Tight end Chris
ey today shed some light on the Redskins' play-calling process in an interview today on "The SIRIUS Blitz" on SIRIUS NFL Radio.
ey, speaking with co-hosts Adam Schein and Rich Gannon, provided insight into how the Redskins have installed their weekly game plans, practiced during the week and handled play-calling during games since owner Daniel Snyder and Vinny Cerrato, Washington's executive vice president of football operations, stripped Zorn of play-calling duties before the Week 7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.
ey said that Sherman Lewis, who was originally hired as an offensive consultant and then given playcalling responsibility, and quarterback Jason Campbell hardly interact during the week, which is highly uncommon for a quarterback and the person directing a team's offense. The Redskins have declined reporters' repeated requests to speak with Lewis.
"We have a really weird deal going on right now with the kind of rotation of who calls the plays, to where it goes, to who gets it and how it gets to Jason," said
ey, who was placed on the season-ending injured-reserve list Monday. "It's almost unheard of. And the funny thing is the last couple weeks the offense has looked better than it has."
Schein pressed
ey for a more detailed explanation, which he gladly provided.
"Okay, so what goes on is our coaches sit together at the beginning of the week and they design a game plan,"
ey continues. "All the coaches design the plays, they all have different responsibilities. Some coaches have third down, some coaches have the passing game, some have the red [zone], and then they all get together. So then what happens is Sherman Lewis, who is our offensive consultant [and play-caller], will install the regular game plan and then we go practice that. And then on Thursday, Jim Zorn will install the third down and then he'll also install the run game. And apparently, because I haven't really been there, is that Sherman Lewis never talks to Jason Campbell throughout the week.
"I mean, they don't have direct communication. Jim Zorn and Chris Meidt, who is Jason Campbell's quarterbacks coach, do all the coaching for Jason. So, anyway, that's confusing, I know. It was easier on TV this week when they just drew pictures of everyone. But what happens is we get to game day, Sherman Lewis sits in the box; he calls plays. He's the play caller. And he calls them down to our offensive coordinator, another person in the mix, Sherman Smith. And he looks at plays and basically calls them - they're wristband numbers - so he'll say, 'Wristband 5,' and that's what's relayed to Jason Campbell, who then looks at his wristband and calls that play. The funny thing is, is that when we want to call a run play, Sherman Lewis will call and say, 'give me a run' and then Sherman Smith has to pick a run and give that to Jason. So it's, uh, it's a carousel of calls."
