The Washington Redskins 2016 offseason has finally progressed to the point where its first preseason game — against the Atlanta Falcons — is going to be played.
Not only will the coaching staff and front office be able to see how the young rookies respond to the bright lights of the NFL, they will be able to evaluate the conditioning and physical shape of the guys who play. It’s not always obvious that, while training camp practices can be grueling, the players don’t get the same number of consecutive snaps that they might in a real game. The issue of their stamina is a “thing.”
During this training camp so far, the team has had minimal injuries to players. Aside from the pre-training camp loss of LB Junior Galette, rookie LB Steven Daniels and the caution the team has taken with rookie WR Josh Doctson; the Redskins have only sustained minor bumps and bruises. I’ve been surprised at how many players have commented that Head Coach Jay Gruden and his staff have taken great care of them this training camp.
The good news with regard to tonight’s game is that the Redskins have been practicing in a pretty tough environment what with the heat and humidity that the city of Richmond, Va. provides in the summertime. They will be playing this game in the Falcons’ climate-controlled Georgia Dome. So it’s not the environment that concerns Washington’s head coach.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of preparation needed for [the indoor stadium environment],” Gruden said. “That’s easy. It’s a fast track, our receivers will love that. And the air-conditioner… the environment there will be premier for football and for these guys. So, I think the biggest thing to keep an eye on is how they handle their stamina, you know what I mean? When you get out in a game, guys will be playing more than three, four, five, six plays in a row and we’ll see how they handle it, the receivers, defensive backs, pass rushers. It will be good to see. It will be good work for us and we’ll see where we are exactly from a conditioning standpoint and from a skillset.”
It’s pretty amazing that there has been no drama to distract the players or coaches up to this point… unless one considers Gruden saying he didn’t know about CB Josh Norman doing a FOX pre-game show this season “drama.”
Folks that think so, please reconsider.
While Norman hasn’t taken a regular season snap for Washington, he is a veteran DB and a proven hard-worker. As well, while it could happen, he has made no promises to the network to make game-day appearances. Also, Gruden is, well… Gruden. While not “easy” as a coach, his well-publicized reaction at the podium when he was asked about the situation indicates that the situation was not dire. This franchise has seen real drama and the Norman thing is not it.
That both the players and the coaches have been able to concentrate on football and only football every day since the beginning of OTAs and minicamps is big. Daily press conference and interview questions to coaches and players concern typical position battles as opposed to whether a guy deserves to be the starting quarter back or not. Gruden has been asked about skill sets, rookie progression and player health rather than what a player or media person did or said or wrote. Like the benefit of these players working in their second or third year in the same system, this new phenomena of “no drama” for the Redskins should not be underestimated.
Gruden entering his third year running the Redskins appreciates a ‘humdrum’ training camp.
“Thanks,” he said when told things had been boring so far. “Well, we don’t want a three-ring circus out here, if that’s what you mean. I don’t know if it’s been like that in the past, probably when I first got here, but our goal is to coach football and play football. We’re trying to get the best out of our guys. We’re not trying to do any crazy stunts off the field. We just want to focus in on our job at hand and that is to get better every day. As a group – coaches alike, same as players – that’s all we’re trying to accomplish and I think so far we’re off to a great start. We have a long ways to go but all the off-the-field stuff and the entertainment value that people are looking for, hopefully they don’t find it here. We’re very business-like in our approach and we’re trying to rebound from last year’s loss to the Packers and repeat as NFC East champions and go a little bit further.”
The Redskins head coach doesn’t get enough credit for the way this team has changed since his arrival in 2014. Seriously think about it… instead of off-the-field concerns with players, Gruden — a Washington Redskins coach — can simply assess his players tonight.
How novel is that?