Don't Panic,Yet
So is it time for ardent Washington Redskins followers to be alarmed about the ragged look of the team's offense in two preseason games? Not yet.
And it's not so much about Coach Joe Gibbs's desire to run a "vanilla" offense during the exhibition season to keep his secrets safe for the regular season. It's about Gibbs sticking to the basics so that he can evaluate players.
Once the games begin to count, Gibbs undoubtedly will come up with a weekly offensive wrinkle or two for which his opponent didn't prepare. That was the hallmark of his first go-around with the Redskins that produced three Super Bowl titles.
For now, though, Gibbs isn't even trying to do that. His offense is running the most basic of plays, with the simplest of blocking schemes. Gibbs's coaches know that they could help players with a more creative scheme, but they don't want to do that in the preseason because that way they wouldn't necessarily find out which of their players can really play and which can't. So, the coaches have their blockers lining up and going head to head with defenders to see which players win the individual battles.
The truly meaningful work of installing the real offense now is being done in closed-door practices. Gibbs probably will have to show just a bit more of his hand as the preseason progresses so that his players get to work on some things under game conditions. But people in the inner circle at Redskins Park aren't worried -- although they would like to see better execution of the simple plays by the front-line offensive players. Quarterback Mark Brunell finally took a step forward with his 61-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Darnerien McCants in the third quarter of Saturday night's 23-20 overtime loss to the Carolina Panthers at FedEx Field.
But the other competitor in the starting-quarterback derby, Patrick Ramsey, continues to struggle. Ramsey appears to be playing to avoid mistakes instead of cutting loose on his throws, and he has done nothing to take advantage of Brunell's early-camp struggles. He probably must score a decisive victory to take the job from the veteran.
At least now the murmurs about Tim Hasselbeck entering the quarterback competition can cease after his two-interception outing Saturday.
Going, Going ...
There is growing impatience at Redskins Park with safety Ifeanyi Ohalete, the former starter who lost his job to Andre Lott (and, soon, to Sean Taylor) and his jersey number to Clinton Portis. He was beaten for one of the two long touchdown catches by Panthers rookie wide receiver Keary Colbert on Saturday. Coaches have become increasingly disenchanted with his attitude, and he could be released even before the NFL-mandated roster cutdowns if he doesn't pull things together quickly.
--By Mark Maske
I can't believe Iffy may be cut. I didn't know he had any type of attitude problem. Besides getting burned deep, he was aggressive in his pursuit towards the ball and made a few tackles. I hope he doesn't get cut. He's a really good talent.
