Eager to put the 4-12 2014 campaign behind them, the Washington Redskins returned to team headquarters on Monday for the start of their offseason conditioning program. The team didn’t release an official headcount for the voluntary workout session, but players said they believed they had 100 percent attendance, and took that as an encouraging sign.
“Having everyone buy into the system is going to get us to where we need to be,” fullback Darrel Young said via conference call. “We sit here and talk every year about how we’re going to be better. We have to prove it, and what better way to prove it than for everyone to be there at the start of offseason workouts?”
Monday marked the start of a two-week period focused strictly on strength and conditioning drills.
Under the terms of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union, only the strength and conditioning coaches are permitted to work with players. Jay Gruden and his assistant coaches aren’t allowed to do any on-field work with players.
The players received an introduction to new strength coach Mike Clark and received an overview of his program. They also met briefly with their unit and position coaches to get a sense of expectations.
“The key word I took away is hard work and team camaraderie and that’s what we have to build in order to be successful,” inside linebacker Keenan Robinson said. “Building camaraderie, building strength, building toughness, building endurance is everything we have to do to do our part on the field – that’s what we took away from today.”
Clark isn’t the only new addition to the coaching staff. Gruden this offseason also hired Bill Callahan as offensive line coach and Joe Barry as defensive coordinator.
Young said he heard from some of the team’s offensive linemen that Callahan talked about plans to bring an increased physicality to the offense. And Robinson said that during his brief address of his unit, Barry shared plans to use a more aggressive an attacking approach on defense.
Young said he and his teammates and coaches aren’t focusing on last year’s failures although they can learn from some of those experiences. However, the majority of the talk on Monday centered around changes and a desire to improve, which all parties involved aim to do.
Robinson agreed.
The big turnout “shows everybody’s committed to fixing the issues we had last year and the year before, just not winning enough games,” Robinson said. “I want to be part of the solution in helping winning some games and I’m sure they want to be a part of it as well. That’s why everyone was here to hear what coach Gruden had to say, see the new coaches, see the new strength staff, see what the expectations will be and then build up on that as the offeseason goes along.”
Two weeks from now, Phase 2 of the offseason work begins. That segment will last three weeks and is limited to individual on-field work. No live contact or offense vs. defense drills are permitted.
Phase 3 is a four-week period that features 10 days of non-contact practices. Those sessions will take place May 26-28, June 2-4 and June 8-11. The team’s mandatory minicamp will take place June 16-18.
Eager to put the 4-12 2014 campaign behind them, the Washington Redskins returned to team headquarters on Monday for the start of their offseason conditioning program. The team didn’t release an official headcount for the voluntary workout session, but players said they believed they had 100 percent attendance, and took that as an encouraging sign.
“Having everyone buy into the system is going to get us to where we need to be,” fullback Darrel Young said via conference call. “We sit here and talk every year about how we’re going to be better. We have to prove it, and what better way to prove it than for everyone to be there at the start of offseason workouts?”
Monday marked the start of a two-week period focused strictly on strength and conditioning drills.
Under the terms of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union, only the strength and conditioning coaches are permitted to work with players. Jay Gruden and his assistant coaches aren’t allowed to do any on-field work with players.
The players received an introduction to new strength coach Mike Clark and received an overview of his program. They also met briefly with their unit and position coaches to get a sense of expectations.
“The key word I took away is hard work and team camaraderie and that’s what we have to build in order to be successful,” inside linebacker Keenan Robinson said. “Building camaraderie, building strength, building toughness, building endurance is everything we have to do to do our part on the field – that’s what we took away from today.”
Clark isn’t the only new addition to the coaching staff. Gruden this offseason also hired Bill Callahan as offensive line coach and Joe Barry as defensive coordinator.
Young said he heard from some of the team’s offensive linemen that Callahan talked about plans to bring an increased physicality to the offense. And Robinson said that during his brief address of his unit, Barry shared plans to use a more aggressive an attacking approach on defense.
Young said he and his teammates and coaches aren’t focusing on last year’s failures although they can learn from some of those experiences. However, the majority of the talk on Monday centered around changes and a desire to improve, which all parties involved aim to do.
Robinson agreed.
The big turnout “shows everybody’s committed to fixing the issues we had last year and the year before, just not winning enough games,” Robinson said. “I want to be part of the solution in helping winning some games and I’m sure they want to be a part of it as well. That’s why everyone was here to hear what coach Gruden had to say, see the new coaches, see the new strength staff, see what the expectations will be and then build up on that as the offeseason goes along.”
Two weeks from now, Phase 2 of the offseason work begins. That segment will last three weeks and is limited to individual on-field work. No live contact or offense vs. defense drills are permitted.
Phase 3 is a four-week period that features 10 days of non-contact practices. Those sessions will take place May 26-28, June 2-4 and June 8-11. The team’s mandatory minicamp will take place June 16-18.
I like the sound of that.
Andre Carter wrote:Damn man, you know your football.
yupchagee wrote:Talk is cheap. We've heard this before.
Yeah honestly I kinda feel like we heard this exactly last off season. Even so, I like the 100% participation, and I'm glad the WRs seem to be getting behind Robert again.
I'm not really expecting it, but I would still love to see RGIII bounce back and become the guy we thought he was going to be.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You can't do epic **** with basic people." - DJax "We're on the rise, man, whether you're on the train or not." - Josh Norman
yupchagee wrote:Talk is cheap. We've heard this before.
Yeah honestly I kinda feel like we heard this exactly last off season. Even so, I like the 100% participation, and I'm glad the WRs seem to be getting behind Robert again.
I'm not really expecting it, but I would still love to see RGIII bounce back and become the guy we thought he was going to be.
I am.
I know he got a pretty good zip on the ball. He has a quick release. . . once I seen a coupla' throws, I was just like 'Yeah, he's that dude.'"
riggofan wrote:I'm not really expecting it, but I would still love to see RGIII bounce back and become the guy we thought he was going to be.
I am.
Well I respect your optimism, sir. And I hope you're right!
I'll say one thing. If RGIII is the starter week 1 vs. the Dolphins, he'll have my full support. I just want to win.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "You can't do epic **** with basic people." - DJax "We're on the rise, man, whether you're on the train or not." - Josh Norman
