Redskins Insider

voices.washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider

Wide receiver/punt returner Antwaan Randle El is a hard worker who happens to be a nice guy who is well-liked by his teammates and coaches. And the respect in the organization for Randle El is among the main reasons Coach Jim Zorn addressed the shakeup in the punt return game as nicely as he did Tuesday during his radio show on ESPN 980.

In an interview Monday, Zorn said the team planned to expand cornerback DeAngelo Hall's role as a punt returner, using him more than Randle El -- the team's primary returner the past four seasons -- while continuing to occasionally turn to Santana Moss in a change-of-pace role. After the major change in the return game was revealed, Zorn declined requests Monday to further explain the situation, instead waiting for his weekly radio show to essentially repeat that a move has been made in an effort to increase production on punt returns.

"The situation has changed," Zorn said. While reiterating that he intends to use Hall, Moss and Randle El, Zorn remained slightly coy and declined to reveal who'd be out there for the Redskins' first punt return Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons at the Georgia Dome.

With the offensive line in tatters and the offense inept overall, the Redskins can't afford to continue to waste potential opportunities on punt returns. And if Randle El "was purely a punt returner who has had production," Zorn said Tuesday, "he'd probably continue on" in the primary role. "Not totally his problem, but with some of the production problems that we've had there, I'm starting to interject with other guys," Zorn coach said.

He also addressed Mike Holmgren's comments Monday on a Chicago radio station, in which the former Packers and Seahawks coach defended Zorn and criticized Redskins management.

"I appreciate Mike," Zorn said. "He's a seasoned coach. He's kind of been around the block, been in the league as a coach for a lot of years -- as long as I've played and coached. You know, it's hard for me -- I didn't hear all the comments. One of the things he mentioned was that it makes me look foolish. That's hard for me. Nobody wants to be a fool out there. One of the things I'm trying to do is work within the program that is before me and work hard with our coaches and players and try to create an edge that we can go out and be successful with. I certainly hope that I don't look foolish out there in a Redskins coaching outfit. He's in full support of me and he knows what my capabilities are."

The show's hosts pointed out to Zorn that Holmgren complimented the Redskins coach, calling him a nice guy. "Nobody likes a nice guy if you're not winning," Zorn said.

Davis takes crash course

With Pro Bowl tight end Chris Cooley sidelined at least a few weeks after leg surgery, second-year tight end Fred Davis moves to the top of the depth chart for Sunday's game.

Davis showed encouraging signs after becoming a bigger part of the offense when Cooley was injured during the team's last game -- a 27-17 loss to Philadelphia -- and the Redskins hope Davis builds on his eight-catch, 78-yard performance against the Eagles that included his first career touchdown reception.

Initially slow to learn the playbook and inspire confidence among the coaching staff, Davis worked hard during the bye week to prepare for his big opportunity. He intends to seize the moment, and the Redskins are counting on him.

"It's definitely a good opportunity, a big chance to show people what you can do and why they picked you [in the] second round," Davis said. "They know I can catch the ball. They just want to make sure I can block, to be able to handle all of that at once."

The Redskins envisioned using Davis and Cooley in multiple tight-end sets this season, but those plans were scaled back because Davis did not demonstrate enough of a command of the offense, league sources said. An all-American while playing in a pro-style offense at Southern California, Davis has struggled to become comfortable in Zorn's version of the West Coast offense. In an effort to get up to speed, Davis remained in Ashburn during the bye week and was the only student in a crash course of Tight End 101 taught by Redskins tight ends coach Scott Wachenheim.

"We just went through the fundamentals. From stance, steps, hand placement, eye placement -- things you would teach a Pop Warner football player," Wachenheim said. "Just started back at square one and just started building on that."

Cooley is not considered a strong blocker for his position and Davis does not block as well as Cooley. But they both are catch-and-run guys. "There's some things that Chris does better than Fred and there's some things that Fred will bring that maybe Chris didn't," Wachenheim said. "But for the most part, he'll be able to fit right in and do what we expect our tight ends to do."

With all of their problems along the offensive line, the Redskins could use a boost from Davis. "Two things, two areas," Zorn said. "One is his blocking. He hasn't been at the point of attack as much as Chris has. We just haven't had him in the game, so that'll be something that we look for, and also just the details of route running and things like that, that he hasn't had a lot of work with. He did a nice job in our last game of catching eight balls, but there are some details of those things that he can improve on as well.

"And the thing that I appreciated about him is he was going to leave and have a bit of a bye week time, and he just chose to stay here and work. Our tight end coach chose to stay here and work. They both showed their commitment to the program and getting better, and I think we'll see that on the football field."

-- Jason Reid and Rick Maese