D8
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KLMNO PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
Redskins Insider 6Blogging at
washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider Shanahan may have
a lone backup QB The Redskins have four
quarterbacks in camp, and Donovan McNabb might be the only one who feels any sense of safety.
Coach Mike Shanahan was
asked about the battle for the No. 3 quarterback position, but that spot on the depth chart could be irrelevant in September. Shanahan noted that for most of his career, he’s only carried two quarterbacks in the regular season, which surely isn’t good news for Colt Brennan. Or Richard Bartel. Or maybe even Rex Grossman. With his familiarity with Kyle Shanahan’s offense, Grossman opens camp as the probable backup to McNabb. Still, Mike Shanahan noted following Saturday morning’s practice that “there’s competition” behind McNabb. “We’ve got four guys right
from the beginning who will battle. I like to see guys evaluate themselves each day against our No. 1 guy. Obviously that’s Donovan,” Shanahan said. “That’s what you’re looking for: guys who look at themselves as a No. 1 guy, trying to win that position.” Carrying only two
quarterbacks on the roster usually means designating a player from another position as an emergency quarterback (Antwaan Randle El filled this role a year ago, when Jim Zorn opted to carry only Jason Campbell and Todd Collins on his 53-man roster.) Shanahan says he wouldn’t try to designate an emergency quarterback until he knows his 53 players. While Shanahan has historically gone with only two quarterbacks, he does recognize the benefits to having a third, he says, “if you feel that guy deserves to be on your football team.”
NOTEBOOK Hamstring sidelines Kelly
Santana Moss is perhaps the only wide receiver on the roster with a comfortable spot on the depth chart. Each of the other 10 wide receivers is battling for a position, and it’s a safe guess that third-year wide receiver Malcolm Kelly has not started camp the way he probably hoped. Nursing a sore hamstring,
Kelly was relegated to working on the sidelines during Saturday morning’s practice and might not be back at full speed for a couple of days, Shanahan said. “I think any time, especially
getting a new coach, we got a lot of receivers in, you never want to be sitting down while everybody else is practicing,” Kelly said Friday, following the team’s afternoon practice. Kelly injured his hamstring
training with quarterback Donovan McNabb last week in Arizona, but took the field on
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
As Chris Cooley, left, and Roydell Williams, center, watch, Colt Brennan, right, vies to become Donovan McNabb’s backup.
Thursday and Friday, participating in most of the drills. He apparently aggravated the
injury, though, and will have to take it easy for a few days. “I don’t think it’s a bad pull,” Shanahan said, “so hopefully in the next couple of days, he’ll be ready to go.”
But the timing isn’t good. Kelly was limited during the
team’s offseason workouts due to injury and began training camp buried on the depth chart. Spending the opening days of camp on the sidelines won’t give him many opportunities to impress coaches. “Any time you miss reps,
you’re giving somebody an opportunity to win a position,” Shanahan said. — Rick Maese and Jason Reid
Associated Press
Philadelphia Eagles wide re- ceiver DeSean Jackson was carted off the field with a back injury during an afternoon practice at training camp. The Eagles’ leading receiver caught a pass Saturday and stum- bled to the ground, then needed help to the sidelines. Moments later, a cart came and took him to the workout facility. . . . The Eagles signed veteran wide receiver Kelley Washington to a one-year contract and released Jared Perry.
Roethlisberger practices
His No. 7 hasn’t changed. Nei- ther has his place in the offense. Ben Roethlisberger is the Steelers’ starting quarterback, and that was quickly evident during their first practice of training camp. What is different, teammate
Hines Ward said, is Ben Roethlis- berger. Roethlisberger, whose image and popularity were badly dam- aged during a March night of bar- hopping in which he was accused of assaulting a college student, took the first public steps in try- ing to reconnect with his team- mates. Drawing a six-game suspension
— a punishment that could be trimmed to four — and the public reaction to his aberrant behavior in Georgia apparently convinced Roethlisberger that changes were needed, some teammates suggest- ed.
No deal for Suh yet
The Detroit Lions practiced without Ndamukong Suh while team officials and Suh’s agents, Eugene Parker and Roosevelt Barnes, worked on reaching a contract agreement. The St. Louis Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers have agreed to terms with their draft choices, leaving No. 2 pick Suh the only unsigned player picked in the top three. . . . With rookie wide receiver Dez
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST “Even though he’s not out there in pads, he’s still getting a lot of work in,” Coach Mike Shanahan said of Albert Haynesworth, who watched the team’s afternoon practice. A spectator’s view of Redskins’ new defense redskins from D1
“Even though he’s not out there in pads, he’s still getting a lot of work in,” Shanahan said. That’s essential because his teammates, who’ve spent the past three months learning the scheme, say adjusting to the new defense takes time. “The sooner he can get that sit-
uated and get out here, the bet- ter,” said defensive end Phillip Daniels. “Right now, he’s doing us no good just being inside or wherever, trying to get back out here. We just need him out here. I want him to learn this defense and help us out.”
Because of the swelling in
Haynesworth’s knee, coaches we- ren’t sure if he would be ready to attempt the test again Sunday morning. Either way, they’re making sure he’s doing as much
as possible — short of taking the field with his teammates. General Manager Bruce Allen said he feels no frustration with the way the Haynesworth drama is playing out. “He’s learning a lot right now
in meetings and other activities,” Allen said, “so it’s working fine.” Haynesworth visited Satur-
day’s morning practice to ob- serve the early walk-through por- tions of the session. He also re- turned to the field after practice to work with defensive coordina- tor Jim Haslett and defensive line coach Jacob Burney. That session lasted about 30 minutes, longer than the amount of time Haynesworth spent on the field the previous two days. Haynesworth spent the en-
tirety of the afternoon session on the field observing the scheme, as well.
Shanahan said Haynesworth has been able to get mental reps of the new scheme, sitting through three to four hours of meetings in the afternoons and evenings. “So he’s getting a chance to see
what we’re doing both in the classroom and on the football field,” Shanahan said. Without Haynesworth, the Redskins have been fielding a first-team defensive line that consists of defensive ends Adam Carriker and Kedric Golston and nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu. The second-team line has fea- tured Daniels and Vonnie Holli- day at defensive end and Howard Bryant at nose tackle. While it’s still not clear at which position Haynesworth will eventually spend the bulk of his time, he’ll likely see action at both defensive end and nose
tackle. That means learning two new positions, which could mean an even slower learning curve than some teammates. Others who’ve made the ad- justment from the 4-3 defense say the biggest change is tech- nique.
“I can’t think of anybody who’s used to getting off the ball in a 4-3 and now, all of a sudden, you’re supposed to read, you’re supposed to do this and that,” Carriker said. “It’s just a matter of doing reps, getting used to it, getting used to the different blocks.” Even though Haynesworth is learning some of the concepts, players say it’s essential to actu- ally run through the motions on the field to appreciate the new assignments. “I think it’s more working with the guys next to you,” said Ke-
moeatu. “That all 11 guys know what they’re doing and going in the same direction — whose got what gaps. In a 3-4, it can get confusing, but if everyone knows what they’re doing, it should be fine.”
And there’s nothing that can
duplicate actually putting a hand in the grass. While players are happy to see Haynesworth study- ing the system, linebacker Loren- zo Alexander said Haynesworth might not really start to grasp the concepts “until he gets out here actually runs it game-speed.” “Just because it’s so fast now,” he said. “Learning the new de- fense, the 3-4 did take a while for the other linemen to learn. But today he had a chance to come out here, at least look at us do it through walk-throughs and stuff.”
maeser@washpost.com
Bryant out until perhaps the reg- ular season, the Dallas Cowboys will certainly need that $2 million insurance policy named Patrick Crayton. Bryant already had supplanted
Crayton as the No. 3 wide receiver even before impressing through- out the first week of training camp. But the first-round draft pick is out four to six weeks with a high right-ankle sprain, pushing Crayton up the depth chart. . . . One day after signing a big con-
tract, Eric Berry, the Chiefs’ fifth overall pick in the draft, brought cheers from several thousand fans more than once with his moves and quickness during one-on-one drills. . . . Hours after missing the first
workout of training camp, first- round draft pick Joe Haden (Friendly), a cornerback, reached agreement with the Cleveland Browns. . . . The Buccaneers agreed to terms on a five-year contract with first-round draft pick Gerald Mc- Coy and also reached a six-year deal with restricted free agent left tackle Donald Penn on the open- ing day of training camp. . . . Oakland Raiders wide receiver
Louis Murphy is being held out of training camp practice with a concussion.
Eagles’ Jackson carted off the field Back injury forces
SUNDAY, AUGUST 1, 2010
veteran wide receiver from afternoon practice
TRAINING CAMP TRACKER INJURY REPORT
Wide receiver Malcolm Kelly (hamstring) did not participate in team drills Saturday. Coach Mike Shanahan said Kelly “had a little bit of a pull” and will likely miss a few days. . . . Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth did not take his conditioning test on Saturday morning because of swelling in his knee, Shanahan said. Haynesworth rode a stationary bike and received treatment on his knee.
WHO’S TWEETING
@grahamgano I love having huge blisters on the back of my heels!
@MrDevinThomas COMIN FOR THAT NO.1 SPOT. END OF DISCUSSION!
Summer stories
There are plenty of things NFL play- ers tire of during a seemingly endless offseason. But for Redskins defensive lineman Jeremy Jarmon, it wasn’t the typical com-
plaint of endless weightlifting or condi- tioning — it was the food. “It got to the point where I didn’t enjoy
eating,” Jarmon said. Jarmon was originally expected to
play outside linebacker in the Redskins’ new 3-4 defensive scheme, but later in
the offseason the team asked him to bulk up and play on the line. Jarmon was listed at 278 pounds when the Redskins selected him in the third round of the supplemental draft last July, but said he was up nearly 20 pounds for training camp this year. “It’s going well; getting used to carry-
ing my new weight,” Jarmon said. “I’m up to 295 now. . . . It’s the heaviest I’ve ever played at [but] it’s going to help me, and I’m just trying to do whatever I can to help my team.”
Entering his rookie season, it was ex-
pected Jarmon would have to wait for a chance to contribute. Instead, he saw
time from the start of the season and fin- ished the year with eight tackles, six solo, and one forced fumble in 11 games. Jarmon tore his left anterior cruciate ligament on Nov. 29 and was placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the season. After undergoing surgery and missing offseason workouts, Jarmon said his knee is fully recovered. “I’ve been out of the game for seven months,” Jarmon said Friday. “Any time you step away from something, you just kind of got to re-introduce yourself to it again. [I] made a big improvement from yesterday to today.”
— Paul Tenorio FIRST EXHIBITION
“I’m not saying it because that’s what I want to be. I’ve done it. You feel me?” — Wide receiver Santana Moss, on being a “game changer”
vs. Buffalo Bills Aug. 13, 7:30 p.m. at FedEx Field
42
Days until kickoff The Redskins open the season Sept. 12 against the Dallas Cowboys.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
When: 8:30 a.m. (open to the public); 3 p.m. Where: Redskins Park, Ashburn. Admission, parking: Free. Updates: 703-726-7411
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