shows I was personally a part of with him and with his numerous media duties of which I was involved in the group. Seeing his ability to remain stabile and strong through every and I mean every conceivable situation on and off a football field was a life lesson in management I will never forget.
I hope Joe finds happiness in his retirement from football and hope he indeed enjoyed his return to Washington, a breath of fresh air into the franchise that was sorely needed. I agree with Mr. Snyder that this franchise is in a much better place then it was four seasons ago when it was rudderless. Good luck Joe. Thanks for putting your good name on the line. In the end, your good name is secure.

OK men..

January 8-- Gibbs resigns

2008-01-08T08:19:00.000-08:00

Joe Gibbs will remain a special advisor to owner Dan Snyder but at 3PM he will resign as head coach and team President of the Washington Redskins..

The few players I spoke with this morning were suprised by the news and said he did not make the team feel inclined as if he was leaving following the final team meeting..

Gregg Williams does not have a clause in his contract that pays him a seven figure buyout should he not be Gibbs's successor.. It had been widely reported for a couple of years this was the case, but Skins sources I spoke with debunked it.. So there is no next in line..

More later today..

January 7-- Gibbs hedges on coaching future, talks to begin tonight with Dan Snyder

2008-01-07T17:20:00.000-08:00

The Redskins players left as a team on Sunday following their final team meeting, none of them that I spoke to or had third party conversations with seemed to have any inclination that Joe Gibbs would not be back as the Redskins head coach for a 5th season since his return.. But yesterday, Gibbs would not give a definitive decision about his future saying he needed to begin "normal" off-season conversations with owner Dan Snyder about the course of the organization before making any definitve decisions..

Until yesterday, Gibbs had never backed off previous statements that he intended to coach for five years minimum, the length of his original deal when he signed to return to Washington.. Gibbs said he left on Sunday to attend a family function and returned Monday afternoon in the afternoon and had yet to have talks with Snyder..
Gibbs would not say whether he'd be open to returning as the team President and not the head coach and said that a decision on his future will have to be made in short time due to the status of his staff..
The organization according to his knowledge had not been notified of interest by other teams to interview members of his staff, yet..

Gibbs has called this the toughest season of his coaching career and detailed his joy in bouncing back from a 5-11 season to return to the playoffs for the second time in 3 years, but he called the end of the season a bitter dissapointment because "we felt like we could do it. We felt like we could have gone farther then that. We were capcapable of beating anybody."

Is this move a power play for an extension? Only Gibbs knows the answer to that.. Gibbs praised Snyder's "supportive nature" in spending any ammount of money on his staff and personnel, now it appears the two have some financial parameters to talk through should Gibbs be willing to resume his coaching career.. At this point, it's anyone's guess if Gibbs is serious about walking away or if he is just trying to secure his future with the team beyond this season to determine whether he thinks it's right for him to come back..

Here is the list of unrestricted free agents: QB Todd Collins, P Derrick Frost, LS Ethan Albright, DT Ryan Boschetti, QB Mark Brunnel, G Jason Fabini, LB Randall Godfrey, CB David Macklin, S Pierson Prioleau, C Mike Pucillo, WR Reche Caldwell, WR Keenan McCardell, RB Rock Cartwright (who can and is expected to opt out of his current deal), TE Brian Kozlowski, S Omar Stoutmire, and G Rick DeMulling..

Gibbs said he wants Collins back and that Collins joked with owner Dan Snyder that he still has "a lot of rubber left on the tires" having not played enough games to build wear and tear on his body.. Should Collins return, Gibbs would not dismiss the possibility of a QB competition next summer with Jason Campbell.. He would not call this Jason's job to lose and suggested that "it's good for the Redskins that we have two good ones." So we'll see if there is a market for Collins services outside of Washington after a very strong final month of the season where he replaced the injured Campbell..
Brunell will likely not be back with the team, but if Gibbs is back, it might be a possibility..

Among the other FA's: Cartwright is looking for a payday, exactly what that means is uncertain, he'll likely test the market unless the Skins give him what might be what he perceives as a market value deal for a kick returner/back-up RB.. I know the team wants him back though..
Caldwell will likely be pursued, McCardell is a question mark.. Frost will be an interesting decision after an up and down year.. Fabini filled in admirably at guard.. They loved Godfrey's play down the stretch.. Both are question marks.. Prioleau may have been ultimately supplanted by Reed Doughty, but the team has safety depth to deal with due to the passing of Sean Taylor so we'll see.. I would expect Pucillo to retire (back) or not be resigned.. Kozlowski, Stoutmire, DeMulling, Boschetti are all players I'm expecting not to return..
Albright has signed a couple of one year deals the past few seasons, he would likely be asked to do the same..

I believe K Shaun Suisham is a restricted free agent, but I need to check that out..
I will give you some more details about the cap situation with some vets later this week..

Off-season surgeris scheduled for the Skins: G/DT Lorenzo Alexander with have a right ankle scope, LB HB Blades will have a left knee scope due to a meniscus tear, S Vernon Fox will have a left knee scope, DT Cornelious Griffin will have a right knee scope, TE Todd Yoder will have a knee scope..

LB Rocky McIntosh had his ACL reconstructed last month after getting injured in the NYG game.. The training staff now believes he will be ready to play when next season begins.. He likely will not be healthy enough to practice during OTA's and mini-camps..

OK men..

January 7-- Skins season ends in Seattle

2008-01-06T16:27:00.001-08:00

The Redskins season ends with a 35-14 loss in the wild card round of the playoffs at Seattle.. Mike Holmgren became only the second coach in history to beat Joe Gibbs twice in the postseason.. The Seahawks have ended two of the last 3 Redskins seasons, beating the Skins in the divisional round of the postseason in 2005, and this time in the wild card.. Joe Gibbs had never lost a wild card playoff game before Saturday and falls to 17-7 overall in the postseason (1-2 in his second stint as Redskins coach)..

Todd Collins threw his first two interceptions of the season, I believe first two in a decade, both were returned for touchdowns.. The first one, a 78 yard return by Marcus Trufant was a ball that was never found when in the air by Santana Moss.. The receiver said he didn't break off his route, he just didn't see the ball coming his way and didn't think it was thrown for him.. ..
Collins and the Skins offense was having a lot of difficulty with the crowd noise (and electronically created noise) that they had to adjust by going to silent snap counts and hurry up opportunities.. The Seahawks contend they do not pump in noise, however they do use a horn like noise when their team is on defense.. By league rule, noise blared trhough the speaker system is not allowed to be used when a team breaks the huddle.. Seattle broke this rule numerous times in the first half with noise obviously being played even as the Skins offense was at the line of scrimmage.. The Seahawks limited their overuse of this in the second half.. Still, and this is just my opinion, but understand I have an ear for this stuff, it sounds like the Seahawks open microphones throughout the stadium, in turn, the noise (which is very prevalant by the fans alone) gets then reverberated through the speaker system.. There is an obvious hum that is audible when the Seahawks fans begin cheering.. They are loud, no doubt, and their venue might be the best of the new stadiums in the league, but their contention that the noise is human generated and human generated only is simply not true..
Regardless, the offense line had trouble getting off the ball, and to be fair and not be nit picky about noise levels, the Seahawks defense line and front seven overall dominated the Skins protection.. They were playing at a different speed and intensity then the Skins and were the aggressor throughout..

Washington had enormous issues with special teams throughout the day.. Shaun Suisham missed a 30 yard field goal after a bizarre kickoff recovery by the Skins that gave them field position after taking a 1 poitn lead early in the 4th quarter.. Derrick Frost punted 8 times, with 43.5 average, not a bad number except for the couple of times the he left Seattle with fabulous field position.. Suisham's kickoffs were consistently short and the Skins were called for a running into the kicker foul..

Defensively, Washington allowed 21 points and 304 total yards.. Not a bad effort conisdering the Seahawks offensive exploits.. Shawn Springs said the biggest issue was not getting pressure on Matt Hasselbeck.. he called Hasselbeck (his former teammate) the best QB in the NFC and said "if you don't hit him, he'll kill you."

LB London Fletcher said he said he may give a personal nudge to Joe Gibbs to return for the fifth and currently final year of the original contract he signed when he returned.. Fletcher joked he may tell Gibbs, "See you next year so he gets the message."
T Chris Samuels called Gibbs, "the best coach I have ever had. He puts the players first. He's a character man and we always play for him."
Gibbs has never said he would not return for a fifth and possibly final season as Skins head coach, but there seems to be some snetiment that he may renege on his promise of five seasons.. I suppose we'll know more when he speaks to the media at 5PM Monday..

Putting the season in context following the loss was tough for the players with the scoreboard fresh in their mind.. A few said they were proud of the accomplishment of reaching the playoffs despite the murder of Sean Taylor and the other injuries the team fought through.. Many including Santana Moss said he doesn't want a "moral victory. You want to win. We can hold our heads high but we ain't playing next week. I wish we could be talking about next week." London Fletcher said the "The Cowboys knew what we were going to do to them."

Gibbs said it's going to be hard to separate this group after what was a trying season.. many players called this the closest group they've been a part of.. He described them as an unusual group of guys, "you could hear them getting emotional."

No major injuries occurred in the Seattle that would be any cause for concern heading into next season.. Clinton Portis injured an ankle, but not seriously.. Stephon Heyer was dinged, but said he was fine.. James Thrash missed the game due to a sprained ankle..

I'll have a detailed report on the off-season to come later this week..

OK men

January 3-- Heyer turned down a better deal to be a Skin

2008-01-03T19:21:00.000-08:00

Vinny Cerrato said on Redskins Radio today that Bill Parcells is one of the main reasons Jason Fabini is in Washington and playing guard for the Skins this season.. Parcells believed according to Cerrato that Fabini would be a good fit to continue his career under the tutilege of Joe Bugel, the same reason undrafted free agent Stephon Heyer is here.. The two have the same agent.. Heyer apparently turned down better deals from other teams to learn from Bugel.. "Better deals" might be operative considering very little of any money offered to Heyer as an undrafted free agent would be guaranteed..

The Redskins tried to deal for Reche Caldwell with New England during the pre-season but were rebuffed by the Patriots.. After he was released the Pats, the Skins ":jumped on him." He was the one who came to Joe Gibbs earlier this month and asked for a bigger role with the team.. That has occurred..

Clinton Portis continues to ride Santana Moss during media sessions saying he's had a, uhh huh, male groin surgery. Moss doesn't quite find it very funny, to say the least..
In a more serious moment, Portis believes the fact that the Skins have played in Seattle, understand their strengths, and are not playoff neophytes, he believes the result could be quite different this time around..

Gregg Williams said the team made a smart move by holding back some of the reps of Shawn Springs early in the season, "so we'd have him now." It was a big deal when Springs started the season as the nickel corner and played far fewer plays then Carlos Rogers and Fred Smoot.. I suppose I have no choice but to buy that, so I will..
Williams said the overall health of the corners, (Smoot dealt with hamstring issues for the early to mid part of the season) and Springs (see above) has led to the advent of more man coverage use.. Smoot was brought back according to Williams because of is abilities to play man.. The corners believe that their ability to limit the Seattle passing game will be the key to slowing the Seahawks offense down..
Smoot is playing in his first playoff game after seven seasons, he described it as "going to the fair for the first time."

OK men..

January 2-- When the offense opened up

2008-01-02T18:23:00.000-08:00

The Redskins held an hour long walk through today continuing their weekly lighter practice regimen.. They will hold a practice tomorrow before heading to Seattle on Friday for the wild card playoff game against Seattle.. The players continued to praise Joe Gibbs for his amenability to lighten the load..

WR James Thrash is the one main injury concern heading into the Seattle game after re-injuring his ankle.. Without a practice today, there is no word whether he'll be available for Saturday's kickoff..

LB London Fletcher has become a natural vocal leader of the defense.. I spoke with Gibbs after practice today where he said that they did not approach Fletcher to be a vocal advocate in the locker room, that this part of his game came naturally to him.. Gibbs said he wasn't aware how much of this type of role he would take in the team when they signed him and expressed surprise that at his age he remains as energetic just about playing as he does..

WR Reche Caldwell came to Gibbs about a month ago and asked him to find a bigger role for him to help the team.. Gibbs has obliged and Caldwell has jumped ahead of Keenan MCCardell on the depth chart as the number 3/4 receiver in recent weeks..

WR Antwaan Randle-EL said a major difference in the offensive output, and results in the games this past month has been the coache's concious decision to be more aggressive in the second halves of games.. Randle-EL said it was after the Buffalo game that the coaches decided to "let loose" and was most apparent to him in the 4th quarter of the Bears game where the Skins extended a lead by throwing first on a drive that led them to the first of four straight wins.. Randle-El said the players would not allow Joe Gibbs to take responsibility for the Bills game mistake believing that no matter what the calls, the team needs to execute and not allow a mistake determine the result of any given game.. This was also the point at which Gibbs said earlier in the week that the team had "learned from their mistakes."
Whether Todd Collins performance in place of the injured Jason Campbell had something to do with the more aggressive second half game plans is truly an unknown..
Collins was named NFC offensive player of the month after 4 wins, 3 of which ended with a QB rating over 100.. He doesn't have enough attempts to qualify for the league leaders in the NFL, but if he did, right now, he'd be second among all QB's in rating behind only Tom Brady..

Gibbs has never won a playoff game in the Pacific time zone, 0-2 at San Francisco and 0-1 at Seattle, but Gibbs has never lost a wild card game in his career..

Shawn Springs talked about the man coverage the Skins have employed in recent weeks.. He called the matchup between the Seattle WR's amd the Skins secondary as the key to the game.. He said Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren and Skins defensive cooridnator Gregg Williams have similar personalities in that neither overly adjusts their game plans due to matchups, but both prefer to focus on their own style and exerting their wills on everyone else..

OK men..

January 1-- Collins is the QB, Gibbs adjustments lead to chemistry

2008-01-01T14:45:00.000-08:00

QB Jason Campbell is said to be a "long way away" from returning to full practice meaning Todd Collins is the starter for this weekend's playoff game in Seattle with Campbell likely remaining inactive.. Mark Brunell would remain the #2, Sam Hollenbach, the #3.. What "long way away" means in terms of his recovery from a dislocated kneecap is unknown, however popular belief is that with Collins posting the numbers he is, this is his show regardless of Campbell's availability.. The team is hopeful that Jason will return to be available at some point as the #2 at worse..

When asked how health has affected the season of Santana Moss, Clinton Portis joked, "now that he has gotten over his circumcision, he's doing a lot better.. You can tell by the way he is running." Portis and Moss are both ironically, feeling their best since the beginning of the season now, a big part of the reason the Skins offense has awakened in recent weeks.. Moss was saddled through the summer with hamstring and groin issues, he also suffered a heel injury mid season.. Portis missed the summer sessions with knee tendonitis after struggling through '06 with a dislocated shoulder and subsequently a hand injury..

WR James Thrash re-injured his ankle and was expected to be wearing a walking boot through the week, his availability will be re-assessed late in the week.. T Stephon Heyer injured his knee in the Dallas game but is said to be "OK." LB Randall Godfrey suffered an abdominal strain in the Cowoys game and the team is hoping he'll be OK for the game Saturday at Seattle..

Joe Gibbs was asked to compare this team to the one that had it's season end in a second round playoff game at Seattle two years ago.. The similarities are strking with the end of season run of must wins, but Gibbs called this team "much more talented." And of course the biggest difference is the offense is humming right now, after the Tampa playoff game, the Redskins had run out of gas posting an NFL all time low for yards gained in a playoff victory..
Asked if he has achieved his goal upon his return of getting the Skins back into an annual competitive form, Gibbs said he isn't ready to take a look at the season as a whole yet and assess whether his goals have been met.. This line of questioning of course has many ramifications.. Is Gibbs considering signing an extension beyond the final year of his deal which is next season? Could Gibbs be more apt to walk away after this season, admittdley the toughest of his career dealing with the Sean Taylor tragedy, close losses, ridicule of the Bills mistake etc? It should be an interesting first couple of weeks of his off-season whenever that actually begins..

Gibbs said he has not spoken to Sean Taylor's father or family in recent days, but Portis said he spoke with Pedro Taylor (Sean's father) and Jackie (his fiance) on Monday and said the family continues to send thanks and congratulatory thoughts to the team after reaching the playoffs in Sean's honor.. Portis and the team have dedicated this season to Taylor..

The Redskins have scored on their opening drive of the second half four straight weeks.. Earlier this season, the Skins had issues holding onto second half leads.. "Finishing" has been another motto of the team during the stretch run.. Gibbs called the ability to hold onto leads as "learning from our mistakes earlier this year."

Dallas WR Terrell Owens has been described as "iffy" for the Cowboys first playoff game, a potential rematch in Dallas between the Skins and Cowboys if Washington defeats Seattle this weekend.. Wade Phillips described his team's performance Sunday as the "difference between one team being fired up to play and another one not."
WR Terry Glenn believes that Skins safety Laron Landry was trying to hurt him when he went for his knees during Sundays game.. The play was deemed clean and Landry was on with us on Redskins Radio Monday and said he was not trying to do anything dirty and that football is a rough game..

Issac Bruce made his 942nd catch this past weekend, he passed Art Monk on the all time receptions list.. Monk remains one of the top ten receivers in terms of receptions in league history yet he remains on the outside of the Hall of Fame looking in.. This should be an interesting vote in terms of Skins with a groundswell for Monk, at least one Hig (Russ Grimm likely) and now Darrell Green eligible for enshrinement..

Gibbs said he has backed off hard practices on Wednesdays during this stretch run due to the players need for more rest time.. This tactic has paid off dividends with the team playing it's best in recent weeks.. Gibbs said this is one way he has changed from his typical regimen of the past but he did so because he believes his players will "get the work they need to get done. It's actually been relaxing knowing these guys will go out and do it." Gibbs described the chemistry this team is exhibiting as among the best he's ever coached and said it is something that is "rare. Only four or five teams I've coached in my career had been able to get what we have now."
The players have cited Gibbs ability to scale back practices as a major key to their recent success..

Happy New Year..

OK men..

December 30-- Skins Beat Dallas by 21, Taylor's presence felt

2007-12-30T20:51:00.000-08:00

The Redskins beat Dallas by 21 points, a fact few if anyone in the locker room believe is a coincidence.. The Redskins firmly believe that Sean Taylor is their angel, with them in spirit and the true reason the Skins have won four straight and are in the postseason for the second time in 3 years..
Joe Gibbs came to the post game media room wearing a "21" hat commemorating and said he doesn't believe "it was an accident" that the team won by 21 points.. Gibbs spoke about the Bills gaffe where he called a second timeout that allowed Buffalo to attempt at 36 yard field goal instead of 51 to beat washington in the waning seconds.. Gibbs said he believes that "sometimes good things happen after you've been crushed." He called it the worst mistake he's made in his professional career.. The Skins haven't lost since and have yet to trail in any of the four games they have won the last month..

Phillip Daniels said his wife found a picture of Sean Taylor on the internet that Taylor had signed for a fan that read, "just beat Dallas" over his his jersey, number 21.. He distributed the picture to his teammates and this he believes was just another sign that something bigger is happeneing here.. The ammount of existential discussions I had with players regarding the belief that Taylor's spirit remains with them was remarkable.. Santana Moss said he still speaks to taylor saying things to him he wish he could have said before he was murdered and sighed, "I will ride with him until I can't ride anymore. Forever." Moss often flashes a "21" sign with his fingers when he makes a big play.. He had 8 catches for 121 yards and the decisive score that gave the Skins the 21 point advantage..
Clinton Portis said that the murder had changed he and his teammates for the better.. He stated that the Skins now often tell each other that they love each other, a departure from the typical mantra of leaving your feelings at the door..

The Redskins indeed didn't have to win as New Orleans and Minnesota both lost but the Skins were not made aware of the scores, at least of the Vikings game which was being played at the same time as the Skins game.. The Redskins did not allow the Vikings or Saints scores to be displayed in the stadium.. Joe Gibbs said he told the PR staff only to tell him if they were in and chose not to know saying he wanted his players not to think they could rely on someone else to help them get into the playoffs..

T Stephon Heyer left the game in the fourth quarter and was replaced by Todd Wade when he tweaked his knee, but I was not able to get an official report from the PR staff
before leaving Fed Ex Field..

Todd Collins had his third 100+ QB rating going 22-31 for 244 yards, 1 TD.. he did have his first turnover since taking over at QB with a first half fumble.. he still has yet to throw an interception.. Asked about whether he or Jason Campbell would start, Gibbs said, "right now it's the furthest thing from our minds. We need to get Jason back healthy first."

The Redskins allowed a season low 1 rush yard to the Cowboys who did play their offensive starters into the 3rd quarter and many of their defensive starters well into the fourth.. Tony Romo went 7-16 for 86 yards.. Marion Barber was held to an amazing 6 carries for -6 yards.. Julius Jones had 8 carries for 7 yards.. Jason Witten cugh two passes, he ended up four short of 100 for the season.. The Cowboys were also going for a franchise best 14-2, that obviously did not happen and the Boys lost their first road game of the season..

The Skins play the 4PM game in Seattle on Saturday, site of their last playoff game, a defeat in 2005.. This is the only NFC playoff team the Redskins did not face in the regular season.. IN all, the Skins ultimately played 7 games against playoff bound teams, going 2-5.. (Split with Dallas and the Giants, lost on the road to Green Bay, Tampa Bay and New England)..
From Skins Encyclopedia author Mike Richmond, The Skins have been the foe in the championship game two of the three times in the NFL history that the opposition was undefeated.. They are 1-1 losing in Super Bowl VII to Miami and beating the '42 Bears behind Slignin Sammy Baugh.. The Patriots could be only the fourth Super Bowl bound unbeaten this year.. The Redskins would have to win 3 road plyoff games to have a shot to face them..

OK men..

December 27-- Is this 2005 all over again?

2007-12-27T16:07:00.001-08:00

C Mike Pucillo was placed on injured reserve with a back injury ending his season and potentially his career with the Skins.. OL Kevin Sampon was signed off the practie squad to take his roster spot.. OL Calvin Armstrong was signed to the practice squad..
Lorenzo Alexander had become the jumbo package tight end in recent weeks and had emerged as a possibility at back-up guard as well.. Pete Kendall is now the back-up center if something is to happen to Casey Rabach..

RB Clinton Portis was named the NFC's offensive player of the week.. he described himself as a wiser player and once again talked about the change "everyone" has had to go through since the death of his friend a teammate Sean Taylor.. Portis respectfully hinted he is tired of being asked about Taylor and that while his teammates are playing for Sean, it is time to move forward to focus on what's ahead..
Portis called this game the "second best ticket" in the league behind the Giants-Pats game and said he is excited by the prospect of playing Dallas with so much on the line..
Portis said he doesn't beleive that the Cowboys are going to be any kind of easy out just because they have nothing to play for..
Gregg Williams put it this way: "They had 11 players on the pro bowl roster. They can't sit all of them. This is a very good football team that we are playing."

The run of 2005 hasn't been a theme in this late season surge by the Redskins but Williams said that it has been broguht up in the context of "We've done this before. We can do this again."

When last these two played, the Skins were in the midst of what would eventually be a permanent change to their secondary.. Sean Taylor had injured his knee the week before and miscommunication ruled as Terrell Owens scored 4 touchdowns, 3 on deep pass plays in the second half of a 28-23 win.. When asked how far the secondary has come since that game, Williams said "a lot." He credited Reed Doughty for his performance in the Vikings game and suggested the mistakes made in the Dallas game (which he described as film they have watched intensely) are in the past..

The photo taken that gave the appearance that Mike Sellers helmet cracked when he was concussed during the Vikings game apparently was a photographic mirage.. I asked Sellers about the play and he showed me his helmet, the same one he wore that game and there was a minor scratch, but no breakage.. Sellers claims he certianly could have played the second half of the Vikings game and that his helmet needed to be hidden from him because in the past he found his helmet after being dinged and ran out onto the field despite the protestations of the trainers..

QB Jason Campbell is out (knee).. He is the only active player listed..

I spoke with Santana Moss about his penchent for big games against Dallas.. Two years ago he was part of the miracle win in week two and averaged over 30 yards per catch in the two wins that year.. This season, Moss had 9-121 in the loss at Dallas.. He said there is something about playing "on the big stage against Dallas." He wouldn't go so far as to call it a coincidence that his performances against the Cowboys have been some of the best he's had in the uniform, but certainly there is something to it..

OK men..

December 26-- Biggest Game of Gibbs Second Stint?

2007-12-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

The Redskins held a walk through today shunning a full practice for the second straight Wednesday.. FB Mike Sellers is said to be "fine" and is expected to be ready for shi weekend's game against Dallas..

Cowboys coach Wade Phillips told us via conference call that WR Terrell Owens and C Andre Gurode will not be playing this Sunday against the Skins, but he would not go into more detail about how much playing time the rest of the starters would see.
On T.O., who scored 4 touchdowns against the Skins in the previous meeting earlier this year, Shawn Springs said, "It doesn't matter whether he plays or not. We have to win. They could bring Belitnikoff or Jerry Rice out from retirement, we still have to win."

Joe Gibbs called this one of the biggest if not the biggest games of his career, certainly the biggest regular season moment since his return.. He once again described this year as the toughest of his career.. He knows the importance of this meeting with Dallas, a win gets them in, a loss opens the pandoras box of questions regarding his second tenure..
Gibbs was asked a lot about dealing with the loss of Sean taylor and how the team galvanized for the rest of the season, he didn't want to take much credit for newfound energy in the building and refused to acknowledge this as one of the finest in his coaching career.. He only talked about the fragility of life and how his team has handled many forms of adversity to get to this point..

QB Todd Collins is in a contract year, asked about his future now after posting two QB ratings over 120 in the last 3 weeks, Collins repsponded, "I don't know. I'm just along for the ride, taking this thing week by week." As remarkably crazy as this may have souned a month ago, Collins might have earned himself an interesting run in free agency.. There is no word how hard the team will pursue resigning him after the season ends. I suppose we'll have to wait to see how his season ends..

DE Phillip Daniels said he believes this team likes to play with it's backs against the wall.. The Skins are 10-6 post December under Gibbs part 2, 3-1 this year and 5-1 in 2005 when the team last made the postseason..

Cowboys DE Greg Ellis wanted to give credit to Bill Parcells for this success of this team but added he believes the more laid back style of coaching administered by Wade Phillips is the other main reason the talent is reaching his potential..

Back-up C Mike Pucillo is said to not be "doing well" with an injured back.. he may be a candidate to go on IR for the rest of the season.. TE Todd Yoder is day to day with a knee injury..

QB Jason Campbell was out with the team doing some minor work on the turf as he continues to rehab a discloated kneecap.. he will not play this weekend..

OK men..

December 25-- Campbell not assured of getting his job back

2007-12-25T10:14:00.000-08:00

While there have been consistent rumors of a contract extension for Joe Gibbs as he heads into the final year of his origianl five year deal, Gibbs is denying an ESPN report that a two year extension has been offered and continues to say he wants to table all those discussions until after the season..

FB Mike Sellers appears to be doing OK thus far a day removed from suffering a concussion in the Minnesota game.. He'll be re-evaluated through the week as the Dallas game approaches..

If Jason Campbell is healthy enough to play in Seattle for the first round of the playoffs, there is no certainty he'll get his starting job back.. Joe Gibbs called Todd's "leadership the least couple of weeks a big deal." He said there is no decision to be made about who will start as Campbell has already been ruled out for the Dallas game and the Skins still figure to need to win that one to get into the postseason.. It sounds like if Collins continues to play well, he will not lose his job to a healthy Campbell..

The 12 men on the field challenge credit has been given to Todd Davis from the video department who printed a picture of the snap and counted the 12th Viking not being able to get off the field.. Also, Offensive quality control coach Bill Khayat was among the first to alert the staff that he believed the Vikings had 12 men on the field.. All Gibbs ended up hearing was what he described was a "bunch of screaming" to throw the challenge flag which he described as "the easy part."

Happy Holidays to everyone out there.. Merry Christmas and here is to a New Year in the playoffs!

December 23-- Skins are a win away from playoffs

2007-12-24T03:00:00.000-08:00

The Skins built a 22-nothing halftime lead, 25-0 third quarter advantage cruising to their most impressive victory of the season 32-21 over Minnesota.. The Redskins now control their own playoff destiny, beat Dallas at Fed Ex Field on Sunday and they will face Seattle in the first round of the playoffs..
Tampa's loss to SF means they will be the 4 seed in the NFC.. The Giants victory over Buffalo means they are solidified as the five seed and will play at Tampa in the first round..
The Skins could still make the playoffs with a loss but would need losses by New Orleans and Minnesota next week as well..

RB Clinton Portis ran and threw for scores but was in and out of the game early with cramps.. He was receiving an IV in pre-game warm-ups and did not enter the playing field until there was only 30 seconds before kickoff and the Skins were receving.. He went back into the locker room in between series twice in the first half as well.. He also tweaked an ankle when he jumped into the arms of a teammate after celebarting the touchdown pass to Antwaan Ranle El and also suffered a minor shoulder injury..

The Skins defense crowded the box and held Minnesota's rush attack, ranked number one in the league to 87 yards, 44 of which came by QB Tavaris Jackson, many of which were unplanned scrambles.. Adrian Peterson was held to 27 yards on the gorund.. The Skins used a variety of packages and flip flopped some personnel including using Andre Carter as the left defensive end and moved Phillip Daniels on the right side to face Bryant McKinnie.. The team used 8 and 9 man fronts to force Minneosta to throw..

The pivotal moment in the second half occurred when Joe Gibbs challanged a lost fumble in Redskins territory claiming the Vikings had 12 men on the field.. Minnesota was frantically trying to call a timeout before the Skins snapped the ball because they wanted to challenge a completed pass to Santana Moss.. The Skins went hurry up to get the next play off before Minnesota could get a challenge in and got it off but fumbled the snap.. The Skins then challenged and got the ball back plus an extra five yards when the video showed the Vikes did indeed have too many men on the field.. Because the fumble play had been run and that play was the one reversed, Minnesota could not then attempt to take a look at the Moss play because technically a second play had been run.. Brad Childress lost it on the refs.. Gibbs would not credit anyone in the booth in particular for telling him to challenge that play..

Injuries: FB Mike Sellars got knocked unconcious during a second half kickoff and was layed motionless for a few moments, but was OK and attempted to return to the field.. The trainers hid his helmet to force him to the sideline.. He suffered a concussion and will montiored through the week..
S Vernon Fox injured his thumb.. S Reed Doughty suffered a burner in the neck area for the second straight week but returned to the game..
LB Khary Campbell has a dislocated finger.. LB Randall Godfrey left the game with cramps and also was listed with a sprained shoulder.. G/DT Lorenzo Alexander also suffered a sprained shoulder..
DE Phillip Daniels took a shot to the groin region but returned to finish the game..

For the second time in 3 weeks, QB Todd COllins finished with a QB rating over 120 after going 22-29 254 yards and two touchdowns.. His QB rating was 124.8..
Clinton Portis got a perfect QB rating of 158.3 going 1-1 a 15 yard TD pass.. The Skins ran the halfback option for a second time when they were inside the Vikes ten but Portis pulled it down and didn't attempt the throw when he didn't see it open.. 9 different receivers caught passes..

No one dances more fervently to Rob Bass's "It Takes Two" then LB Marcus Washington who got down like a drunk 21 year old circa 1990 when the Vikings blared the jam during a second quarter timeout..

OK men..

December 20-- Buzbee was a Chief and Skin in the same day

2007-12-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

The Skins signed S Omar Stoutmire to take the roster spot of John Eubanks who was released with an injured toe.. Stoutmire was with the team in 2005, also was with them during training camp and played a couple of weeks early in the season when injuries plagued the defensive backfield..

DE Alex Buzbee was actually in Kansas City when the team told him they would sign him to their active roster to avoid him becoming a Chief.. Teams are allowed to sign other team's practice squad players as long as they sign them to their active roster.. The former team can match and hang onto the player, but they have to know about it.. Vinny Cerrato said earlier today on Redskins Radio that WR Shaun Bodiford told the Skins he had signed with Green Bay off the Skins practice squad earlier this year without informing them he was going back there in the first place..
Cerrato said he was eagerly trying to get a hold of Buzbee's agent when he found out Alex had left to sign a deal with Kansas City.. They got to Buzbee and his agent before Buzbee signed and the player told me today he was happy the Skins wanted to keep him because he wanted to stay in Washington..

Clinton Portis said he sees a little of himself in Vikings rookie Adrian Peterson who is averaging over 6 yards a carry for Minnesota.. Portis said he likes Peterson's "cockiness" and his running style which has been decsribed by some around here as "violent." Portis didn't get his first start in Denver until week 6, yet he ended up with over 1500 yards as a rookie.. Portis has found the running room not as prevalent this year then in the past, he said he has never questioned his abilities through two seasons of dealing with injuries and a lack of overall productivity in the rush game.. He said he doesn't read or listen to opinions of his play but that even if he isn't getting the yards n the ground, he "has a smile on his face as long as he is able to help the team with blocking."
Portis and Santana Moss were both back at practice after missing Wednesday sick..

Where will Lorenzo Alexander play next year? Gregg Williams said semi jokingly he isn't so sure D-line coach Greg Blatche will want to let the offensive coaches use Alexander as they did last off-season to check his skills on the line.. Cerrato said Alexander and T Stephon Heyer both have multi year deals as undrafted free agents so both appear like likely back-ups, and maybe in the case of Heyer, a starter at a cap friendly price..
Heyer is going to have to increase his lower body strength to better his run blocking, but overall, the team is very satisfied with his progression and he appears to be a big part of the future for this team..

Andre Carter said he wasn't sure he was finishing off his best season as a pro.. But he feels it may be his consistent.. Carter is a pro bowl alternate with 10.5 sacks, his career high is 12.. Carter said he did not feel snubbed by not being voted into the pro bowl, that "the only thing that matters to me is getting that ring."

OK men

Check this out, a site formed to ruin Tony Romo..

ruinromo.com

I'd love to see thousands of Jessica Simpson masks at Fed Ex Field for the regular season finale..

December 19-- Cooley, Samuels honored

2007-12-19T15:13:00.001-08:00

Both RB Clinton Portis and WR Sanatan Moss were sent home before today's walk through sick, they are expected to return tomorrow..
TE Todd Yoder is working on his ailing knee and Joe Gibbs is hoping he'll be back and ready to play the end of the week..
The team did not hold a full practice as usual on Wednesday, Gibbs felt as if the team needed more of a break after a late night win on Sunday and held only an hour long walk through without pads... The team is expected to hold a full practice tomorrow..

The team signed DE Alex Buzbee from the practice squad replacing LB Rocky McIntosh who goes on injured reserve awaiting knee surgery..
The team also released CB John Eubanks who was dealing with an infected toe..
Two new practice suqad players were signed, DE Tommy Davis (North Carolina), and LB Danny Verdun-Wheeler (Georgia)

HB Blades is expected to get his first NFL start at weak side LB to replace McIntosh.. Blades has been practicing at all 3 LB positions through the summer and the season, but has foccussed mainly at WLB in practice.. Randall Godfrey remains an option to play some snaps there but is the prime back-up to Marcus Washington on strong side..
Washington said he believes Blades will be ready stating the obvious, "everyone wants to play in the games that matter this much."

Chris Cooley said he is having his most consistent season after being named to his first pro bowl.. He was openly hoping lst week when the voting closed that he would beat out Jeremy Shockey and be the 2nd TE selected.. Cooley is 12 catches away from breaking his franchise mark for receptions by a Skins tight end that he set two seasons ago..

Chris Samuels was reflective about his career after learning he was going to Hawaii for the 6th time.. Joe Jacoby and Russ Grimm each went to 4 pro bowls.. Darrell Green I believe went to 7, few have been to more then Samuels in team history.. Samuels was thinking back to all the picks who were taken in the first round as he was back in 1999 and called himself blessed for being able to play this consistently this long..
Samuels credited Pete Kendall with helping him be able to have a pro bowl worthy season..

Joe Gibbs was asked about his record in Minneapolis, perfect including a Super Bowl victory stopping the question mid stream with a giggling response, "Don't start bringing that stuff up again. We have probably broken all those trends you guys talk about."
As far as a possible contract extension, Gibbs declined to comment saying that is best left to discuss in the off-season..

OK men..

December 17-- Giant musings, Rocky's season is over

2007-12-17T19:52:00.000-08:00

LB Rocky McIntosh suffered a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee yesterday against the Giants, he will undergo knee surgery in 2-3 weeks when swelling subsides.. There is a possibility McInotsh will not be ready when training camp begins next summer, he willbe re-evaluated when his rehab begins early next year..
There is no certainty who will take over at WLB for the season's final two games, it could be rookie HB Blades (who suffered a thumb injury but is expected to be OK), special teamer Kahry Campbell or Randall Godfrey who was Marcus Washington's replacement at SLB when Washington missed 4 of five games earlier this year with a hamstring injury..

TE Todd Yoder has a "cartilage defect" in his right knee, but is going to try to play through it with the intent of having a scope come the off-season.. He is officially day to day..

C Mike Pucillo has a degenerative disc in his back, but he is doing better and is expected to be OK for this weekend's game at Minnesota..
S Pierson Prioleau has a hamstring injury but is expected to be fine for this weekend..
S Laron Landry has a sore quad muscle, he should be available this weekend..
S Reed Doughty has a shoulder burner, he has been dealing with it for some time and should be OK for this weekend..
DT Cornelious Griffin suffered a disloacted ring finger, the team was unable to get it to stay in place during the Giants game so he played sparingly after the injury happened.. He is expected to be fine for the Vikings game..
S Vernon Fox, bruised knee, he'll be fine..
G Randy Thomas is going to have another MRI on his reinjured arm, the team will know in a couple of days what their course of action will be to get him halthy for next season..
QB Jason Campbell is said to be doing well ten days removed from dislocating his kneecap.. He does do a lot of physcial therapy, the team is hoping to help him get the soreness out, once that happens, the team will work toward building the strength in the muscles in his leg and there remaisn hope if the team makes the playoffs that he could return for the postseason..
Campbell is not expected to be placed on IR, but he has already been ruled out for the final two regular season games...

Joe Gibbs has never lost at the Metrodome, listen tomorrow to Redskins Radio from Redskins Park and hear him get mad at me for asking him about it! Of course he is building up the Vikings (who are on the ropes against Chicago as I am typing this) as the greatest team ever.. They are the league's statistical best rush team and best rush D team, so maybe he has a bit of a point..
Regardless of what happens tonight against Chicago, the Skins need to win in Minnesota. They have no shot of winning the 5 seed if they lose either one of their final two games or the Giants win one of the last two.. The easiest route is the Skins winning out and New Orleans losing once.. The team can make it as an 8-8 team, but that gets really complicated..

Gibbs said the upside for G/DT/Jumbo TE/Special Teamer Lorenzo Alexander is that at some point, "he is going to be a starter." At what position is the interesting debate.. Alexander played all of those positions against NY and likely will find a permanent back-up or starting guard role for the team come next year.. But he began his career in DC as an undersized DT.. It was the D coaches who told Joe Gibbs and Joe Bugel they should give him a look on offense during OTA's.. Now he has become one of the team's most versatile back-ups..

On the Taunting penalty by LaRon Landry, Joe Gibbs said he doesn't want to change any of Landry's aggressiveness but he said (not unlike similar issues with Sean Taylor in his first couple of years), Landry will learn form hurting his team not to make similar mistakes.. Landry took responsbility and said it was his fault for making the gesture to Plaxico Burress after laying him out in the first half on a sideline pattern.. Burress and the Skins secondary then got into a constatnt jawing session from that point forward, at one point one of the Skins coaches was alerting the refs to how much #@$! Burress was talking..

QB Todd Collins went 9-25 in his first start in ten years, he started the game 0-8 in extreme conditions but got his first win since 1997.. Complicating matters, Collins wife, who was due with their second child at the end of the month had some issues with the pregnancy and Collins left the team Friday afternoon to be with his wife.. She ended up giving birth to their second child, Jack.. Collins then returned to the team and went with them on their trip to NY.. Joe Gibbs was relating the story and said he told Dan Snyder about the issues with Todd to which Gibbs said Snyder asked him, "Which Todd?" The answer was that Todd.. Snyder gave Collins the use of his private jet to get to and from the hospital..

Clinton Portis went over 1000 yards for the fifth time in six seasons after his 3rd 100+ yard game of the season.. Portis went over 100 yards in both his games at the Meadowlands this yar saying afterward it was one of his goals to play better in NY because in recent years "I stunk up the joint." As for the milestone, Portis said it isn't something that he is concerned with as the team continues it's "Cinderella run to the playoffs."
Gibbs called Portis "one tough dude" today.. His pass blocking as usual was intense, but yesterday was devastating at times..

FB Rock Cratwright has a mohawk..

I got hit on the head by a practice punt by Derrick Frost during the seocnd half as Frost was being heckled by NY fans.. The wind and the fans ended up getting me conked!
DE Andre Carter was leading a rendition of Hail to the Redskins with the few remaining Redskin fans who stuck it out until the end and congragated behind the Skins bench as the conclusion was near.. Even coach Gregg Williams made his way over to the crowd to shake some hands before the final whistle blew..

One intoxicated fan found his way onto the Redskins bench and sat there for a good 2 minutes before anyone relaized he was there.. This was a story that was relayed to me by a player I will leave unnamed..
After the half, one team official told me as he exited the locker room, "I'm not making any promises, but we have different approach to this seocnd half, from attitude to everything. We aren't going to blow this lead." The venue, uniforms, quarterback and weather certainly were different from the week 3 game agianst the NYG, but the score was eerily similar..

T Stephon Heyer had by all accounts a good game matching up with Michael Strahan who he got into a pushing match with on a couple of occassions.. The Giants ended up with 2 sacks, they lead the league with 49..

OK men

December 14-- Here's the fake Todd Collins blog

2007-12-14T14:55:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I forgot to add it yesterday..

toddcoll15.blogspot.com

Check it out..

December 14-- Clark speaks to players

2007-12-14T14:54:00.001-08:00

Former WR Gary Clark came to practice today and spoke to the team following their practice.. Joe Gibbs said his message was about how much the former players and community care about the Redskins..

The team signed former Maryland quarterback Sam Hollenbach to the practice squad and released QB Jason Fife.. Hollenbach impressed the coaches during the OTA practices during this past off-season..

Injury report: CB John Eubanks is out (toe), QB Jason Campbell (knee) is also out.. The Skins appear as if they will enter the game with two quarterbacks on the roster with Antwaan Randle El working as the emergency third QB..
Everyone else on the injury report is probable, DT Cornelious Griffin (illness), WR James Thrash (ankle), DE Phillip Daniels (knee), C Mike Pucillo (back)..

The weather appears as if it will be horrific for the game Sunday night, wind appears to be the biggest issue with gusts possibly reaching upwards of 35-40 miles per hour.. There is more snow in the forecast for tomorrow.. Rain and sleet looks like the possible precipitation by kickoff..

December 13-- Thomas to IR

2007-12-13T15:16:00.000-08:00

G Randy Thomas was placed on IR, the team re-signed guard Rick Demulling to fill his roster spot.. Thomas completely tore his triceps muscle in week two but stayed in condition and attempted to make a comeback in the last game against the Bears.. He lasted about two series when the pain returned to his arm and he realized he would not be able to block effectively.. He is expected to undergo more tests to see how much damage is in his arm, but his season is over.. Thomas should be back to complete health by the time OTA practices resume in March..

Vinny Cerrato was on Redskins radio at Noon today and was asked about Jon Jansen's future with Stephon Heyer showing some talent at the right tackle position.. Cerrato said, "sometimes it's not always the best player who is best for you. Jansen is a big part of the leadership on this team." He was intimating that he doesn't believe Jansen's future with the team is in doubt.

Injury report: Missing practice today: QB Jason Campbell (knee), DE Phillip Daniels (knee), CB John Eubanks (toe), DT Cornelious Griffin (sick), C Mike Pucillo (back), WR James Thrash (ankle/personal)

The Giants injury report was the same as yesterday except for these changes: TE Jeremy Shockety was out of practice (stomach).. S criag Dahl (ankle) and CB Aaron Ross (hamstring) both particpated in limited practice after missing Wednesday's session..

WR Santana Moss was asked about playing in Giants Stadium, certainly a tough place for the Skins in recent years, his anser was funny though saying, "How tough is it? I don't know, When I played for the Jets, a lot of people came in and beat us. I don't think it was tough for everybody." He made sure it was known he wasn't bashing the Jets..

Line of the day from the locker room came from one unnamed player who blurted out while the medai was in there, "Headline, the major leaguers are done, they are all on dope!"

Gregg Williams credited Joe Gibbs for keeping the team together through all the adversity and having the team in position to play a meaningful game this weekend.. Asked about his secondary and all the injuries there, Williams said Laron Landry can and is working well at the free safety position vacated by Sean Taylor.. He also praised the off-season additions of depth..

December 12-- Collins smells things

2007-12-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

Todd Collins first media session as Redskins starting quarterback began with someone asking him about whether he smells everything he touches.. He admitted to liking to take a whiff of footballs.. It ended with the lovely Diane Roberts of Fox 5 saying to him:
“That’s the most I heard you talk since you came here.”
TC: “That’s because you never asked.”
DR:” I didn’t know you had that much of an accent.” (He’s from Massachusetts)
TC: “I don’t have an accent. I think you have an accent.”

Jason Campbell has called him “weird.” Others want to know why he smells things so much.. Players were yelling “Rain man” while he was answering questions. It certainly was odd.. Joe Gibbs said practice wasn’t really any different with Collins under center other then to say, “We certainly miss Jason.” Collins did admit that a number of people have come out of the woodwork to congratulate him on his performance against the Bears, “some of them from when I played Pop Warner and others I don’t know.”

Injury report: WR James Thrash (ankle) took part in a full practice for the first time since suffering a high ankle sprain almost a month ago.. He stayed after practice to work with the new QB, practice squader Jason Fife who has Hollywood worthy hair..
Those who did not participate in practice: Campbell (knee) obviously won’t play Sunday.. DE Phillip Daniels (knee) but Joe Gibbs thinks he will be OK.. CB John Eubanks (infected toe).. G Randy Thomas (elbow)
T Todd Wade did practice but is said not to be 100% yet dealing with a knee injury.. Stephon Heyer remains the starter at RT mainly based on a coaches decision..

WR Antwaan Randle-El worked some reps as the emergency third quarterback and will likely have that role for Sunday’s game against the Giants..

NYG injury report: All of these players did not practice on Wednesday: WR Plaxico Burress (ankle), S James Butler (hamstring), S Criag Dahl (ankle), CB Aaron Ross (hamstring), DE Michael Strahan (team decision), S Gibril Wilson (knee)

Joe Gibb said he doesn’t need to figure out the playoff scenarios because we the media would lay that out for him and that because of that, it will be impossible to ignore, but reminded everyone, none of it matters if they don’t beat the Giants.. Gibbs is 0-3 in NY against the Giants since his return falling by a combined scored of 75-17.. Two of the worst games his teams have played since his return came in the Meadowlands, 19-3 and 36-0 outcomes.. Gibbs did beat the Jets in NY earlier this year..

OK men..

December 12-- Here's what happened yesterday

2007-12-12T08:17:00.000-08:00

Sorry to pass this along so late, numerous appearances yesterday kept me from typing!! So here is some stuff to utilize with the sound gathered from the unusual Tuesday open locker room..

The team returned from a long weekend appearing refreshed, they did not practice yesterday, only did some treatment and film work.. Practice for the Giants rematch begins this afternoon..

I ran into Jason Campbell who called Todd Collins a “weird dude” (affectionately).. Collins, he joked (at least I think he was joking) he said takes copious notes during every meeting which one day may become a book.. Insert joke here for possible titles..
Campbell praised Collins for being someone who always makes the long meetings lighter and easier to get through.. He also echoed all the coaching sentiments saying Collins is as prepared as any back-up you would ever meet..
So Todd Collins makes his first start in 10 years this Sunday in New York..
The team inked Jason Fife, a former Saints practice squader to their practice squad as their 3rd QB.. Fife is not on the active roster which means he is currently ineligible to play on Sunday, but if the team decides to place Campbell on IR due to his knee injury, Fife could take his spot on the roster..
Campbell has a sprained MCL along with the dislocated kneecap and this week is just focusing on getting the swelling out of the region.. He likely will not play again this year unless the Skins are in the playoffs, and even that remains an if.. Right now, there is no pressure on the team make a season decision on Campbell, but if Collins or Mark Brunnel were to get hurt, that may have to change.. As of now, I’d guess, and this is a guess, the team would have only two active quarterbacks on their roster this weekend making Antwaan Randle-El the emergency 3rd quarterback..

Mike Sellers was asked about the Giants now receiving some game tape on Collins and joked that all the old video of Collins was produced before he was born.. As for the Giants and their potential game planning of Collins now that he is coming off a stellar performance against Chicago, “one half isn’t enough to get a good look at what he likes to do.”

A number of players said they are quite aware of the team’s playoff scenarios and are aware of what tiebreakers then have and what games they are in need of watching.. Pierson Prioleau said he couldn’t tear himself away form the television this past weekend watching the games.. Asked about whether the Skins should be rooting for the Cardinals or Saints this weekend when they meet, Prioleau paused, and said “I think the Cards. Right? Man there are so many different ways this could go.”

Casey Rabach said the first Giants loss was one that stayed with the team for a while and of course became the first in a trend of blown second half leads.. London Fletcher was asked about thinking back to the first meeting and he decided to have selective memory, “That was so long ago. We’ve played so many games since, it’s hard to remember.”

OK men..

December 10-- Back at PARK, Gibbs on Skins Radio

2007-12-10T13:30:00.000-08:00

The players had one final day off before returning to prepare for the 3 game finale with playoffs very much on the mind.. The Skins-Vikings game on december 23rd has been moved to the Sunday night game.. This one likely will determine the fate of these teams for the NFC's final playoff spot.. The Vikings are the only team ahead of Washington currently in the standings.. Winning out by New Orleans would all but end the Skins chances of stealing the final spot..

I saw Jason Campbell today, he was assisted by crutches, he remains in a lot of pain.. Joe Gibbs said he doesn't know whether Campbell will have a chance to play again this season.. That decision may be made by tomorrow to determine if the Skins want to add another QB or different player to the roster and place Campbell on IR..

Gibbs called this season, "the toughest of my career and that is a long time." There has been some immense adversity this team has had to fight through, from injury to tragedy etc..

I asked Gibbs about his perception of the media coverage of Sean taylor's murder which has been praised and bashed on a number of different levels.. There was an intersting piece in SI this week regaring the coverage which focussed mainly on a piece by Len Shapiro of the Washington Post which used a headline the day after the shooting that said there "should be no surprise" that this happened to Taylor..
Gibbs said he did not read what was said but had "heard through others in the building" about some of the immediate reaction and hopes "some people would apologize for making a mistake."

G Randy Thomas is day to day with an arm injury.. he did not reinjure his repaired triceps but the strength in the arm needed for him to be effective just was not there..

The team returns tomorrow for a film session and begins practice for the Giants on Wednesday..

OK men.,.

December 9-- Sunday storytime

2007-12-09T12:24:00.001-08:00

QB Jason Campbell will be out likely through the rest of the season.. The good news is that he will not be undergoign surgery on his knee.. The diagnosis is a displaced kneecap, which is going to be painful and likely will result in him not playing again this season, but there is apparently little to no damage to the patella tendon and there is little to no ligament damage.. So, what could have been a devastating injury seems to be one that won't be long lasting, but it does mean Todd Collins will have to take this team to the playoffs..

By the sound of the callers to our shows since Thursday's game, there appears to be a growing contingent now to be referred to as the Insane Todd Collins Posse.

Those who know my work know I won't pull punches with the Skins and try to tell it like it is.. Thursday's game was inspiring though and I think worth praising this team for..
Check out these stories: RB Clinton Portis ate some fried shrimp "from PF Changs" in the parking lot before enterring the stadium.. He threw up four times obviously suffering from food poisoning.. He played anyway and had the big offensive play of the game, a 54 yard screen pass inside the Bears 5..

CB Fred Smoot suffered severe cramps and began throwing up blood.. The team carted him into the locker room where they hooked him up to IV's.. While watching the fourth quarter and seeing his team possibly blow another late lead, Smoot asked the trainers to go get him something, when they left the room, he ripped the IV's out of his arm and ran back out onto the field and told Gregg Williams he was playing..

CB Shawn Springs gathered his own equipment out of the back.. The equipment manager did not set up his pads or jersey pre-game because he wa snot expected to play with a back injury, but determined to test it in pre-game, Springs went out, said he felt good enough and got his own pads out and ended up with two interceptions..

QB Todd Collins had thrown 27 passes in ten years combined, he had 20 attempts the other night completing 15 and ending with a QB rating of 144, 9 points away from a perfect QB rating..

TE Chris Cooley suffered a bruised shin, went in for X-Rays, when they came back negative, he returned and finished the game..

T Chris Samuels told trainers he had a bruning pain in his foot and was uncertain whether he'd be able to go.. If he didn't play, the team would have had to move Stephon Heyer to right tackle, Jason Fabini to left and Lorenzo Alexander to guard becuase that's all they had left.. Samuels played anyway and pancaked two players on the Portis catch and run..

This team probably won't make the playoffs (in my opinion of course) but considering the immense adversity of the past couple of weeks, the injuries of the season and in particular Thursday night, and the public ridicule their head coach was receiving this past week, I'd like to take this Sunday off to say this team made me very proud of them.. That was a great great win under extreme pressure..

OK men

December 6-- Campbell Hurt, Collins shines in Skins win

2007-12-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

QB Jason Campbell suffered a dislocated patella (kneecap) and will be re-evaluated today when he undergoes an MRI.. Initial reports suggested there was no ligament/tendon damage (at least significant enough) to believe this will be a long recovery.. But more will be known today..

QB Todd Collins threw 20 passes and completed 15 ending with a 144 QB rating (perfect is 158.3) as the Skins ended their four game skid topping Chicago 24-16.. Collins was credited by teammates and coaches for his preparation which all attributed to his ability to play seamlessly.. Collins had not thrown a pass in a regular season game in 3 years and had combined to make 27 attempts in the past ten years combined.. Joe Gibbs called it the best performance off the bench by a back-up QB he’s ever been a part of..
The team was much more aggressive throwing on first downs in the fourth quarter with a 4 point lead.. Al Saunders said the play calling had little to do with what happened in recent weeks losing close games and failing to hold leads.. He did credit Collins for knowing his system so well that he felt comfortable putting Collins in the position to win the game instead of just trying to hang on..

Other injuries: G Randy Thomas returned for the first time since week 2 wearing a bulky arm brace to protect his repaired triceps, but he left in the first half with what the team was calling an elbow injury to the same arm.. He’ll be re-evaluated today..
T Todd Wade was inactive, no injury reported, rookie Stephon Heyer started in his place..

DE Phillip Daniels suffered a sprained knee in the 4th quarter, he will get an MRI today..
RB Clinton Portis played through an illness and suffered a hand injury as well..
TE Chris Cooley suffered a bruised shin but returned to play..

CB Fred Smoot left the field with severe cramping where he was vomiting blood.. Smoot was carted off and given fluids via IV, but Smoot took the IV’s out when the game got close in the 4th quarter and returned to the field.. Smoot is expected to be examined by a doctor to make sure there is nothing more serious wrong with him..

CB Shawn Springs showed up last night and his locker did not have his gear in it, a surefire sign that the team was going to deactivate him due to a back injury he suffered in the Bills game.. But Springs said Cornelious Griffin told him pre-game that they needed him and so Springs told coaches Gregg Williams and Jerry Gray that he was going to take part in pre-game warmups, afterward, he took some “Advil” and apprised the team he was planning on playing.. So Springs went into the training room and retrieved his own equipment (the team places pads and uniforms in the players lockers prior to their arrival for those who will be active).. he ended up with two interceptions, the first leading to the first score of the game late in the second quarter.. The team had a combined one pick in their previous six games…

Most of the players and coaches I spoke with said the energy level and emotional level was back on par with a typical game day.. Many said the win was in honor of Sean Taylor.. There was a major change in attitude after the funeral and through the short and not exactly thorough preparation, the team seemed to have put a lot of the ill feelings about the Taylor tragedy to rest..

There is a rumor out there that the Redskins as a team are being fined for wearing a black “21” patch on their jersey, similar to the one worn by all teams on their helmets.. The league is strict about it’s uniform rules.. This one in my opinion, if true, is way to strict..

Two men ran onto the field of play last night and had to be apprehended by security.. The second was as the game ended in the end zone near the players tunnel, he put up little fight.. The first guy though was strong as an ox.. This dude ran onto the field and bumped into one of the Bears players.. It took 8 security officials to get him off the field and even though they were carrying him by all fours, the man was consistently able to free himself.. If I wasn’t overly worried about mental instability, I’d say this dude needs to get a workout by the team..

The team will be off until Tuesday..

More on Campbell later today..

OK men

December 5-- Should the ref have helped Gibbs?

2007-12-05T18:56:00.000-08:00

The team did not hold a walk through today due to the inclement weather.. The fields needed to be plowed to actually have a session and the team ultimately elected not to do so..
Thus, the Redskins will play a game against Chicago where they essentially did not hold one full practice since Sunday.. Joe Gibbs decided to scale back the one day where the team was to hold a full practice (Tuesday) based mainly on the team's need to recover from the game Sunday..

The mood has been definitively different this week as the days pass since the shooting death of Sean taylor.. The media was allowed into the locker room for the first time since Taylor was shot on Tuesday.. His locker (as it is at Fed Ex Field as well) has been enclosed in plexiglass with his pads and uniforms in tact.. Clinton Portis said it remaisn tought to have his locker next to Taylor's and said "nothing is completely back to normal yet." But the mood has been different ever since Monday's funeral.. many of the people I talked to that were on the team plane from Miami said the mood was much more upbeat then from the flight down.. The 3 hour service appears to have been cathartic for most..

Joe Gibbs was asked publicly for the first time whether he will be honoring his contract and staying for a fifth year after his team's fourth straight loss on Sunday.. Gibbs said he is not changing his stance from what he has said in the past, and that being he is going to fufill his contract which is for 5 years, this is year 4..
Gibbs continued to publicly admonish himself for making a mistake by calling a second time out at the end of the Bills game, and refused to allow any of the blame to be shifted to the referree who he had discussed his intentions to..
Gibbs said he doesn't feel as if he could ever take too much of the responsibility when it comes to the team's successes or failures...

I spoke with a number of different people about the ref and his obligation to explain the ramifications of Gibbs making that call.. It was mixed, Joe Bugel admitted "everyone wants Joe Gibbs to be perfect. He's not. But nobody works harder at the game of football then Joe." Jason Campbell said he believes the ref should have told Joe what would happen if he called the timeout but admitted that because of his inexperience, he doesn't get explanations from refs everytime he asks either.. "When you've been around like a guy like Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, refs are more apt to listen." Asked whether Gibbs has earned enough respect to get that type of treatment, Campbell responded "definitely."
Clinton Portis was fair about it saying "look at it from the other team's view. If they tell him that, the other team is going to want to know why they told him that. Who knows?"
Bears coach Lovie Smith stuck up for Gibbs to, "I couldn't tell you how many mistakes I make every game."

The Redskins never did ask for a petition to change the Thursday game despite the tragedy a week ago.. Lovie Smith reiterated the Bears would have done anything to accomodate the Skins..

Injury Report: G Randy Thomas (triceps) wearing an arm brace and listed as probable appears as if he will be active for the first time since injuring his arm in week 2.. WR James Thrash (ankle) is out.. RB Clinton Portis (shoulder) probable.. WR Antwaan Randle-El (hamstring) probable.. FB Mike Sellers (back) probable.. CB Shawn Springs (back) questionable..

Joe Gibbs did say there was one time in his career when he chose not to kick to a return man because he deemed that player too dangerous, but it was only after he learned his lesson the hard way.. Gibbs said once back in the '80's special teams coach Wayne Sevier told him he wanted to kick to Chicago's Willie Gault (a track star/WR) to show Chicago they could stop him.. First kick, Gault goes 103 yards for a touchdown.. Gibbs fired at Sevier, "I said I've seen enough and we didn't kick it to him again." So will the Skins take their chances with Devin Hester? The way Gibbs talked about it, expect them to be extremely careful..
The Skins are ranked 22nd in KO return average by the opposition, but that number is skewed, 2 yards fewer per return and they would be top 10.. The team is the best in the league at punt return average allowed, under 6..

OK, must win time..

New Blog I've been working on

2007-12-04T08:28:00.001-08:00

I'm having a little fun on my new blog hennydangerfield.blogspot.com

Hope you all can check it out and let me know what you think..

Bram

December 3-- Team en route back from Taylor funeral

2007-12-03T13:23:00.001-08:00

I stayed in DC to host our local coverage of Sean Taylor's funeral proceedings in Miami.. It was approximately a 3 hour service that featured eulogies from current teammate Clinton Portis and former Skin LaVar Arrington..
His collegiate roomate Buck Ortega told some humorous stories..

Joe Gibbs spoke for the team as well, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke for the league.. And Taylor's girlfriend's sister was weeping as she thanked Sean for showing her how to love someone and leaving her with the gift of her niece..

Arrington was particularly interesting calling Taylor his "guardian angel," and offering him some perspective on his life affording the opportunity to say to his former teammates, "something I should have said years ago, which is that I love you all."

Gibbs invoked God numerous times saying Sean remaisn in a better place and that the path to eternity lies within a relationship with Jesus Christ which Gibbs believed he had..

Reverend Jesse Jackson sat next to Taylor's father Pedro and spoke eloquently about the need to curb gun violence in America.. "We are slow learners. we are ina hole looking for a shovel and we need a rope. We are all the safety now. NFL players, you must stand between communities and help stop the violence."

Ortega shared stories of immense athletic prowess by Taylor.. He recalled a story where Taylor dove to the floor of a lake when spear fishing with him and Taylor's inability to need to get his equilibrium back, "that was the first time I thought this guy might not be fully human." Ortega said Taylor used to leap over defenders while they stood straight up.. Ortega said when he tried to do that, helmets would strike him in the chest..

Clinton Portis revelaed that Taylor was a very happy person, always smiling and always talking about topics that were off the wall..
Agent Drew Rosenhaus wrote a series of "Thank you's.." to Taylor..

The Honorable Otis Wallace, mayor of Florida City Florida spoke to the media saying some should be ashamed of themselves for perceiving that Taylor was a victim by circumstances he made.. "I hope the media learns a lesson in grace and humility." he then called the Redskins a class organization to which the assembled crowd gave them a standing ovation..

The Skins returned on a plane together after the ceremony which ended around 2:30PM and will have their lone practice day in preparation for the Bears tomorrow..

OK men..

December 2-- Skins fall 17-16 as they honor Sean Taylor

2007-12-02T19:36:00.001-08:00

The Redskins were not on the field for a 4 minute tribute video aired on the big screen in each end zone of Fed Ex Field featuring highlights and interviews of former Skins safety Sean taylor.. Fans waved white towels with the #21 on them and a large placard in the end zone opposite featured Taylor's name..

The Redskins first defensive play only had ten defensive players on the field.. The end result was a Bills run that gained 22 yards.. Joe Gibbs was unaware that the Skins would do that, something that the defsnsive staff and players agreed to do Saturday night.. Gibbs refused comment on it until he had spoken with Williams about it, which at the time of the post game media conference had not occurred.. When I spoke with Gregg, he said he had spoken to Gibbs about it and he wasn't upset.. The Bills were not told that the Redskins would do this thus did not oblige the moment by either sacrificing a play or letting a delay of game penalty occur as was rumored..

CB Fred Smoot said he was crying during some early series in the game and was visibly shaken during pre-game and post game following a heartbreaking 17-16 loss.. Taylor's locker was enclosed in plexiglass with his uniform and pads in it.. It was a difficult reminder for some who said it was hard not to notice the memorial in the locker room..

Joe Gibbs made a huge mistake at the end of the game with Buffalo by attempting to use consecutive timeouts to ice kicker Ryan Lindell who was lining up for a game winning field goal with under ten seconds to play.. By rule, you cannot call consecuitve timeouts to ice a kicker.. Gibbs was consulting one of the referees before calling the timeouts.. The first one was used right as the Bills were preparing to snap the ball, Lindell made the 51 yard field goal but because of the timeout, he was forced to line up again.. Oddly, Gibbs had said earlier in the season he wasn't going to utilize this form of gamesmanship but obviously chnaged his mind as the season progressed..
Gibbs was talking to the ref, he said he believed the official told him it was OK to use the second timeout.. When it was called, the Bills went nuts demanding a penalty which they got, a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct call.. This made the Lindell attempt 36 yards, which he hit handily..
Gibbs took the blame for the game telling the team and the media it does not mater what he believes the ref told him, he didn't know the rule..

Injuries: T Todd Wade bruised his knee and missed a couple of plays but returned to finish the game.. CB Shawn Springs suffered a bruised lower back in the first half, returned to play most of that half but played sparingly in the second half.. He said he belives he will be fine to play Thursday against the Bears..

I talked to one player who said he was happy that those who broke into Taylor's house and ultimately shot him were in custody, "only if the right guys were arrested. I do feel bad for them too not to have enough sense not to do something like that."

The team will fly early tomorrow morning to Miami to attend Taylor's funeral then will return to Redskins Park later in the afternoon.. There is only scheduled day of practice before the Bears game, Tuesday..

The Redskins defense hasn't given up a touchdown in 7 quarters but is 0-2 in those games.. When asked about the timeout gaffe, Gregg Williams said he was more dissapointed by the 33 yard pass play from Trent Edwards to Josh Reed that enabled the Bills to be in field goal range for the final chance to win.. Reed getting the ball in the deep middle of the field was one final reminder who the team was missing back there..

OK men..

November 30-- 4 men arrested in Florida

2007-11-30T18:29:00.001-08:00

It appears as if Sean taylor was the victim of random burglury.. Four men were arrested by Miami police today with charges pending following the homocide of Safety Sean Taylor..

Police say the men who's ages range from 17-26 knew that this was Taylor's home but did not expect him to be there and intimated that the group didn't go there to kill anyone but only to rob the house..
They encountered Taylor who was protecting his fiance and young child who were unharmed in the incident..

More to follow as the days progress I'm sure..

November 30--Final prep for emotional game with Bills

2007-11-30T14:49:00.000-08:00

Injury list: Out for Sunday, WR James Thrash (ankle), FB Mike Sellers (back).
Questionable: G Randy Thomas (triceps) who has made it sound like it is more likely he will return for the Bears or Giants games, but is a possibility.. WR Antwaan Randle-El (hamstring) who was limited in Friday's practice..
Probable: Wr Santana Moss (heel), G Pete Kendall (ankle), RB Clinton Portis (soreness), DT Cornelious Griffin (foot) all took part in full practice..

Out for the Bills this weekend: RB Marshawn Lynch and Anthony Thomas.. Also DE Chad Kelsay..
QB Trent Edwards starts in place of JP Losman..

Joe Gibbs said he the team would be happy to hear the news of 3 men detained for questioning in Florida related to the Sean Taylor homicide.. Two teens and one 26 year old were in police custody as invesitigators continue to search for the assailiants who broke into Taylor's home late Sunday and fatally shot the Redskins safety.. There have been charges filed as of the time that I am writing this..

The team has opened a trust fund in the name of Taylor to benefit his one and a half year old daughter who survived the attack.. You can get all the details of where you can send donations to that on Redskins.com..

For Sunday, a four minute tribute will be shown on the jumbotron during pre-game of the Skins-Bills game.. All those in attendence will receive #21 towels.. The team will not be selling Sean taylor merchandise at their stores on the Fed Ex premises on gameday.. Taylor's name also will be prominently displayed in one of the end zones during the game.. A Moment of silence will take place at every NFL stadium as it did prior to the Cowboys-Packers game Thursday night.. Dallas by the way was one of the first teams to call the Redskins and ask for the 21 stickers to adorn on their helmets to honor Taylor.. Deion Sanders wore a sticker last night on the NFL network postgame show following the game on his left lapel.. By the way, his interview with Terrell Owens following the game was phenominal including asking him why he made a postgame speech while not wearing a shirt and got T.O. to give him a "I love me some me," quote..
Rich Eisen asked an asinine question of "Are you the best team in the NFL?" T.O. responded politically but consiering there is an undefeated team still at large and that team happened to beat Dallas by 21 in Texas Stadium, I think it's safe to say that as of right now, we know who the best team in the league is.. Dallas is good though..

Gibbs was uncertain how his team will play this weekend only to praise the professionalism his players exhibited during what can be easily described as the worst week possible at Redskin Park..
This should be one unique atmosphere for Sunday..

Lastly, I would like to personally thank the many thoughts and opinions expressed to me via e-mail or through this blog during what was easily the most difficult week of my sports broadcasting career.. I got out of covering news because I wasn't interested in dealing with tragedy on a daily basis.. In the unique position I am as a reporter with a higher level of acces to the team, this was remarkably hard to deliver informative and cohesive broadcasts throughout the week..
Many of you sent very kind thoughts of the job myself, Larry, Kevin and the rest of the Redskins Radio crew did.. Some felt we were too insensitive at times.. The majority said we were able to help with the grieiving process and I can't thank you enough for those types of words of encouragement.. It truly meant a lot to hear from so many different fans and listeners durign a trying time..
Also, there Redskins PR staff often gets overlooked in terms of how instrumental they are in hel;ing us provide the coverage of the team on a daily basis.. This week, they did an extraordinary job of handling the crush of demands with grace and patience amid the most grim of days.. They deserve credit for helping us gain access to those who affected closely so they could share their thoughts with you through me and the other media members this week..

We have a very special pre-game show ready for Sunday's game with Buffalo, we hope you can tune in to Redskins Radio at 10AM through kickoff.. 94.3 FM, 92.7 FM, 730 AM..

As usual, you can always e-mail me directly at bram@bramshow.com

OK men..

November 29-- Moss, Portis and Williams all speak on Taylor

2007-11-29T19:55:00.001-08:00

Those who were closest to Sean Taylor spoke today at the Park as emotions continued to run very high.. Clinton Portis said Taylor has shied away mainly from being in the media spotlight because he'd "been burned too many times," by coverage saying Taylor had explained himself so many times when indescretions were highlighted by media coverage.. When I asked Santana Moss why Taylor didn't want to reveal himself to us he succintly said, "Look what's being said about him on TV." Gregg Williams echoed the sentiments saying Taylor was "all about trust and if you broke that trust you would have to chip away for a long time before you could regain it."
The message from the Park remained that Taylor was a person who was changing his life and that the mistakes he made were ones that anyone could have made.. Williams said, "How about you tell me what you did when you were 16 years old and I tell everyone else." Moss echoed that sentiment saying "everyone, including you have things in your past you wouldn't want people to know about."

Portis said he is not going to change his number to 21 as was intimated earlier in the week.. He said he is "not Sean Taylor and don't want the fans to think of me as playing on that level." Portis remains very outwardly upset by the events of the last few days but remained very strong during the media session which lasted about 10 minutes..

Gregg Williams said he has heard about the rumors that the Redskins would start the game with ten players as an homage to Taylor but said the team has had no discussions about doing that..
The league has told the Redskins their Thursday night home game next week against Chicago will go on as scheduled.. As far as I know the Skins have not petitioned the league to change the date due to the events of the this week and the plans to send the entire team down to Florida for Monday's funeral..
The public will have a chance to view Sean taylor's body prior to the funeral in the morning at Florida International University.. The funeral itself is open to the public despite limited seating at 11AM..

Reed Doughty is expected to start in the place of Taylor on Sunday as he has in the past two games while Taylor was nursing a knee injury.. He said despite the emotions, nothing changes in terms o his role on the field..

Jason Campbell and Chris Sauels both described practice and the overall atmosphere at Redskins park as much more of a releif today then yesterday when the practice was frighteningly quiet and solemn..

Portis was asked about comments made by Cardianls CB Antrell Rolle who has known Taylor since he was six.. Rolle intimated that he did not believe Taylor's murder was random saying a number of ex-friends were jealous of him and that Taylor was scared to return to Miami.. Portis said Rolle knew Taylor longer and had no information that Taylor was a target nor even knew Taylor's house was burglurized the week prior or that Taylor had returned to Miami that weekend.. Moss said he knew nothing of Taylor's fear (through the words of Rolle) either..

Moss shared a story that Taylor once told him he wanted to cover him in practice and he said he was shocked at how close he was able to stay with him saying he was the closest any safety ever came to sticking with him.. Taylor was decsribed in the words of Moss as this team's "Ronnie Lott."

The injury report only had two changes, RB Clinton Portis did return to limited practice and G Pete Kendall returned to full practice.. G Randy Thomas practiced for a second straight day and said not to rule him out for Sunday.. Current belief was that they are targeting Thursday's game for Thomas's return from a torn triceps muscle in week 2, but we'll see how the tomorrow goes..
Bills RB's Marshawn Lynch (ankle) and Anthony Thomas (calf) are both out for Sunday's game..

Ok men..

November 28-- More on the day after

2007-11-28T19:30:00.001-08:00

The team has signed WR Jimmy Farris to take the roster spot of Sean Taylor.. Also the team elevated LB Matt Sinclair from the practice squad.. T Kevin Sampson was released.. WR Burl Toler was signed back to the practice squad to replace Sincalir..

Injury list from Wednesday.. Out of practice: RB Clinton Portis (general soreness), DT Cornelious Griffin (foot), G Pete Kendall (ankle), FB Mike Sellers (back), WR James Thrash (ankle)..
Limited in practice: WR Santana Moss (heel), WR Antwaan Randle-El (hamstring)..
G Randy Thomas (triceps) took part in full practice, there was no word whether he would be able to play this weekend..

The Bills injury list is lengthy, among the most notable: DE Chris Kelsay (ankle), RB Marshawn Lynch (ankle), WR Roscoe Parrish (illness), TE Robert Royal (ankle), S Donte Whitner (player decision).. All were held out of practice...

Following practice today, a strangely quiet practice (under the circumstances it was understandable) we heard our first contact with players who were willing to speak with the media.. DE Phillip Daniels fought back tears as he sturggled with the idea of "not having Sean taylor in the huddle anymore."
London Fletcher was particularly poignant and strong (he has dealt with an adverse ammount of tragedy in his life) and said that he had "wished people got to know the Sean Taylor we got to know in the locker room." Lb Marcus Washington shared his memories sying Sean was a very patient and gentle man.. He said that when he would introduce Taylor to his family and friends that Sean was often very kind to his kids and that often people would ask him afterward, "Is that really Sean Taylor?"

Fletcher said "nothing was normal about today," that it was very difficult to focus during practice and meetings.. Joe Gibbs said the day never began to have a semblence of normalcy but he did feel as if "once the team got back to work, things began to feel better."

The players said Taylor's fiance Jackie spoke about how much you must embrace life because it can be too short.. Pedro Taylor also shared with the players how much he enjoyed being part of their team and how much his teammates meant to him..

There was a story floating about how Taylor (with a sprained knee) rode his bike for 30 miles while in Florida as he continued to recover form his injury while not with the team.. Marcus spoke of Taylor being a person who even if his workouts and preparation were done, was someone who would join him if he was about the continue his prep work.. Taylor's work ethic was a point of emphasis today as well..

RB Clinton Portis, WR Santana Moss and the bulk of his secondary teammates declined to speak today many of them too broken up to sare their thoughts.. We will see how tomorrow goes in that regard..

Every player I spoke to said they wanted to play this weekend for Sean because thats what he would have wanted..
I saw owner Dan Snyder today and expressed our concern and shared sorrow for the loss.. Joe Gibbs remained very strong in the face of the adversity, he called the day unique and continued to express that the team is "living hour by hour."

Until tomorrow..
Bram

November 28-- Team is back at practice but remains silent

2007-11-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

The team is on the practice field as we speak, RB Clinton Portis is in street clothes but on the field, there is no reason yet given for his absence from practice..
It is eerily quiet on the field and to be honest it’s like following a room of zombies today.. In fact while watching the early moments of practice, you could hear the lifts that hold the camermen who film the session.. The only thing audible to the sideline was coaches orders, a rarity..
No players spoke during the open locker room session which was changed from it’s normal format of opening the actual locker room.. Players were asked to come up to the media room but none elected to do so at this point.. Joe Gibbs will address us after practice..

Chaplain Brett Fuller was part of the team meeting that took place this morning, Pedro Taylor, father of Sean, the fiancée and other family members attended.. Taylor spoke to the team for approximately 8-10 minutes and told them he wants the team to play and win the rest of their games to make the playoffs because that’s what Sean would have wanted..
Gibbs and owner Dan Snyder both spoke to the team as well although their sentiments and the more private moments have yet to be revealed..

Former Kicker John Hall was here to see teammates for support.. He said he has been unable to cope with the aftermath of the tragedy himself and wanted to check in on his former teammates..

Two conference calls with the Bills went on as scheduled, Coach Dick Jauron said his team has addressed the Taylor issue and that his heart goes out to the Redskins organization as well..
Former Skins guard Derrick Dockery said he has spoken to former teammates including Chris Samuels over the last 48 hours and said he has been affected by the tragedy as well.. He intimated that he believes the Redskins will want to play in light of the death of Taylor saying he knows that’s what Sean would want.. He also echoed a number of sentiments issued by those who knew Sean Taylor crediting him for becoming a better person over the last couple of years and said Taylor was not “making the same mistakes he used to on the field and off of it.”

I’ll have more as the day progresses.. The media horde is larger then the one that was here yesterday..

Bram

November 27-- The Day at Redskins Park after the Taylor tragedy

2007-11-27T17:32:00.000-08:00

I guess I'm not even sure where to begin to describe the scene at Redskins Park on what ended up being a extraordinarily tragic day.

The team began the process of unfurling a black cloth over the "Washington Redskins" sign at the front of the building, they never actually covered the sign but the message was obvious..
Jason Campbell was one of the two players who addressed the media. Due to the large number of reporters at Redskins Park, his statement was given outside the building and he did not take questions. Still, within his :90 he nearly broke down in tears and when he was about to lose his compsoure, the Redskins staff member who escorted him ended the statement.. Reed Doughty also spoke of the impact of losing a teammate at the age of 24..

Dan Snyder and Joe Gibbs held a press conference together to discuss their experiences of the past two days and where the team goes from here.. Snyder was outwardly distraught speaking of how porud he was of "the man" Sean Taylor was becoming. He was guarded in terms of discussing the intimate discussions he had with the family and other league officials..

As of now, the two home games scheduled for the next ten games will go forward as planned, but I did ask Gibbs if he wanted to play this weekend, he took a long pause and said "sometimes you are obligated to do things you might not want to do." The team is scheduled to return toi the practice field tomorrow and the locker room is scheduled to be open as usual so we shall see how the bulk of the team responds as they attempt to prepare for the game with Buffalo..

Gibbs and Snyder both emphasized Taylor's growth as a person more so then what his talents were on the field.. Gibbs said Taylot had become more religious in recent months attending "every chapel service" and said he believes that through his relationship with "the Lord he is now in a better place." Gibbs again cited the birth of his now 18 month old daughter as the integral moment that may have changed Taylor for the better..

Clinton Portis reportedly wants to change his number to 21 for the rest of the season. I'm uncertain if he will be allowed to do so.. The team will wear a patch on their jersey and stickers on their helmets to memorialize Taylor.. Over 60 stickers were expected to be shipped to Dallas after the Cowboys called wanting to honor Taylor by wearing the stickers on their helmets for their Thursday night game against Green Bay. Snyder said that every team in the league may end up doing the same..

There was pure grief prevalent throughout the building, team officials hugging each other after staff meetings.. I lost it myself a few times, even on the air.. As I was leaving the Park, at least 300 people had gathered for a candlelight vigil in honor of Taylor and two memorials were being set up for fans to express their sorrow, one near the Hall of Fame store at Fed Ex Field and another painted number 21 in a grassy section on the property at Redskin park outside the main gate.. Funeral arrangements were no clear at the time that I am writing this but the team is hopeful to go as a group to Florida to attend.. It will obviously be dependent on schedule..

Gibbs said he had no further knowledge as to why Taylor had returned to Miami for a second straight week but said Taylor was not breaking a team policy by leaving on Sunday despite his injured status.. He did not go with the team to Tampa due to a sprained knee suffered in the Philadelphia game..

I think it is worth emphasizing the INCREDIBLE job Kevin Sheehan did this afternoon on the radio.. Gary Braun, Riggo, Larry Michael, Chris Johnson, Brian Corson, Tod Castleberry, everyone involved today with dealing with this subject was beyond professional and extremely compelling. IT was an honor to work alongside everyone at Redskins Radio today and couldn't be more proud of my colleagues.. Having hosted extended coverage of tragedy (maybe not this severe before) I can't explain to you from the broadcasters point of view how mentally taxing it can be to disseminate the information in a deliberate and forthcoming manner, in that regard, Kevin was extraordinary..

Here's to better days..

Bram

November 27-- Sean Taylor Dies

2007-11-27T04:04:00.000-08:00

After a night where his family and friends discussed "positive signs" and a "Ray of hope" after Sean Taylor responded to some simple directions from a doctor in Miami, the Redskins safety passed away early this morning from complications resulting from a single gun shot wound that severed a main artery in his leg..

We'll have more as the morning progresses...

November 26-- Taylor Update

2007-11-26T19:17:00.001-08:00

VP of football operations Vinny Cerrato said Sean Taylor was able to respond to some simple commands including sqeezing a nurse's hand and some eye movement as his recovery from a gunshot wound continues..

He remains in intensive care in critical condition at a Miami hospital after a run-in with an armed assailaint or assailaints last night.. It was the second time his home was broken into in less then 8 days..
Joe Gibbs said Taylor alerted him to an incident where his house was burglurized 8 days ago and went to Miami to work with the police and clean the place up.. A knife was reportedly found on his bed..

Taylor's lawyer and family friend Richard Sharpstein told us that he is not sure whether the incidents were coincidental, he also told us he turned over files from a case two years ago when Taylor's car was shot at after he attempted to retrieve stolen ATV vehicles.. Taylor was called a "victim" of the events that night by Sharpstein, but charges of felony aggravated assault were dropped to misdemeanors when a attention seeking D.A. was exposed.. Abd he admitted there could be a connection to the people who were involved in that incident calling them "very dangerous people."

Gibbs said he did not know that Taylor was returning to Miami this weekend and typically players who are injured and receiving treatment stay in Washington when they don't make the team trip to an away game.. Taylor was with his girlfriend and 1 and half year old child during the incident last night but they were unharmed.. ..
Taylor may have had a mchete in his hands for self defense when the intruders barged in.. The shooting took place in or near his bedroom when the assailiants according to Sgarpstein kicked in the door when he tried to lock them out..

So there is what is being described as a "ray of hope," as his recovery continues..

A vigil was held by some fans last night at Redskins park and the contingent of Dan Snyder, Bubba Tyer, Clinton Portis and Cerrato as of when I was writing this were still in Miami..

November 26-- Taylor Update

2007-11-26T19:17:00.000-08:00

November 26-- Sean Taylor in Critical Condition

2007-11-26T11:24:00.000-08:00

Here's what I know: Sean Taylor was shot at least once in his leg at or around 1:45AM last night at a home he owns in Palmetto Bay an incorporated community in Mimai.. A bullett severed the femoral artery in his leg, a main artery and Taylor lost copious ammounts of blood..
He was airlifted to a Miami area hospital where he underwent 6 hours of surgery.. And as of the time of writing this, he is in critical condition..

Owner Dan Snyder along with other members of the organization, from players to front office are heading to Miami now to be with the friends and family of Taylor..

Critical is the operative word here, a couple of players said they had heard that Taylor was in a coma following the surgery.. Others say they had heard his condition was "stabilizing."

Joe Gibbs has yet to address the media, Snyder did giving only a statement saying he had no new information only that "our hearts and prayers go out to Sean and his family."

Clinton Portis was virtually in tears speaking about Taylor, " everyone knows the changes Sean endured. He was a new Sean when he had his daughter. He changed his life, he changed his attitude, he wa sone of the best teammates you could have."

Gregg Williams had been touting Taylor as not only the best athlete he has coached, but a player who had matured to become of the leaders of this defense.. Chris Samuels said that he "had talked to coach Gibbs a few weeks back about how much Sean had matured."

Taylor was aloof with the media, he didn't trust us, including myself, I rarely if ever spoke to him. He declined practically every interview request from just about anyone who covered the team. But his teammates had spoken up for him in recent weeks saying what kind of teammate he'd become, how much repsonsibility he'd taken on about his profession as a football player and how the birth of his daughter really changed his attitude and outlook on life..

The team was apprised as a whole this morning when Joe Gibbs and the team's chaplain addressed the group and held a team prayer.
It is believed that Santana Moss's mother is with the family at the Miami hosopital and she has been giving updates to the team throughout the morning and into the afternoon, but nothing I have heard has been substanatiated to the point where I feel comfortable reporting it..
What's clear is the next 24 hours is critical in every sense of the word..

November 25-- Skins drop to 5-6 after falling in Tampa 19-13

2007-11-25T19:55:00.000-08:00

There goes the best 5 and 6 team ever.. Kidding, sort of..

6 turnovers turns out to be one too many as Washington falls to Tampa Bay 19-13.. They allowed 16 first half points on four fumbles, three recovered inside the Redskins 20 yard line.. Jason Campbell threw 2 late game interceptions, (numbers 2 and 3 if counting from last week) that prevented the team from possibly scoring the game winning touchdown.. The first was grabbed by Ronde Barber who was covering Keenan McCardell in the slot, the throw was to Santana Moss on an out.. Barber went inside McCardell and jumped the route, bottom line, he made a nice play.. The second throw was a bad one in the back of the end zone with under a minute to play down six picked by Brian Kelly..

Campbell wasn't as publicly dismayed by the loss as he was a week ago in Dallas but by all accounts continues to take the late game failures pretty hard.. All of his teammates who were asked about the inability to finish games for Campbell as something they believe he should not take on himself..
Joe Gibbs said it is not something he is worried about the "long term effects of."

WR Antwaan Randle El injured his hamstring in the first half and did not return in the seocnd half.. He'll be re-evaluated tomorrow.. McCardell replaced him on punt returns, interesting choice considering Moss's history of punt return success but Moss has been injured himself, a likely reason..
McCardell had his best game as a Skinw ith 5 catches, he said he was very tight ealy because of returning to Florida and all the success he had playing in the state, but that he calmed down..

Clinton Portis fumbled twice in the first half and took the blame for the miscues.. Portis was asked about the team's constant close calls against better teams in the league and he said that what is promising to him is that there has been a lot of frustration since joining the team four years ago and that the team believes "they have some of the best talent, the only thing missing is wins." But because the team doesn't stop fighting nor takes an attitude that they believe they can't win, he knows the team will bounce back and play hard regardless of the outcome..

There is a strange similarity to the '05 season when the Skins lost three in a row including a close one in Tampa that dropped them to 5-6 before they ran off 5 straight to make the playoffs.. The outcomes (prior to the NE-Philly game) were all mainly good for Washington as Arizona, Detroit and the Giants lost, so Washington remains one back of the Lions for the final playoff spot, and two back of the Giants for the 5 spot and the own a tiebreaker over the Lions..

Other injuries: DT Cornelious Griffin (ankle) he injured it last week and it flared up again on him.. QB Jason Campbell suffered a forearm injury that he played through and the team doesn't believe it is serious..

The Redskins defense held Tampa to 13 offensive plays in the second half and 15 yards, no first downs.. This was as close to a perfect defensive half as anyone could have.. When asked about it, Gregg Williams said the team needed to turn the Bucs over, the one part missing.. Washington lost the turnover battle 6-0.. Williams said the game plan defensively did not change when Jeff Garcia left the game on the first Buc series and was replaced by Bruce Gradkowski.. He praised Jon Gruden for "the best coaching job he has done in his career playing to his team's strengths an today playing to let his defense win the game." Williams downplayed any team phsyche repair after giving up 47 second half points in the two previous losses to the Eagles and Cowboys..

Joe Gibbs defended a 4th and 1 call inside the Bucs five down 19-10 by saying "it was only six inches and we had momentum." the Call was made by Campbell who could choose between a QB snak and a run play, Campbell said the defense dictated the Redskins go with the run play that was stopped behind the line of scrimmage..

T Stephon Heyer made his first start in place of Todd Wade (knee) who was inactive.. WR James Thrash (ankle), S Sean Taylor (knee) both missed their second straight games.. FB Mike Sellers was inactive as well due to a back injury..

OK men..

November 23-- I'm back, Sellers isn't

2007-11-23T13:57:00.000-08:00

I picked an odd time to catch a cold.. I'm starting to think I caught it from someone at the Park because I felt fine on Tuesday then woke up Wednesday morning and felt like someone hit me over the head with a 2x4.. But I'm slowly creeping back into shape ready for the warm weather of Tampa and hopefully a win..
By the way, never get sick on Thanksgiving, the docs don't really want to leave their turkey to get you some antibiotics so I'm sucking this one up hoping the over the counter meds work..

Injury report: G Randy Thomas (trcieps), S Sean Taylor (knee) and WR James Thrash (ankle) are all out..
FB Mike Sellers had x-rays done on his back which he injured in practice on Wednesday.. He is listed as doubtful and though he won't rule himself out, Joe Gibbs conceded he probably won't even make the trip.. This is a big loss!!
Questionable: T Todd Wade who will wamr up Sunday morning an if he can't go Stephon Heyer would start..
Probable: RB Ladell Betts (illness) T Stephon Heyer (illness), thus my theory that something was going around out there that I caught, good news is within 24 hours I felt a world better and better news, the Redskins docs do leave their turkeys to get the players better quickly..
DT Cornelious Griffin was limited in practice (foot) but is expected to play, also probable.. G Pete Kendall (ankle), WR Santana Moss (heel), WR Antwaan Randle-El (chest), LB London Fletcher (ribs) all practiced and are all probable..

TB injury report: DE Greg Spires (calf) is out.. RB Michael Pittman (ankle) is doubtful.. FB BJ Askew (ankle) is questionable.. WR Michael Clayton (ankle) and RB Earnest Graham (ankle) are both probable..

The team brought back TE/H Back Brian Kozlowski, a favorite in the locker room and released WR Jimmy Farris to take the spot of Mike Sellers who appears like he'll be inactive for the game.. Kozlowski was someone Gibbs described as a player who "just won't die." He wasn't suggesting Koz should actually die, just that his playing career won't come to a complete end..

Now for the playoff talk fun: Did the numbers on the contenders at this point, Detroit who looks like a complete fraud now after home losses five days apart, has five games against teams with a combined record of 33-21.. Arizona looks like the one to be most concerned about, the Cardinals opponents combined record is 23-53.. Yikes.. But the Skins do hold a tiebreaker and Seattle could lose their division to AZ meaning a Seattle collapse could put them squarely in the Skins crosshairs.. Best case scenario of course is Seattle beats AZ when they meet in a few weeks.. Washington owns the tiebreaker over the Cardinals thanks to their win at Fed Ex Field..
Philly is 5-5 heading to 5-6 with a trip to NE and are facing teams with a combined record of 42-18 with AJ Feeley likely at QB, see ya phatties..
NO faces teams that are 27-33 but with losses to Houston and Carolina those guys don't look primed for a playoff run.. Carolina has a 69 year old QB and a schedule against teams that are 36-26, hello Bill Cowher..
Chicago faces teams that are 35-26 and have to play here and Minnesota goes against teams that are 29-33 but also face the Skins.. Both of them are 4-6.. Basically Washington wins over those two go a long way to probably get the Skins in the playoffs.. Beat the NYG too and we might be talking about a five seed but a likely playoff game out west as opposed to going back to TB, so pick your poison.. If I'm the Skins D which has been torched in rceent weeks, I think I'd rather take my chances ith the Bucs again then fly across country to face a team that throws and throws and throws..

The NFC East race for Washington is effectively over, they would need Dallas to go 0-5 down the stretch and the Skins to go 6-0 with the Giants losing at least 3 of their final 6 for Washington to steal the division, so the five spot is the highest realistic possibility and that may take some work..

for those who care, I didn't fry a turkey yesterday because of wind factors.. The reason why it is so dangerous is because the turkey fryer is actually just a propane blow torch with a pot sitting on top of it.. If the wind didn't blow the flame out (which it did five times) it turned the turkey pot into a mini-conflagration, so because of weather delays, we are holding off until next year.. It sucks, but at least I still have my house and arms..

OK men..

November 20-- Jason needs to "shut his trap."

2007-11-20T11:39:00.001-08:00

The Redskins signed former Giants/Auburn WR Anthony Mix, a 6’4” 240 pound receiver.. He was taken off the NYG practice squad and according to Joe Gibbs was someone who got a big endorsement from his former QB Jason Campbell..
T Calvin Armstrong was released and re-signed to the Redskins practice squad, a sign that the Todd Wade injury is not deemed overly serious even though it is possible Stephon Heyer will be starting in his place Sunday against TB..

G Rick DeMulling was released, so the injury issues of the O-line have been subsiding and the return of Randy Thomas could be just a few weeks away.. Thomas is already deemed out for this weekend’s game..
Also, WR Burl Toler was released from the practice squad to make room for Armstrong..

Joe Gibbs was quite effusive on Redskins Radio today when he was asked about a audible Jason Campbell made during the Dallas game that ended up in Santana Moss’s one handed catch against Dallas.. Gibbs said Jason needs to learn to “shut his trap” about telling the media things like that.. He also hinted that Larry Michael, who asked Gibbs about it should tell Jason “since he can get through to him” to keep some of those state secrets more to himself..
Gibbs wasn’t overly angry at Campbell who revealed that tidbit during the post game locker room interview session..
On Campbell’s emotions following the game Gibbs said it shows “how much the game means to him and hopefully next time he won’t make some of the same mistakes.” Gibbs told a funny story about dealing with different personalities at the position saying Joe Theismann would never take losses like that to heart believing “it was always someone else’s fault.” He also said his son was like that saying “Coy would fall off his water skis when I was driving the boat and then blame me!”

Gibbs praised the pre-game energy that was brought into the game against Dallas but after another loss, there of course is concern that team will be able to “Bring it again. We were rockin’ and rollin”. Now, can we do that again?”

Believe it or not, the Redskins say their game plan was attempting to take T.O. away from the Cowboys, but as the defensive coaches learned, “some of these young guys got an interesting induction into the NFL.”
Missing Sean Taylor of course hurt this team, described best by Gibbs who said, “He’s the best at his position in the league. Nobody has even tried to go downfield on him even New England.” So we’ll see how the Skins respond with Taylor likely out again this weekend..

The Redskins are one of the few if not only teams that does not have players wearing the designated “C” on their uniforms this year.. Gibbs said the Redskins captains are chosen on a weekly basis dependent on performance in games and in practice.. That is not expected to change..

OK men..

November 19-- Backs against the wall

2007-11-19T19:09:00.001-08:00

On Jason Campbell's emotions after the game Sunday: Joe Gibbs says it is something that is not premeditated and it is something that shows how much the game means to him.. The mood in general following another close loss was pretty upbeat, but at 5-5 and with the division title all but out of the question the team and Gibbs knows, "our backs are up against the wall." Gibbs remains positive about the playof prospects knowing he has tie breakers against Detroit and Arizona, "we knew those were going to be big games."
TE Chris Cooley called the game with TB a must win..

Gibbs joked about playing in Tampa, a regular occurrence (and not one that I mind) that he "needs to talk to the athletic director about this one. We should be getting a home and home at some point here."

On the opening of the offense, Gibbs conceded he doesn't want to get into a situation where the team is throwing 54 passes, but he knows the game with the Cwoboys turned into a shootout and the Skins had no choice with time constraints not to open it up and give it to Campbell to make some plays.. The players are very intereste din putting more on Jason's shoulders but Gibbs remains adament that a physical run team as part of a balanced attack will remain the mantra of the team.. Gibbs also conceded the team remains in attempt to try and find some consistency on offense..

The defense should be a point of contention this week, The Skins have given up 47 second half points the last two games in divisional losses.. Add the Giants falter and they have given up 68 second half points in those three losses.. Washington has given up 152 points combined in the last 5, and average of 30 a game.. The Skins contend the breakdowns n the secondary in the second half wree mental and a byproduct of "young players getting some chances in the secondary." Laron Landry was switching between free and string safety during the Cowboys game..

Injury Report: T Todd Wade had an MRI, it showed a grade 1 sprain of the MCL in his knee, he is day to day and could play this weekend.. If he doesn't, rookie Stephon Heyer would start at RT.. LB London Fletcher has bruised ribs, he'll be OK.. DT Cornelious Griffin sprained his ankle and has a bruised foot as well, X-rays negative, he's day to day.. G Pete Kendall is treating sore knees and ankles, he should be fine but might miss some practice time as he has in recent weeks..
WR Santana Moss made it through the game well with his bruised heel..
S Sean Taylor has been described as doubtful for the game with the Buccaneers, it's better then out which was expected.. But with a sprained knee, it remains unlikely..
G Randy Thomas remains out rehabbing his torn triceps muscle..
WR James Thrash, high ankle sprain will get out of walking boot later this week and is questionable to play against TB..
S Reed Doughty has a bruised knee, hs is expected to be fine..
CB Fred Smoot and LB Marcus Washington both got through the game well and are expected to be feeling better heading into this week's game with the Buccaneers..
WR Antwaan Randle-El suffered a sprain in the joint securing the clavicle and the sternum.. he took a shot from Ken Hamlin after a catch in the Cowboys game.. Randle-El is looking forward to the rematch where he may have some things to say to Hamlin..
QB Jason Campbell has what is being described as a minor throwing hand injury..

On the Rocky McIntosh Intercpetion, Joe Gibbs believes the video evidence was extremely close and maintains the only way anything like that should be overturned is with concrete evidence.. He cited the Green Bay call against James Thrash as another momentum killing moment in games that could be the difference in two games against 9-1 teams on the road..

The team will get a "good break" following the Thursday game with the Bears in 2 and a half weeks, but Gibbs proclaimed this stretch as a defining one, saying it will "set up the final 3 games." I know I know..

OK men..

November 19-- Belated Musing from the Dallas loss

2007-11-19T12:50:00.000-08:00

OK, I’m awake now..

Injuries: T Todd Wade, sprained knee, DT Cornelious Griffin, sprained ankle, LB London Fletcher, bruised ribs.. We should get updates later this afternoon on all of them..

WR Santana Moss, who was supposed to be limited to a set amount of plays recovering from a heel injury certainly played more snaps then expected but have a season high 121 yards and scored his first TD of the season in the loss..
QB Jason Campbell set career highs in attempts and yards with 33 and 348, 2 TD’s 1 INT.. His passer rating however ended up at 84.5, lower then Tony Romo after Romo connected on 22 of 32 and threw 4 TD passes to One INT..

This will be making the rounds on the local news tonight, but apparently Campbell was teary eyed after he threw an INT late that ended a potential game winning drive.. Chris Samuels said he consoled Campbell who admitted to some tears and said he isn’t embarrassed by it..

LB Marcus Washington returned to play against the Cowboys after missing 4 of his last 5 with a hamstring injury..
The Skins were as hyped for a game as I have seen, they were staring down the Cowboys when Dallas took the field during the pre-game and one player told me Fred Smoot was “going berserk” in the locker room that got everyone ready..
One longtime vet told me this team wanted this “so badly,” based mainly on the lack of success through recent years playing in Dallas..

On the huge day by Terrell Owens (8 for 173) a number of members of the secondary said it was “mental errors” in the defensive backfield that led to the numerous long scores (3 of over 31 yards in the second half) not coverage scheme.. This was as mad as I’ve seen the typically even keeled Jerry Gray during the game.. The coach got into it with Pierson Prioleau and Shawn Springs after the second T.O. TD of the second half with a garbage can feeling his wrath..

Clinton Portis went split left on a play late in the 4th and no Cowboy bothered to cover him.. Portis was obviously miffed at the lack of run calls on short yardage plays and of course was disappointed after Jason Campbell failed to see him on the play where Dallas left him alone, he would have scored easily..
The Skins ran it 17 times, they threw it 54, 26 times in the 4th quarter of a game where they fell behind by as many as 12 in the final quarter..

Most of the players remained optimistic after the loss feeling as if they had “let another slip away.” Asked if this team remains a playoff contender, Santana Moss returned that query to a reporter asking directly, “Do you think we have a chance?” When the reporter said, “It’s getting tough,” Moss responded that “It doesn’t matter what outsiders think. We know what we can do now we just have to do it.”

Joe Gibbs was wondering if the overturned Rocky McIntosh interception in the second half was made with “clear evidence.” The replay appeared to have shown the ball hitting the ground.. The team chose not to review a 3rd and 15 pass in the first half to T.O. to the Skins 9 that led to Dallas’s first score.. The replay possibly would have shown him not getting both feet in before securing possession of the ball.. This happened at the 2 minute warning so there was ample time to throw the flag, but Skins officials believed it would not have been overturned..

Washington has given up 47 points in the second half of the last two games.. In their last 3 division games, Washington has given up 68 points in the second half of the three losses combined..
To win the NFC east, The Skins would need to go 6-0 down the stretch and have Dallas lose 5 of their final 6.. The good news is the wild card remains firmly in their grasp.. Detroit is 6-4 but the Skins own that tiebreaker.. Arizona and Philly are both 5-5 but the Skins hold a tiebreaker on the Cardinals and split with Philly.. The Eagles have to play New England in Foxborough this weekend..

The Redskins rush D did hold a team under four yards per carry for the first time in five games, the Cowboys rushed it 25 times for 72 yards, 2.9 per carry..

Fred Smoot called Tony Romo the “best backyard quarterback he’s ever seen.” Smoot contends most quarterbacks are coached to throw passes away when certain coverages dictate certain issues, but Romo rarely will throw it away and it’s his playmaking ability that makes the Dallas O go..

OK men..

November 15-- Farris tells T.O. tales

2007-11-15T17:30:00.000-08:00

WR Brandon Lloyd was placed on injured reserve today ending his season, and possibly career with the Skins.. VP of football operations Vinny Cerrato would not speculate as to whether Lloyd has played his last game with the team and called the news "sad, because he was going to play a big role this weekend." Cerrato said Lloyd was going to be on special teams as well as figuring into the offensive game plan with the injuries at WR..

The team signed Jimmy Farris who has worked out for the team twice during training camp.. Farris has been out of football since the summer when he failed to make the Jaguars..
Jimmy is a good friend of Terrell Owens who he said he called and told he was coming to Dallas this weekend.. Owens apparently took Farris in when he was a undrafted rookie in San Francisco.. Farris lived with T.O. and said the two ate dinner 4 nights a week, went to movies together, played pool where the loser would have to do ten push-ups for every ball left on the table, etc. Farris sayd he believes outside of T.O.'s family, he might be one of his closest friends..
Farris also still owns a number of clothes that T.O. gave to him, apparently when Owens would receive gear and would stick it in the dryer, it would end up not fitting him anymore so he told Farris to go into his laundry room and "load up."
Farris promised me during an interview that will air during the pre-game show this weekend that should he actually score a touchdown in Dallas, he would do something to show off to Owens, but asked if he would run to the star, he responded, "I think Joe Gibbs would hang me by my face mask!"

WR Santana Moss is hopeful to return to practice tomorrow, his bruised heel kept him out of practice again today.. He decsribed the injury as something that sounds as if it is "soft," but because he is having nerve issues with the bruise, he said it is affecting the "things that I can do."
WR James Thrash (high ankle sprain) was out of practice for a second straight day..
S Sean Taylor (sprained knee) missed practice as well, he won't play this weekend anyway..
CB Fred Smoot (hamstring) took part in limited portions of practice..
LB Marcus Washington (hamstring) was part of full practice for a second straight day..
G Pete Kendall (ankle/knees) returned to full practice after being limited on Wednesday..

RB Clinton Portis did not dress up this week claiming that "when I find Choo-Choo, I'm going to choke him out! He kept me out of the end zone." Portis dressed as Choo-Choo the dance instructor before the Eagles game..
Portis is now the 3rd leading rusher in the league this season, asked about this suddenly new standing, he said "I don't care about being the third leading rusher. I'd rather have the wins then the stats."

CB Shawn Springs is heading back to Dallas this weekend to play where his father was a star, in the meantime, Ron Springs remains in a Dallas hospital in critical condition resting in a coma.. Springs has remained quiet this week deferring requests to speak to the media about the situation, but his teammates and coaches have priased his ability to put the sad news aside and work extra time to remain up to date with the game week preparation. Springs has been travelling in the early parts of each week the last month or so to visit with family in Dallas then returns to Redskins park and is said to be staying late and coming in early to stay up to date. Gregg Williams credited his leadership through adversity..

OK men..

November 14-- Lloyd breaks shoulder in practice

2007-11-14T17:12:00.001-08:00

WR Brandon Lloyd suffered a broken clavicle on the last play of practice today, he will not require surgery but will be out a minimum of six weeks meaning he will likely be placed on injured reserve ending his season.. The team currently has three healthy receivers on the active roster, possibly four if Santana Moss can return to play against the Cowboys, more on him in a minute..

The injury to Lloyd may eefectively end his playing career as a Washington Redskins.. Lloyd has two catches this season after being releagted to the 4th and sometimes 5th receiver on the depth chart following a lacksadasical play in the opener against Miami where he didn't make a play on a ball that was intercepted in the end zone and subsequently didn't chase after the defender who was returning it..
The cap impact of cutting Lloyd will be in the neighboorhood of 7.1 million dollars should the Skins decide to take the entire hit on next year's cap, or they could release him and make an exception for next season, take a hit of approximately 1.8 million for 2008, and the rest on th following cap..
The team currently has no receivers on the practice squad..

WR Santana Moss missed practice with a bruised heel.. The MRI he underwent showed no new damage but the tissue injury is affecting a nerve in his foot, as why he can't currently run.. The team remains hopeful that the swelling will reduce in the foot and he will return by the end fo the week..
WR James Thrash is using a walking boot and crutches to support his high ankle sprain.. He did not practice and is not expected to play this week in practice..

S Sean Taylor was held out of practice (knee), G Pete Kendall was also held out of practice (knee/ankle).. The training staff said he will be fien for this weekend, he just has soreness in his knees and ankles because in football, he's considered a "senior citizen."
LB Marcus Washington took part in full practice (hamstring) he has missed four of the last five games..
CB Fred Smoot (hamstring) was limited in practice today..

Cowboys injury list: WR Terry Glenn (knee) will not play this weekend..
CB Anthony Henry (ankle) was limited in practice.. WR Isiah Stanback (shoulder) took part in full practice, not that that matters..

During Jason Campbell's media session, he was harrassed by one player, either Smoot or Antwaan Randle-El who kept yelling at him while he had a crowd of reporters around him.. Among the jibes, "Look at those lips. I haven't seen lips that big since I owned a catcher's mitt.. Steee-rike." And my personal favorite, "I hope you don't kiss any girls Jason, you might suffocate them."
This is standard practice for the weekly media meeting, Campbell is very good natured and even shoots back when it happens saying at one point, "Was that Randle-El? Tell him I got some miracle grow for his forehead."

Fred Smoot joined Larry and myself for Redskins Radio today, he said the team gave out the "Tyrone Hill Award" for the ugliest player on the team.. And the winner is, Stephon Heyer, T, University of Maryland. The runner up gets the "Sam Cassell Award" but I can't remember who he said that went to..

Smoot was among the players I spoke with who stood behind Joe Gibbs as Gibbs has been getting criticized through the week for the in game management problems during the Eagles loss.. Smoot said, he loves Gibbs and then defended him by saying "show me a coach who doesn't make mistakes. I'd like to meet him."
Antwaan Randle-El told me he "hates all the citicism Gibbs is getting." He did admit that Gibbs should not be held to a higher standard or be given a reprieve based on his Hall of Fame credentials, but he said he believes Gibbs takes too much of the blame in general when the team loses...
Jason campbell said the criticism is "not fair, we all need to do better, players and coaches.."

Campbell also had an interesting slip during his session when asked about a comparison to Cowboys Quarterback Tony Romo, "We play in different offneses, his offense is more wide open and we are more of a run based offense, so we are different players in different offenses, as a quarterback you have to do what they ALLOW you to do." How about them apples.

Chris Cooley defended the offense's call on 3rd and goal from the 7 in the 4th quarter against Philly (it was his false start penalty that moved them back) by saying "we work on the plays during the week we think will work against an opponent, it's easy to say the coaches made the wrong calls if they don't work." Cooley said he is hopeful for a big day after he saw Jeremy Shockey get 12 catches against Dallas last week.. Since his 9 for 105 and a TD game in Green Bay, Cooley has had a combined 12 catches for 125 yards and one TD in four games.. With the lack of depth at WR, it will be interesting to see how incorporated he'll be this week..

The Dallas Morning News reports a Plano man was arrested for distributing illegal performance enhancing substances.. The report suggests that the man told FBI agents that he has sold the products to former and current Cowboys.. I asked Wade Phillips directly about the story and he said he "knew nothing about it and had no comment."

OK men..

November 13-- Gibbs on Redskins Radio

2007-11-13T10:58:00.001-08:00

Joe Gibbs continued to stand behind his decision making saying it definitely wouldn’t have been smart to take a 5 yard penalty in lieu of a timeout on the 4th and 1 second half opening drive at the Eagles 5.. He also said the decision to not challenge was a no brainer for him because it is very unlikely the officials would move the spot of the ball.. Still, having used a timeout, there was little to lose by challenging, but I digress..
I wasn’t going to go into full blown attack mode about all the decisions that occurred during the game but when we started talking about the specific one on the Eagles 5, Gibbs said, “I like those questions,” essentially telling me to bring it on.. He also suggested that he “was nice yesterday,” (referring to the media press conference) so I thought he’d go after me, but it turned out to be quite cordial.
Gibbs said his staff “always bears a burden when the team loses,” when asked about the coaching decisions adding up ending up in the Eagles defeat..

Gibbs said he believes defensively the team will continue to utilize a similar scheme despite the loss of Safety Sean Taylor.. Reed Doughty and Pierson Prioleau are the likely successors..

November 12-- A lot of questions following comfounding loss, Taylor out at least 2 weeks

2007-11-12T18:57:00.001-08:00

S Sean Taylor has a grade 2 sprain of the MCL in his knee, he will miss at least 2 weeks.. Pierson Prioleau likely starts in his place at Safety..

WR James Thrash has what is being described as a "mild" high ankle sprain, but he will not likely play this weekend in Dallas.. He had an MRI on his leg, his knee has a bruise but is expected to be OK...

WR Santana Moss had an MRI on his bruised heel, it came back negative.. He has what is being described about a soft tissue injury but he is expected to be back by the end of the week with the hope of returning for the Cowboys game..

LB Marcus Washington will "hopefully" return to practice this week as he continues to deal with a hamstring injury.. The team expects him to take limited reps when practice resumes Wednesday with the hope of full go by Friday..

CB Fred Smoot did not aggravate his hamstring injury by playing in the Eagles game and is said to be doing better..

Joe Gibbs spoke with the media for 35 minutes, by far his longest media briefing following any game this season peppered with questions about the in game decision making against the Eagles.. He defended the coaching staff saying in assessing his performance as head coach that in 30 years that "I am always learning," suggesting that ego is left at the door when the staff meets to discuss all potential in game issues..
On the 4th and 1 where the team called a timeout, Gibbs (somewhat) rhetorically fired back at the media "What would you do in that situation?" The Redskins burned a timeout when Mike Sellers was deemed short of a first down by a yard.. Gibbs thought and still thinks that the spot was not a good one and "can't believe that a 280 pound guy didn't get an inch." So Gibbs wanted a measurement but was not afforded one by the refs who deemed the length needed to gain a first down wasn't close enough to warrant it.. Measurements are not implied even in 4th and 1, refs have the discretion to choose whether to give a team one when asked for it.. Gibbs said he considered challenging the spot but thought that the chances of it being awarded to the Skins was slim and it wasn't worth the risk.. Of course, if yu are going to burn a timeout, what do you have to lose? Still, he said he still believes the team handled the situation the right way..

On the 3rd and Goal call from the 7, Gibbs explained that Jason Campbell had two options on the play, that if the Eagles played "soft" which Campbell and Gibbs believed they did, there was a shot to "pop" a draw play in for a touchdown.. Clinton Portis got the ball and was tackled at the 3 leading to a short Shaun Suisham field goal.. So Gibbs believes Campebll made the right decision, it just didn't work out.. Funny that while I'm writing this, the Seahawks had four recievers on the field on a 2nd a goal inside the Niners five and ran a run play to maurice Morris and scored a touchdown..
On the other timeouts, Gibbs doesn't believe the team made the wrong decision challenging the Ladell Betts fumble syaing it was worth the risk because of the momentum change..
Also, Campbell placed the Redskins in the wrong formation forcing him to use the third timeout of the half..

CB Carlos Rogers remains in Alabama rehabbing his surgically repaired knee, he will stay there for a few more days.. The surgery as deemed a success and the hope is he'll be ready for training camp next summer..
I spoke with T Jon Jansen who was on the sideline for the Eagles-Skins game, he was in a walking boot and needn't use a cart to carry his broken leg any longer.. He said he'll be out of the boot in 6-7 more weeks and he will be back working to get into football shape by January with the hope of being back on the field for mini-camps..

Asked about the second half collapses this season, Joe Gibbs answered by the question by first stating how many times the team has held on or won games in the second half citing the Jets, Cardinals (he did put a caveat on this one) and the Dolphins games which all went down to the wire..
Numerous players cotninued to express concern about the lack of a "killer instinct" or being able to "finish" games..

OK men..

November 11-- Skins Blow another one in 33-25 home loss to Philly

2007-11-11T17:00:00.001-08:00

S Sean Taylor sprained his knee in the third quarter and did not return to the game, his status is undetermined but Joe Gibbs hinted the injury might be "mild." He did also whisper the words grade 2, which would likely mean missing some time, but we'll know more Monday..
I don't think it's a coincidence that the Eagles their one and only deep pass down the middle of the field when Taylor was out..

WR James Thrash who scored his first two (and the WR core's first two) touchdowns of the season left after injuring his ankle during a kickoff return in the second half.. He has a high ankle sprain, his status will be determined later in the week..

The cumulative effect of all the Redskins mistakes added up to a yet another blown second half lead in a 33-25 loss to the Eagles dropping the Skins to 5-4.. Washington missed an extra point, used all of their second half timeouts with 8 minutes to play, had a season high in penalties, and failed to score a touchdown inside the Eagles five twice in the second half.. Washington even used a timeout with 2:08 remaining in the first half when the Eagles were about to punt.. That left them with one.. It saved them a whole :07 and essentially removed the use of the two minute warning as a clock stoppage..
Washington also called a timeout when they had a fourth and 1 on the Eagles 5 even though they had decided to kick a field goal.. They could have challenged the spot on a Mike Sellars third down run if they were going to use a timeout, but I digress..

Joe Gibbs said the team called a draw play on 3rd and goal from the Eagles 7 in the 4th quarter because they thought the Eagles were playing "soft" at that point and they thought they could "pop one in."
Clinton Portis did end up with his second consecutive 100+ yard day in the loss and carried it 30+ times for the second straight week..

WR Santana Moss was inactive due to a heel injury.. LB Marcus Washington missed his fourth game in five weeks with a hamstring injury...
WR Brandon Lloyd so his most extensive playing time in the Eagles game then in weeks and was thrown to deep twice but had no ctaches..

Most of the players I spoke to were under the belief the team "blew another one." This is the third game where they lead in the second half, second by more then one score and ended up losing..

The Redskins did allow Jason Campbell to call his own plays for extensive periods of time by running a no huddle offense.. The team's passing and rushing yards were both effective for the first time in weeks... Campbell said it helped the team become a "more open offense." He also said it was a big step forward for the group but was dissapointed that on two late game attempts to recover from a 1 and then 8 point deficit, the team was unable to gain a yard..
Washington did allow Westbrook to score a late touchdown because they had no timeouts.. The Eagles chose at this point not to sit on the ball with under three minutes to play and run the clock despite being in chip shot field goal range.. It was a smart decision by the staff that was rewarded when the offense was unable to get a drive going.. There was a one deep out to Keenan McCardell that may have possibly been reviewed after it was called incomplete but the Redskins didn't have a timeout and thus didn't have the ability to ask for a review.. Washington did lose a review on a Ladell Betts fumble..

OK men..