Ashburn, Va. — Running back Roy Helu, Jr. and linebacker Will Compton are both former Nebraska Cornhuskers. They sat today, their lockers next to each other, and chatted while players floated in and out of the locker room coming from exit interviews or physicals and stopping to clean out their spaces.
Today marks the official end of the Washington Redskins’ 2014 season. Head coach Jay Gruden’s inaugural term here did not go as well as anticipated and, when looking back on the first day of training camp, it feels like last July was six years ago rather than six months.
When teams have as tough a year as the Redskins did, winning only four of 16 games, it makes for sometimes difficult interviews with them. There were times when talking to those same guys today felt as if there was nothing more to say. It had all been said.
Guys that hadn’t been seen around Redskins Park recently came in to take care of business — linebackers Brian Orakpo and Adam Hayward were at the facility for instance. Having not been around for the worst of the season, they didn’t avoid the media as adamantly as some guys who had been talking to us week-in and week-out. But even the main stays on the team spoke pretty readily to the media. I supposed when one is leaving for a long time, one can think “why not?”
Recently Gruden has been on the hot seat with all of the losing but players have said outright that they liked playing for him. Unlike the media’s attitude about the things that Gruden said earlier in the season regarding quarterback Robert Griffin III’s fundamentals needing work, guys indicated that, because of their leader’s honesty, they knew what was expected from him and they appreciated this. More than player this season said that, if someone is offended or traumatized by criticism from a coach, they shouldn’t be in the NFL.
It is, of course, the losing that begets the spectacle that became the burgundy and gold this season.
“I’ve been around a lot of drama too,” Hayward, also a special teams standout, said today, “and there is a lot here. We’ve got a lot of stuff going on trying to find out who’s going to play here, who’s going to do this… all that [stuff] with [defensive coordinator Jim Haslett] and the media. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can do about that except keep playing and, like I said earlier, it goes back to the [fact that the] year’s over so we can start fresh and get all that stuff out of the way.
“But this team’s good,” he went on. “I mean, you’ve got a coach like Jay, you want to play for that guy. You want to leave it on the field for him. When you’ve got a guy like that, you’re going to have a good team; you’re going to have a good atmosphere… that’s what I love about it here.”
With a season like this, certainly some of the players will take a look at themselves and figure out what they need to improve on. It’s no surprise that one of the guys who has done this is fullback Darrel Young, who has always been really good to the media and really honest in his assessments of himself and the team. He was asked if there was an aspect of his own game he wanted to work on in the offseason.
“Yea, finishing blocks,” he said without hesitation. “Helping out for another second. You know what you’re going to get from your linemen at the first level, what’s going to happen. Next to the trenches, good things happen, bad things happen. But the big runs are what happen on the next level with the linebackers and in the secondary. So, for me? Personally, I want to get the hell out of [running back] Alfred [Morris’] way and be a better fullback, you know, open holes for him. Clear a region. Although, I really don’t know yet how to address that… I’ll have to talk to some of the guys that played the game… like a [former Redskins fullback] Mike Sellers or something. I don’t really know how you approach that but I’ll do some backs drills, getting stronger is a big thing… you know, just try to grow as a player.”
When you consider that a lot of these guys have been playing this very violent job in earnest for four months; and working hard before that from the time they start strength and conditioning/Organized Team Activities in May, mini-camps in June and training camp in July and August, it’s should not be a surprise that they are ready to get out of there after the last game. Especially after a tough season like the Redskins have endured with no playoffs in sight (those obviously change the perspective). But a lot of them aren’t excited to get away because of the misery of this job, they are glad to get away to start over… to start a fresh slate and begin it all over again with a new hope.
Helu has been a really productive player for the franchise since being drafted by them in the fourth round of the 2011 NFL Draft, especially on third down and receiving out of the backfield. He has 10 touchdowns here, seven rushing and three receiving, and shows a lot of courage and shiftiness on the field while working for yards after catches or just getting up the field.
The former Cornhusker is looking forward to three weeks off of nothing but NFL/college football playoffs and gaining back some of the weight he lost this season. How will he do this? By eating… a LOT. He joked that for at least three weeks, he won’t even look at a training weight, saying that his “gaze will be on food.”
Helu also realizes that this is going to be a different kind of offseason than he has had in the past.
“This is the most different offseason I’m transitioning into because I’m a free agent,” he said as we talked quietly by his locker, “so it’s more exciting than any other offseason I’ve had. I’m blessed in that I did get a lot of opportunities this year so I don’t know where I’ll be next year but that’s alright.”
Helu will likely be open-minded about whatever comes down the pike depending on the conditions.
Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams was at his locker on crutches, in a walking boot and clearly sore from that high ankle sprain suffered the day before in the loss against the Dallas Cowboys (he had an MRI scheduled at the time of the interview). He had summed up the ending of the season best the day before when, after losing their 11th game of the season said he was ‘glad it was over.’ But, despite the pain of this 2014 season, there is always learning to be had by the players… especially about themselves. Williams feels that a couple of the wins that the team had this year were real tests of the players’ character and anytime there is evidence of that, there is hope that this will be the team that comes to play in future games. And despite the record, he feels some hope in the coming season since Gruden apparently isn’t going anywhere.
“Yea,” Williams joked when asked if he was a little more positive about 2015 than he was at this time last season, “because there was moving boxes outside the facility last time we did this,” obviously referring to former head coach Mike Shanahan’s exit from the organization.
This is a bittersweet time for some players and a relief for others. For guys like wide out Santana Moss, a beloved Redskin who has been a consistent contributor and willing to do whatever the organization asked of him, it could be his last day in the building as a member of the 53-man roster. Veteran safety Ryan Clark, playing most of the season hurt but not complaining about it, realizes he will likely not be back. You won’t catch him complaining about that however… you’ll hear him stating what a blessing it has been to play the game for so long.
Others, like undrafted free agent Will Compton, are hoping to capitalize on the bit of playing time they had in 2014 and turn a “fill-in” status to “starter” in the offseason.
“I believe so, I do,” Compton said yesterday when asked if he had seized the opportunity afforded him when he started some games after teammates had been injured. “What you look forward to now is a sense of urgency in the offseason as far as going to work, being disciplined with everything, you know… your mind, your body, all that stuff. [It’s] not like I wasn’t before but the level raises as you see more of an opportunity, more of an incentive and that’s what I’m excited about. I’ll look forward to coming in and competing next year.”
Despite the fact that Gruden and Haslett still had their jobs at the time the media vacated Redskins Park today, fans should expect wholesale changes by the time training camp starts next August. Gruden said as much today during his presser.
“We do have to make some changes,” the coach said today during his last press conference of the season. “I promise you this – this will not be the same football team, football staff right now that we’re going to have the start of next year. So we’re going to have a lot of changes that are done and made and hopefully for the better.”
No doubt about it, 2014 was another extremely tough year for a franchise that, save for 2012, seems to only have tough years. Some mistakes were made by many this year but some stars shone bright as well. Middle linebacker Keenan Robinson came into his own and was an impact player. The same goes for rookie cornerback Bashaud Breeland who got the starting job when veteran DeAngelo Hall went down with an Achilles injury. Wide out DeSean Jackson has been the most impactful free agent probably to sign with this team in a decade and safety Phillip Thomas showed some improvement from the first time he started in place of veteran Brandon Meriweather to the last game. Linebacker Ryan Kerrigan continues to develop as an amazing pass rusher.
These are all the type of building-block-players that Jay Gruden needs to go forward with.
There is a LOT that needs to be done in the offseason to improve this team. The defense needs at least one lineman and a minimum of a couple of starters added to the secondary. The team needs to find a right tackle to work opposite Williams and protect whatever quarterback ends up winning what will likely be an open competition this coming offseason. The team does have a first round draft pick… finally (number five) with which to either draft a starter or use to trade for more picks. This is what they need to make a difference on this roster. The Redskins finally have some money (not as much as they need due to certain salaries still in the building but that could change) which they can use on some free agents. But it would be best for Washington to begin building from the draft, adding depth and developing its own players. And, it would be nice to get a real player personnel in the building.
As Gruden goes into his second year, we shall see how much he changes things. He seems to have learned a little about being a head coach as opposed to an offensive coordinator and, because he is a smart guy, he hopefully won’t make many mistakes twice. Who knows yet what will happen with the much maligned Jim Haslett? The media meets with President and General Manager Bruce Allen on Wednesday so that may be revealed then.
All we know is that the 2014 season is finally over for the burgundy and gold and, with as short as the offseason seems now, the 2015 season isn’t far behind. All the team and Redskins Nation can do is move forward.
Hail.