| Page 2 of 2 < |
More of The Same Works for Redskins
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Given the start to the season, which includes wins at Philadelphia and Dallas, players said yesterday the organization's self-evaluation made sense.
"You get used to playing with guys," said cornerback Shawn Springs, who was a seven-year starter with Seattle before he signed as a free agent in 2004. "You know what to expect from guys and how other guys are going to play. You know what you're going to get from guys. We're not guessing"
That, players and coaches said, makes handling newcomers easier. The Redskins have 10 rookies on their active roster. None is a first-round pick, and only one, safety Chris Horton, is making a consistent impact. The three second-round picks from this draft -- wide receivers Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly and tight end Fred Davis -- have six catches combined.
"We added depth in the draft," Cerrato said. "We didn't think we had a lot of starting positions open."
Still, some veterans said the presence of all those first-year players adds something of an edge to practice.
"To me, this is the first time with this team where the young guys came in, and they were just going to be the impact [players], be the guys that are going to help us go to the next level," Moss said. "Before you get a couple of young guys, and two might make it. One of them [is] going to be a player, the other one [is] going to just be around. This year, you could spot four or five guys that you say, 'They're going to play and be players at some point.' "
That hasn't happened to the level where the rest of the league sees an impact, other than with Horton, a seventh-round draft choice who has three interceptions and is now the starting strong safety.
Thomas caught two balls in Sunday's win over the Eagles. But he also was involved in a play that shows the togetherness of the veteran core. After the Redskins took the lead in the third quarter, they were driving again when Campbell completed a third-down pass to Moss. Thomas was called for pass interference because he began blocking his defensive back too early.
"I just wanted to rip on him, maybe just to make me feel good," Zorn said. "But as I started, I just backed off because everybody else was on him. All of our players were on him, because he chose to do something individually opposed to what we were doing as a team."
So five weeks in, the Redskins are quite comfortable with who they have and how they're going about their work. The assembling of this roster, though, does not necessarily represent an organizational shift in philosophy.
"It's what happened this offseason," Cerrato said. Thus far, it has yielded results that might remind people where Washington ended up last season. Now, the hope is that approach will allow them to go further this year.
"Just being able to know that the guy beside you that you're playing with, you can trust he's going to be where he's supposed to be or do what he's supposed to do," Sellers said. "That trust factor's there with everybody. We knew we could compete with who's here."
