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And it's not because of the foot.

ESPN

Zorn also broke the news that Stephon Heyer is on the verge of winning the job at right tackle over veteran Jon Jansen -- and that it has nothing to do with Jansen's foot injury. Zorn was apparently pleased that Heyer fought through an injury of his own and played well against Jacksonville on Thursday.

Washington Post

Right tackle Jon Jansen is fighting for his job with Stephon Heyer. Zorn made it very clear that Jansen is in a battle and could be replaced by Heyer at some point. Jansen is the longest-serving Redskin player and received a big new contract after the 2006 season. Jansen has struggled in pass protection and Heyer was hurt but played well Thursday night, earning a lot of praise from Zorn.

Even if Jansen gets healthy - and Zorn said it's not certain that his foot will allow him to play next week - Heyer is pushing him.

I like Heyer a lot, but I cannot be the only one who remembers him getting destroyed by Patrick Kearney in the playoffs, correct? I'm more than a little frightened at this prospect.

And another unhappy tidbit is that it looks like Malcolm Kelly is headed to the IR and be out for the season.

This could be great for Kelly. If he goes on IR he'll have a year to sit and learn the plays and learn from our veteran WR's.

As for Heyer, I think it's about time he took over. Jansen has lost a step since the 05 season. Good move to start going young.

Heyer is still a young kid with a lot of upside. Jansen's got the expirience, but has battled a lot of unfortunate injuries the past couple of years.

If Heyer is playing better, he should get the start.

Having Jansen as a back-up isn't necessarily a bad thing if Heyer is playing well enough.

Wow. That's huge!

PulpExposure wrote:
I like Heyer a lot, but I cannot be the only one who remembers him getting destroyed by Patrick Kearney in the playoffs, correct? I'm more than a little frightened at this prospect.

And another unhappy tidbit is that it looks like Malcolm Kelly is headed to the IR and be out for the season.

First of all, and I'm not saying this is untrue, but let's consider the source.
Secondly, who didn't get blown up by Patrick Kearney last season?

From Redskins.com:

Jim Zorn said Kelly could be a candidate for Injured Reserve or the Physically Unable to Perform list when the Redskins finalize their roster.

“We have to develop a plan for him,” Zorn said. “I don’t know what that is going to entail. It’s one of the key decisions we have to make. His talent is there and we recognize it. We recognize that he’s almost back.


“I don’t know if we can afford to keep him active unless we can predict and he can predict he can come through.”

The decision must come by Saturday at 6 p.m. ET, when NFL teams must establish their 53-man roster.

Bob 0119 wrote:Heyer is still a young kid with a lot of upside. Jansen's got the expirience, but has battled a lot of unfortunate injuries the past couple of years.

If Heyer is playing better, he should get the start.

I agree, but I can't see Heyer improving to the point where he'd beat out a healthy Jansen. Jansen walked right into a starting job here in DC, and has been dominant for the most part. I think this says more about how Jansen is still recovering from his injury, than it does about Heyer's ability.

Having Jansen as a back-up isn't necessarily a bad thing if Heyer is playing well enough.

With Jansen having the 5th biggest cap figure on the team, and having signed a pretty hefty contract extension in 2006, you don't expect him not to be starting.

GSPODS wrote:
Secondly, who didn't get blown up by Patrick Kearney last season?

Kearney absolutely dominated Heyer in that game, to an extent you don't see very often. Aside from that game, Heyer needed help the entire year; our offense is going to be pretty poor if he's going to need the TE or RB to stay in and help him block.

I thought he performed courageously last year, but he was most certainly the weakest link on our offensive line. Unless he's suddenly infused with the spirit of Joe Jacoby, I can't see how this doesn't represent a significant degradation of our o-line.

Sounds like maybe Zorn is trying to light a fire under JJ's backside.
And send a message to the team; nobody's job is safe if you're not performing. Plus he is praising Heyer for playing hurt.

PulpExposure wrote:

GSPODS wrote:
Secondly, who didn't get blown up by Patrick Kearney last season?

Kearney absolutely dominated Heyer in that game, to an extent you don't see very often. Heyer needed help the entire year; our offense is going to be pretty poor if he's going to need the TE or RB to stay in and help him block.

I thought he performed courageously last year, but he was most certainly the weakest link on our offensive line. Unless he's suddenly infused with the spirit of Joe Jacoby, I can't see how this doesn't represent a significant degradation of our o-line.

There's also a rumor that Andrew Crummey is taking Todd Wade's roster spot, so it could get even more "interesting" at the offensive line.
I agree Heyer got hammered but wasn't that the game where everyone was playing injured? Or did it just seem that way? I don't think Heyer is as good as this article claims, but I also don't think he's as bad as the game against Kearney would indicate. I think he's somewhere in between.

JSPB22 wrote:Sounds like maybe Zorn is trying to light a fire under JJ's backside.
And send a message to the team; nobody's job is safe if you're not performing. Plus he is praising Heyer for playing hurt.

I would agree. Zorn is playing the media to get what he wants out of Jansen, like a savvy detective releasing information to draw out a serial killer (sorry, I watch too much Law and Order).

If Malcom goes on IR, I'll be extremely disappointed.

Chris Luva Luva wrote:If Malcom goes on IR, I'll be extremely disappointed.

I'd use a different word, one I can't post here, but I agree.
It may give McMullen and Mix opportunities but that isn't the ideal situation. Even if the Redskins are going to have a two to three year learning curve, that curve needs to start ASAP for the drafted rookies, I think. A year on IR puts a rookie way behind the curve.

Kearney absolutely dominated Heyer in that game, to an extent you don't see very often. Aside from that game, Heyer needed help the entire year; our offense is going to be pretty poor if he's going to need the TE or RB to stay in and help him block.


I thought he performed courageously last year, but he was most certainly the weakest link on our offensive line. Unless he's suddenly infused with the spirit of Joe Jacoby, I can't see how this doesn't represent a significant degradation of our o-line.

Excellent post. Couldn't agree more.

As for Kelly, there is nothing for him to be gained by sitting out and "learning" for a year. He isn't a qb. The only way that he is going to improve is by playing. Losing him for the season would be a blow considering how weak our talent is at the wr position.

Kelly needs to get his rear end out there, and Jansen losing his spot is a direct challenge to his desire to play this game, you wanna be on espn then go, you wanna be a Redskin? Get in gear.

CanesSkins26 wrote:

Kearney absolutely dominated Heyer in that game, to an extent you don't see very often. Aside from that game, Heyer needed help the entire year; our offense is going to be pretty poor if he's going to need the TE or RB to stay in and help him block.


I thought he performed courageously last year, but he was most certainly the weakest link on our offensive line. Unless he's suddenly infused with the spirit of Joe Jacoby, I can't see how this doesn't represent a significant degradation of our o-line.

Excellent post. Couldn't agree more.

As for Kelly, there is nothing for him to be gained by sitting out and "learning" for a year. He isn't a qb. The only way that he is going to improve is by playing. Losing him for the season would be a blow considering how weak our talent is at the wr position.

But you have to understand the team's position. You can't hold a roster spot open for a maybe. Stashing him on IR, gives him a chance to heal, but keeps him a Redskin, while letting us keep another player who is on the bubble.

I still don't think that Heyer is a better alternative at this point than Jansen. He's good in a pinch, but to replace and established veteran without given Jansen time to knock the rust off isn't fair.

VetSkinsFan wrote:I still don't think that Heyer is a better alternative at this point than Jansen. He's good in a pinch, but to replace and established veteran without given Jansen time to knock the rust off isn't fair.

Fair? This is the NFL. Players are cut for getting injured. JJ needs to get his act together. Bottom line is that he hasn't been the same player for a few years now, not just this preseason. If he can't cut it then he needs to sit the bench. Unfortunately, we don't exactly have another viable starting option. PulpExposure is right on about the drawbacks of playing Heyer.

JSPB22 wrote:

CanesSkins26 wrote:

Kearney absolutely dominated Heyer in that game, to an extent you don't see very often. Aside from that game, Heyer needed help the entire year; our offense is going to be pretty poor if he's going to need the TE or RB to stay in and help him block.


I thought he performed courageously last year, but he was most certainly the weakest link on our offensive line. Unless he's suddenly infused with the spirit of Joe Jacoby, I can't see how this doesn't represent a significant degradation of our o-line.

Excellent post. Couldn't agree more.

As for Kelly, there is nothing for him to be gained by sitting out and "learning" for a year. He isn't a qb. The only way that he is going to improve is by playing. Losing him for the season would be a blow considering how weak our talent is at the wr position.

But you have to understand the team's position. You can't hold a roster spot open for a maybe. Stashing him on IR, gives him a chance to heal, but keeps him a Redskin, while letting us keep another player who is on the bubble.

In that case they might not have wanted to draft a player with a history of knee injuries. I wanted the Skins to draft Kelly, but you have to wonder how much homework they did on his health if the guy is having surgery on a known problem area so soon into his tenure with the team.

As for his roster spot, I don't think that that is a huge deal. It's not like he hasn't been able to practice. He's been doing more work in practice so keeping him on the roster would give him some time to get healthy without ending his entire season (or a large portion of it). If it comes down to keeping a banged up Kelly than needs a little more time or a guy like Mix, I'd much rather not put Kelly on the IR.

(Tapping foot waiting for JF's response...)

i would much rather have jansen in but if heyer can prove he is the better player im all for it. however, i do remember the playoff game and we do play against demarcus ware, justin tuck, and osi umenyiora (not this year) twice a year. i dont know if he can handle them consistently yet

Re Heyer, I guess we'll see it when the games starts. Who knows, other than Zorn and the staff, whether he is playing mind-games with JJ or telling it straight.

I recall that Heyer improved as last season went along. Also that one of the coaches said that Heyer had strengthened himself over the off-season.

So...could be, and it could also be that JJ will return.

Kelley, now...that is sad. My son watched him last year, and saw a powerful talent. If the player did not have the internal drive to prepare himself for the NFL, then maybe the best thing is to put him on IR and let him stew.

Oh, and of course, rent him a room in Art Monk's house and hope that he learns just from being near Monk.

I'm not big on having Heyer in there at all. I've seen Jansen play better with a cast on both hands. He is a severe weakness in pass blocking.

jansen sucks............I rhink rhineheart would do just as well if not better than heyer

Jansen has just been hurt the past two years. When healthy Jansen is a stud at RT. Anyhow it is good to hear that Heyer has been improving.

Isn't Jansen healthy now? I thought he was. He doesn't look much like a stud to me...I'll take my chances with the kid...