Washington Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Manusky is an interesting guy. A man of few words at the podium, he is firey with his guys. His players respect him because he’s been there. Having played linebacker for 10 years (from 1988 to 1999), he knows the ‘player life…’ at least to the extent of the few similarities between being a player then and one now. But he has also been a coach for many years, running the defenses for the San Francisco 49ers, then-San Diego Chargers and Indianapolis Colts.
The game that the Redskins played Monday night is going to be hard to put behind them but they must. The 3-1 Carolina Panthers are coming to town off a close 33-31 victory over the New York Giants. With the Redskins holding on to a slim lead in the NFC East, a win Sunday over another NFC opponent could be important come December.
Even though most people are looking forward to the next game by this time in the week, since the media doesn’t get to talk to Manusky until Thursdays, the previous contest is many times the subject of his press conferences. And after a loss like the one Monday night against the New Orleans Saints (43-19), there were most definitely questions. In particular, today there were questions about the mistakes and penalties that happened during the game and questions about cornerback Josh Norman — among other things.
“No, I just think it was a miscommunication on the part of…,” Manusky said about the play and his player. “We just didn’t play the right coverage. It showed and [Saints QB Drew] Brees hit it and made a good play.”
Norman is a unique personality. He’s an extremely hard worker, passionate and not afraid to say what he thinks. In a conference call with Panthers head coach Ron Rivera this week, the coach praised Norman’s confidence, work ethic and character. Ultimately, he said that when the Panthers let Norman get away, they believed the ‘lost something special.’
It’s that confidence and work ethic that Manusky is counting on going forward.
“Very good,” the defensive coordinator said of how his CB was handling the criticism that he’s endured this week. “I mean today he had a really good practice. He’s focused, he’s detailed, and I think the whole defense was that way today. It was good to get back out on the field and make sure we fix those wrongs that we had the other night. So, it was a good practice today.”
One of the most frustrating things about the loss to the Saints was that the mistakes came at the most inopportune times.
On another of them (besides Norman’s), Redskins OLB Ryan Kerrigan sacked Brees but Redskins safety Montae Nicholson drew an unnecessary roughness penalty on Saints running back Mark Ingram after the QB went down. Manusky was understandably unhappy about it and, in his colorful way, let his defensive back know.
“There were a lot of curse words in there,” Manusky said, after which laughter erupted in the room. “Sometimes you get tied up in the moment and I understand that, as a player, sometimes that does happen. But you can’t let that anger or whatever frustration that you have when you are there dictate a penalty and have the offense go [back] out there. You can’t do those stupid penalties, especially on a third-down situation where they can gain a first down. And that’s what they did. [There were] a couple curse words in there, but overall, still love the kid.”
In the end, moving on to beat the Panthers will require that the entire organization assess and regroup. Like Redskins QB Alex Smith said earlier in the week, they (the players) can’t be naïve about things. They need to be honest about the mistakes, look in the mirror and each do their part to fix it.
Manusky is a man of few words but when he does speak, it’s generally short and to the point.
“We didn’t play good at all across the board,” he said of Monday’s loss. “Even Jay [Gruden] mentioned it. Has anybody played good in the room? Nobody has. Nobody did. We didn’t coach good enough, we didn’t play good enough. And it’s a learning experience for us and we’ve got to make sure that we come out this week and make sure we perform at a high level, compared to how we performed Monday night.”