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Smoke Signals: ‘Is there a rivalry?’ edition
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http://dcprosportsreport.com/?p=2072
| December 5, 2008
Chris Samuels, Washington’s 5-time Pro Bowl left tackle, is dealing with intense pain in his right knee every minute of every hour of every day. Only rest will will ease the pain, but rest is the one thing Samuels cannot afford to do while the Redskins are fighting for a playoff spot. So Head Coach Jim Zorn allows Samuels to take limited work in practice during the week to spare his knee more wear and tear and then he goes out every weekend and plays like a star in the game.“He’s fought through a lot of pain every week,” Zorn said. “He understands that it’s not a structural injury, so his is pain tolerance. He gets a [pain] shot and we get after it. We try to heat it up. We try to keep him warm as the game rolls along. Some series are better than others, I will tell you that. He’s good enough to play, even though he’s banged up.”
Healthy enough to complete the schedule and possibly play in the postseason?
“I’m not going to predict that,” Zorn said. “I would love that to happen, but I’m not going to predict that.”
Speaking of the offensive line, the Redskins will once again line up against a 3-4 defense, a good one at that. Focus again shifts to C Casey Rabach and taking on a nose tackle, Haloti Ngata.“Casey knows what he has to do,” offensive line coach Joe Bugel said. “He has to play low, low, low to the ground. You’ve got to get your pad level down, or you’ll be in the quarterback’s mustache. It’s a challenge, but if your center can’t block one-on-one, you’ve got a lot of problems. Casey’s playing at a high level. He’s having his best season.”
This is the second article I read that hints at strong consideration for Rabach for the Pro Bowl. You know, I always am thrilled to write about guys like Chris Cooley, Clinton Portis, and Chris Samuels, heck, even Ethan Albright, when they make the pro bowl, but for Rabach, I just don’t see what everyone else sees. I don’t think Rabach has had a particularly great season, I just don’t. QB Jason Campbell has been a victim of 32 sacks, some of which have come directly up the middle. I don’t see it. I guess some members of theWarpath.net will let me know if I am wrong. One thing is for sure, Rabach came over to Washington as a free agent from Baltimore, and Rabach is fired up for his return to Ravens stadium.
As expected, TB Clinton Portis ' sat out practice with a stiff neck and who knows how many other injuries. CB Shawn Springs', who has played in only half of Washington’s games this season, also sat out practice due to his calf injury. Zorn remains optimistic that Springs will play Sunday night.
One thing HC Jim Zorn does well — he gets fired up. Something Redskins aren’t used to seeing a head coach, given the calm, fatherly type persona of Joe Gibbs. But, Zorn even felt he had to apologize to his assistants for outbursts on the sidelines last week.
“I think I can be fiery and competitive,” Zorn said Thursday, “but I’d rather encourage in that sense and not whine, and I think I was whining. It was just little trivial things. That even makes me think about it right now — how frustrating that must be to another person to get attacked for trying to do his job well for no particular reason other than he happened to be the next guy in my way. That’s not a good reason to do that.
“If that’s what’s going on inside of me, then I’ve got struggles, I’ve got problems. That’s why I sound like I’m frustrated about it.”
Hey Coach — don’t fret it. We were screaming at our TVs!
Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache thinks highly of Baltimore QB Joe Flacco, a rookie running an offense that has produced 8 more touchdowns than the Washington offense.“For a young quarterback to come in and do all the things he’s done in this league is exceptional,” Blache said. “His ability to read the coverages, to manage the offense, to handle pressure and pressure situations, I think the guy’s done a phenomenal job.
“And the coaches have done a good job of giving him packages and giving him things that fit him and allow him to grow faster than a lot of other people. They didn’t force a system on him. I think they created a system around him that allowed him to be the best that he could be.”
Flacco has completed 61 percent of his passes and thrown more touchdowns [12] than interceptions [9]. He destroyed the Cincinnati Bengals defense last week. Washington’s defense is a lot better than Cincinnati’s, but the one thing proven to work against rookie quarterbacks — a pass rush — is the one thing Washington’s defense is least likely to have on Sunday night. Look for Blache to try to make up for this with new looks and lots of fake blitzes. Real blitzes might be in order, but Blache seems loathe to do that more than a few times a game.
