Still 'Rough,' But Coming Together
If the Redskins evolve into a solid offensive unit this season, it'll be days like Thursday that fans can point to as when the offense started to come together.
The offense continued to focus on the details: the running game and play-action passes were emphasized during an afternoon practice at Redskins Park. While it wasn't always pretty, the offense showed some progress, head coach Joe Gibbs said after practice.
"We're continuing to work along--but it's kind of rough," he said. "That's the best way to describe it. I know I've been describing that every day and it's kind of the way I feel, but we'll probably start polishing things up in the next 2-3 days and we'll work on [preparing for Denver]."
Asked if he thought the quarterbacks were struggling, Gibbs said, "I think right now everybody is [rough]."
Despite the "rough" play, it's clear that Gibbs enjoys the process of watching a team come together.
"When you get so many people from so many diverse backgrounds--people who sacrifice their individual goals for a team sport, I think that's the reason why people enjoy and admire the game," Gibbs said.
Here are more of the highlights from Thursday afternoon's practice:
Play: Since the focus of practice was the running game, there weren't a lot of spectacular plays. On play action, a pair of second-year players in quarterback Gibran Hamdan and wide receiver Scott Cloman connected on a downfield pass for about 25 yards. The ball split defenders Sean Taylor and Todd Franz and landed softly into Cloman's outstretched arms.
Player: It's starting to become evident why Gibbs loves his tight ends. Brian Kozlowski is a classic example. During 7-on-7 drills, he caught a short pass and turned upfield. Cornerback Fred Smoot laid a hard hit on Kozlowski, but the 6-3, 250-pounder kept his legs moving and burst through the tackle. Later, Kozlowski threw a key block that freed up running back Sultan McCullough to run outside.
Quote: "It was really a special time for me. I figured at that point it was the culmination of all I was going to do in football. Now I'm back and we have a chance to drag [my Hall of Fame bust] out of there and melt it down." -- Joe Gibbs, discussing returning to Canton, Ohio for the Hall of Fame Game.
Atmosphere: Another large, vocal crowd was in attendance, including nearly 1,000 youth from Washington, D.C., who were participating in summer recreational programs. They were invited to training camp by the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation. Their favorite Redskin? Easy. Fred Smoot. He signed autographs for about 30 minutes following practice.
Notes:
-- The Redskins will hold a Friday morning practice at 9 a.m. that is open to the public. The afternoon practice is closed to the public.
-- Fan Day is Saturday and gates open at 8 a.m.
-- Running back Clinton Portis sat out practice just to give his legs a day's rest. "I think everybody is sore from just getting back into the swing of things," Portis said after practice. "That's all the problem is. Just soreness."
-- Gibbs on John Elway, who will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame this weekend: "He was one of the real premium players in the league. He made so many plays outside of the pocket. He was the total package. He could run and had a very good arm. It was probably fitting that he came back and got a couple Super Bowl titles."
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