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Gregg Williams lined up the entire defense on the goal line and ordered a series of sprints.
"Go, go, go!" he shouted. "No lagging behind. If you don't have it at practice, you won't have it on game day."
Wednesday afternoon's practice was all about pushing players to the limit. On Tuesday night, the team held a spirited, hard-hitting practice at a local high school; on Wednesday afternoon, that was followed up by a practice in the heat and humidity at Redskins Park. Temperatures approached the mid-90s and several players--Rashad Bauman and Darnerien McCants among them--left the field weary from the heat.
"Today was a good practice because we had to battle the other elements and that's the heat," Williams said afterwards. "Guys pushed through it--we had a real crisp, high-energy practice last night and then rebounded into the heat today. These were two practices that were very meaningful. You have to push yourself through it when you're tired and hot, just like you have to do at the end of ball games.
"It was nice that we had a two-minute drill at the end of practice when you're dead dog tired, just like at the end of the ballgame when you have to protect a lead or win a game on offense."
There was plenty of hitting, with the 6-2, 231-pound Sean Taylor taking on the 5-8, 203-pound Morton and the 6-0, 204-pound Shawn Springs tackling the 6-3, 250-pound Brian Kozlowski. Second-year linebacker Clifton Smith leveled rookie tight Chrisey on a pass, but
As evidence of the intensity of the last few practices, defensive tackle Brandon Noble was donning a cast after breaking his right hand during Tuesday's practice. He sat out Wednesday's practice. It's not out of the question that he could play in Monday's preseason game against Denver.
"He's in great shape and we've got five weeks of camp, so he'll be back," Williams said. "He's played with this injury before. He'll bounce back. That's part of a D-lineman's life."
Said Noble: "I fell straight on it and snapped it. The last time I had an injury like this, it took four weeks to heal completely. But this is something that after a couple of days, the pain will subside, we'll cover it up and I'll go play."
Here are some of the highlights from Wednesday afternoon's practice:
Play: Not a lot of standout plays as the Redskins continued their business-like approach. A downfield pass to
Player: Two days after Williams called Washington "a player to keep your eyes on," Washington responded with another strong practice. He was seemingly all over the field, tackling Rock Cartwright on a running play and covering
Quote: "We've got the terminology down, now it's just a matter of doing it. The preseason games will really help us because we're effective against our own guys, but now we need live bullets going against a different team." -- Mark Brunell, discussing what the team will get out of Monday's game against Denver.
Atmosphere: Despite the heat and humidity, training camp drew another sizable crowd to Redskins Park. Several of the fans were boisterous during 7-on-7 passing drills, encouraging receivers and defenders as they ran plays in front of fans. Between plays, there was a line among players for water.
Notes:
-- Cornerback Walt Harris worked one-on-one with trainers after practice and continued to rehab his injured knee.
-- Fullback Mike Sellers returned to practice on Wednesday after missing three days with a knee injury. Offensive lineman Kenyatta Jones also returned to practice after missing all of camp with a sprained ankle.
-- Head coach Joe Gibbs had an appointment immediately after practice and was not able to speak to the media. Instead, assistant coaches Gregg Williams, Joe Bugel, Greg Blache and Coy Gibbs have lengthy interviews after practice.
-- For the third time in four days, tight ends coach Rennie Simmons kept his unit on the field for extra work after practice.
