Problems at the Core

After Lloyd arrived, Saunders immediately was impressed with his willingness to expose his body by leaping vertically, dangerous because defenders can cut a receiver's legs out from under him. But the troubles with Lloyd started in organized team workouts, according to one teammate.

"What I saw is that he's not coachable," the teammate said. "He would go off on [wide receivers coach] Stan Hixon all the time and say, 'Bro, that's not how it's done!' right to his face. And we would kind of laugh, like not because it was really funny, but it was funny in that uncomfortable sense of, 'I can't believe he just said that.' "

As the season progressed, the Redskins began to realize critical, disturbing elements about Lloyd's game: He could make dynamic catches but was not a particularly complete receiver. Lloyd basically ran three routes: the sideline go route, a short slant -- where he was more inclined to drop to the turf instead of turning a short pass play into a big gain -- and the outside curl. He was not comfortable going over the middle, even though a player of his speed could exploit the seams of a defense.

"From the wrists to the fingertips, Brandon is the most gifted wide receiver I've ever seen," Saunders often told his offensive coaches. Like Ladell Betts, Saunders remembered Lloyd from high school in Kansas City.

The rest of the Lloyd package, however, was far from complete. Saunders believed Lloyd to be a legitimate top receiver. He ran routes crisply. He did the dirty work as professionally as the spectacular. At least one coach disagreed, saying Lloyd's problems were more with the plays Saunders called for him.

But not Lloyd. He remained unproductive and ultimately clashed with Gibbs, who benched him after Lloyd threw his helmet in a Dec. 3 game against Atlanta. Perhaps hastened by the incident, but certainly because of his limited route running, Lloyd began losing time at the second receiver spot to Randle El. By mid-December, Lloyd had fallen to the No. 3 receiver.

Even after the benching, Lloyd was problematic. One key exchange occurred Dec. 17 in New Orleans. The go route -- in which a wide receiver makes a quick move at the snap of the ball and sprints straight down the sideline -- was Lloyd's specialty. In the first half, Lloyd beat his man down the sideline and seemed to be wide open for a touchdown pass from Jason Campbell. But he could not locate the ball and it dropped to the turf.

According to a member of the organization who witnessed the exchange, Saunders approached Lloyd at halftime.

"Tough one out there. Those lights are tough," Saunders said.

Lloyd looked at him coldly.

"You're joking, right?" he said.

"No," said Saunders. "It looked like you lost it in the lights."