Brunell to Start Monday Night By Gary Fitzgerald Redskins.com September 25, 2004
Mark Brunell will start Monday night's game against the Dallas Cowboys, head coach Joe Gibbs said on Saturday. The veteran quarterback had been listed as questionable due to a hamstring injury suffered in last week's game against the New York Giants. But each day this week, the injury improved to the point that Brunell took the bulk of reps during Saturday afternoon's practice.
"Mark took two-thirds of the work [on Saturday] and looked good, so we'll start Mark," Gibbs said. "He took some work Friday and he felt okay. I think he feels comfortable with it. So hopefully he'll be ready to go."
Said Brunell: "Each day [the injury] has gotten better as I expected it would."
Gibbs said he made the decision to start Brunell during Saturday's practice.
"I made the decision this morning to let Mark take most of the work in practice," Gibbs said.
Brunell was confident in his preparation even though his reps were limited this week.
"Obviously, in practice, you'd like to get every rep, but I had a few more reps today than I did earlier in the week," Brunell said. "I know the game plan and I've watched a lot of film. So I'll be ready."
After two games, Brunell is 23-of-42 for 217 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He has been sacked only once.
Brunell injured his hamstring while scrambling out of the pocket during the third quarter of last week's 20-14 loss to the Giants.
Until Saturday, Patrick Ramsey, who will continue to back up Brunell, had taken most of the reps in practice this week.
Brunell is starting. I like Ramsey, but I feel better with Brunell in there.
Ramsey's time will come, but I don't know if he's ready.
Sweet. I was cautiously optimistic with Ramsey in there but if Brunell can learn to throw instead of overthrow then we'll be fine. I love his scrambling ability.
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JPFair wrote:That's good news. I was hoping for Brunell to start. I just don't think Ramsey is ready to go yet, especially on a game of this magnitude.
My only concern is for Ramseys psyche. Those three interceptions and his lousy pre-season might be harming his confidence.
I am very relieved that Brunell is going to lead this team. We had no hope of winning under Ramsey. But, you think Ramsey actually has confidence?
Last edited by hatsOFF2gibbs on Sat Sep 25, 2004 8:42 pm, edited 2 times in total.
