D2
S THE SIDELINE
Redskins Insider 6Blogging at
washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider
by Jason Reid and Rick Maese
With Redskins training camp opening Thursday afternoon, we continue to count down the most pressing issues the team faces as players prepare to report.
No. 7: Tight ends
How will the Redskins involve both Chris Cooley and Fred Davis in the offense? Chris Cooley was as dependable as any Redskin before he suffered a season-ending injury in Week 7 last season. In his place, second-year Fred Davis proved to be a strong target, catching six touchdown passes in the final 10 games. The Redskins will have to figure out how to get two effective pass-catching tight ends involved in their revamped offense. Two tight end sets aren’t uncommon in the NFL, but typically, when teams employ them, one tight end is used primarily as a blocker and the other runs routes. The Redskins have two strong pass catchers in Cooley and Davis, and each player is hungry (and healthy enough) to resume his respective role as a playmaker. Prediction: One of Mike Shanahan’s best attributes as a head coach is that he’s consistently adapted to his personnel, and it’s a safe guess that he doesn’t view two good pass-catching tight ends as a burden. Look for him and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan to use their tight ends in ways that no teams have attempted before. Plus, quarterback
Donovan McNabb has had great success targeting tight ends in the past
No.6: Right side of the offensive line
How much of an upgrade — if any — is provided by the new faces on the offensive line? It was no secret the past couple of seasons that the offensive line needed some new blood, and Mike Shanahan made it a priority this offseason. While the coaching staff went through its organized training activities (OTAs) and minicamp practices with Mike Williams at right guard and Artis Hicks at right tackle, they’ll open training camp with a reshuffled depth chart.
Williams is out for the season and Hicks likely will take his spot at right guard, and following the team’s final minicamp last month, the Redskins picked up Jammal Brown to play right tackle in a trade with New Orleans. Prediction: The Redskins will open the season with their strongest offensive line in years. Brown is a two-time Pro Bowler, and if first-round draft pick Trent Williams is slow to adjust on the left side, Brown provides some insurance and can easily slide over to the position he prefers. Hicks has been praised for his versatility, but he hasn’t been a regular starter in the NFL since 2006. The big question is depth. While the starting rotation looks significantly better than the one that finished last season, the backups do not.
maeser@washpost.com reidj@washpost.com
Quick Fix 6From the blogs at
washingtonpost.com/sports
WIZARDS INSIDER Leadership and defense top priorities for Hinrich On a team on which eight of the 11 players on the roster are 25 or younger, Kirk Hinrich said he wouldn’t run away from the responsibility of helping his teammates along. “I think leadership, you have to be one of those guys that’s a hard worker that everybody respects,” said Hinrich, 29. “It’s about earning that— going out there, doing the right thing and trying to play the right way. I think it kind of comes with the territory. I think when Ernie traded for me, he knew that’s what I’m going to do.” Hinrich will also defend. He has always been scrappy, and he earned second-team all-defensive honors in 2007. “I’ve always had it,” Hinrich said of his desire to compete defensively. “I love to score and play offense, but I almost more
NFL NEWS FEED
“Concussions and
SOCCER
conditions resulting from repeated brain injury can change your life and your family’s life forever.”
A new warning from the NFL that will be posted in locker rooms leaguewide this season.
Maradona is out as Argentina coach Diego Maradona is out as Ar-
gentina’s soccer coach. The an- nouncement came after he spent nearly two years on the job and had a humiliating exit in the World Cup quarterfinals. The Argentine Football Associ-
ation said Tuesday it would not renew his contract. The feder- ation had offered Maradona, 49, a four-year contract through the 2014 World Cup. Maradona said he would do so only if his entire staff remained. That was unacceptable to Ar-
TELEVISION AND RADIO
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 7 p.m. 7 p.m.
7 p.m.
SOCCER 8:30 p.m.
Atlanta at Washington » MASN, WXTR (730 AM), WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM)
Baltimore at Toronto » MASN2, WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM)
St. Louis at New York Mets » ESPN
gentine Football Association President Julio Grondona. He had asked for several assistants to be replaced. One of them was Maradona’s close friend Alejan- dro Mancuso. The federation said its executive committee unanimously decided to not keep Maradona. Possible successors include
Manchester United vs. MLS All-Stars » ESPN2
two club coaches in Argentina: Alejandro Sabella of Estudiantes and Miguel Russo of Racing. The federation, however, would likely need to hire an interim coach for the Aug. 11 exhibition game against Ireland in Dublin. The decision comes 21 months
only from Comcast.
after Maradona began his erratic coaching term and a little more than three weeks after Argentina was eliminated in the World Cup in South Africa with a 4-0 loss to Germany.
PRO FOOTBALL Terrell Owens is joining Chad Ochocinco, after all, on the Cin- cinnati Bengals.
Owens has agreed to a one-year
contract as a free agent, accord- ing to the team’s Web site. Ocho- cinco confirmed the signing, writing on Twitter that the deal was completed and “all of our games have been moved to pay- per-view.”
Owens had been a free agent
all offseason. His contract with the Buffalo Bills expired after last season and the Bills did not re- sign him. There was speculation in re-
cent days that the St. Louis Rams and New York Jets also were in- terested, and agent Drew Rosen- haus had written on Twitter that multiple teams were in the Ow- ens chase. But Ochocinco wrote Saturday on Twitter that he ex- pected Owens to sign with the Bengals, and he was right. . . . — Mark Maske
The Jacksonville Jaguars have
secured a stadium-naming-rights deal, giving the small-market franchise some extra cash in a tough economy. The Jaguars have called an af- ternoon news conference to an- nounce the contract with Ever- Bank, an $11.5 billion financial institution. Jacksonville hasn’t had stadium naming rights since
WALLY SANTANA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yao Ming said he may retire from basketball next season if his foot injury does not improve.
a 10-year, $6.2 million agreement with Alltel ended in 2007.
PRO BASKETBALL Houston Rockets center Yao
Ming said he may quit basketball after next season if he doesn’t ful- ly recover from his foot injury. In comments to Chinese state media, Yao sounded far from op- timistic about his future and also made a rare criticism of China’s national basketball program. Yao missed last season after foot surgery. He told Xinhua News Agency he doubts he will play at the 2012 Olympics. He said if the injury does not heal next season he “might
just hated to get scored on. When I got in the league, I realized that’s how you win.” — Michael Lee
CAPITALS INSIDER Team signs Fleischmann to 1-year contract extension The Capitals re-signed
winger Tomas Fleischmann, 26, to a one-year, $2.6 million contract extension Tuesday night. The sides had been prepared to go to salary arbitration Wednesday in Toronto.
Fleischmann set career highs
in goals (23) and points (51) last season, despite missing the first 11 games with a blood clot in his leg that hampered his offseason training. He will be eligible for unrestricted free agency next summer and is also the last of the Caps’ unsigned restricted free agents.
— Tarik El-Bashir DIGEST
choose to call it quits.” Yao also said Chinese basketball adminis- trators were too focused on the Beijing Olympics and neglected developmental teams and the do- mestic professional league.
OLYMPICS
Organizers said former Olym- pic champion Justin Gatlin will make his comeback from a four- year doping ban at the Bigbank Kuldliiga meet in Estonia on Aug. 2. He will run in the 100 meters at the meet. Gatlin won gold in the 100 at the 2004 Athens Olympics and in the 100 and 200 at the 2005 world championships. He was one of the fastest men on the planet then, tying the 100 world record of 9.77 seconds. That run came weeks after a posi- tive test in April 2006 for exces- sive testosterone and has since been erased.
CYCLING Federal prosecutors investigat- ing cheating in professional cy- cling have subpoenaed docu- ments from a 2004 case in which a Texas company tried to prove Lance Armstrong used perform- ance enhancing drugs. Jeffrey Tillotson, the attorney who handled the case for Dallas- based SCA Promotions Inc., said that his office will send the docu- ments to federal prosecutors in Los Angeles.
— From news services
KLMNO
WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS First Things First: Join columnist Tracee Hamilton weekday mornings at 9:30 to discuss the hottest topics from the world of sports.
WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2010
WASHINGTON POST LIVE WITH IVAN CARTER 5 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Ryan Zimmerman and Joe Buck join The Post’s Mike Wise and Rick Maese.
Hot Topic Terrapins Insider Blog excerpts from
washingtonpost.com/terrapinsinsider
TRACY A WOODWARD/THE WASHINGTON POST “Whatever he decides to do, I’ll support it,” Coach Ralph Friedgen said of Torrey Smith. “He’s a heck of a kid.” Is this Smith’s swan song? He already owns Maryland’s
Maryland junior has received some interest from NFL, could leave College Park early
by Steve Yanda
Torrey Smith, a redshirt junior wide receiver and kick returner, received an advisory evaluation from the NFL following the conclusion of the 2009 season at the suggestion of Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen. Smith said Sunday at the first of two ACC football media days that he was slotted as a third- or fourth- round pick. And that makes for another interesting sub-plot for the Terrapins entering the season: Will it be the last for Smith, who is within reach of both the Maryland record for career all-purpose yards and the ACC record for career kickoff return yards? “I think he’s thinking about coming out this year,” Friedgen said Monday. “He’ll graduate in [December]. I don’t know if it’s the best time for him to come out, depending on what the NFL does, but I know he has some needs he has to take care of at home. But whatever he decides to do, I’ll support it. He’s a heck of a kid, and I know he’ll be successful, not only at the next level of football, but in life he’ll be successful, too.”
Smith tallied 61 receptions for 824 yards
and five touchdowns as a sophomore. He also broke his own single-season ACC record for kickoff return yards (1,309) last season. He was named second team all-ACC as both a wide receiver and a kick returner.
single-season record for all-purpose yards (2,050), which he set last season. If Smith produces at a similar level this year, he’ll surpass LaMont Jordan as Maryland’s career leader in all-purpose yards. Smith currently sits in fifth place with 3,617 yards. Jordan holds the top spot with 4,960. Smith also will enter this season third on
the ACC’s career kickoff return yardage list. He has returned 93 kickoffs for 2,398 yards thus far at Maryland, behind only North Carolina’s Brandon Tate (2,688 yards) and Duke’s Jabari Marshall (2,630).
Remembering Yow One of the more entertaining exchanges
between Friedgen and reporters on Monday came near the end of his media session. A writer from a newspaper in North Carolina asked Friedgen if he’d spoken with North Carolina State Coach Tom O’Brien about the Wolfpack’s new athletic director, Debbie Yow, who left Maryland earlier this summer after serving 16 years as the school’s AD. Yow’s relationship with Friedgen had soured in recent years; last fall, she attempted to raise the funds necessary to buy Friedgen out of his contract. Reporter: “Have you talked to Tom O’Brien at all and given him a scouting report on Debbie?” Friedgen: “No comment.” Reporter: “Do you have any kind of advice for him or any kind of thoughts as to what it’s like working for her? Does he got his work cut out for him?” Friedgen: “He’ll have to see. [Pause] I
will say this, and I’ve said it before, I feel very indebted to Debbie for hiring me, and
I think she did things at Maryland that are unprecedented.” Reporter: “That’s all you’re going to say about that?” Friedgen: “That’s all I’m going to say about that.” At that point, Friedgen’s wife, Gloria,
who sat across the table from the coach throughout his 75-minute media session, chimed in. “That’s his story, and he’s sticking to it,” she said with a grin.
Starting under center . . . Friedgen said he thinks redshirt junior
quarterback Jamarr Robinson will be the Terrapins’ starter when the team starts the season Sept. 6 against Navy. Robinson started twice and played
extensively in four games last season in place of an injured Chris Turner. He also saw limited action in three other contests during the 2009 campaign. Robinson completed 46 of 85 passes (54.1 percent) and threw for 459 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Additionally, he rushed for 229 yards on 53 attempts. “I’ve always appreciated athletic
quarterbacks,” Friedgen said. “They have a way, with their athleticism, of turning a bad play into a good play. I think we’re going to try to do more of that with Jamarr. The biggest concern we have there is him staying healthy. Danny O’Brien, the backup quarterback, is a much better athlete than Chris Turner. He’s probably the slowest of the three. [Redshirt freshman quarterback] C.J. Brown is a 4.5 kid, too. We’re going to try to play to their strengths with what they can do.”
yandas@washpost.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50