bubba9497 Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Secondary turns over By Jody Foldesy THE WASHINGTON TIMES http://www.washtimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20050619-011346-3647r Sean Taylor is facing jail time. Fred Smoot is stockpiling parkas in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. And Matt Bowen shredded his right knee just eight months ago. Problems, questions and issues abound for the Washington Redskins' secondary, which anchored last season's third-ranked defense and was a big reason the team didn't finish worse than 6-10. But there is seemingly no concern a slump is in the offing. "The only concern is that it's not as loud in the meeting rooms without Fred there anymore," Bowen said with a laugh. "We'll be fine. We've got a lot of guys that are great football players and that work well together as a unit. I think that's the best thing about our defense: Not one guy is going to stand out. Everyone is going to feed off of each other and play well." As the club yesterday underwent the second of three days of minicamp practices, an egalitarian spirit remained the defense's calling card and the best argument against the secondary's fortunes hinging on Taylor's criminal proceedings. No one knows whether Taylor will be available, Bowen will stay healthy and rookie cornerback Carlos Rogers will be fully up to speed when training camp opens July 31. But big plays last year by Walt Harris, Ryan Clark and even Garnell Wilds -- the last of whom helped shut down Randy Moss in the season finale -- created expectations that any holes will be ably plugged. "Last year, if you would have asked me [about this situation], I would have been like, 'Hmmm. I don't know,' " linebacker Marcus Washington said. "But I always go back to Garnell. The guy comes in, last game of the season, against Randy Moss ... and did a great job. That's the kind of team we have and want to be known around the league as: If one guy goes down, someone else is going to step up and play just as good or better." Taylor's case, for obvious reasons, leads the list of issues. He will be arraigned Friday, and the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office is expected to prosecute him for two felony charges of aggravated assault with a firearm. It remains likely Taylor will have his case continued through the season, enabling him to play. But several key unknowns remain, including the fact Judge Mary Barzee could reject a continuance. The Redskins thus remain on guard for Taylor's absence. Assistant head coach for defense Gregg Williams, who emphatically supported Taylor when Taylor was skipping the offseason workout program, didn't change his tone much yesterday in his first comments since the arrest. "I'm still a Sean Taylor fan," Williams said. "There's a lot of things you all still don't know behind the scenes that I do know. I'll just leave it at that." If Taylor is unavailable, the club would turn to Clark, Andre Lott, Pierson Prioleau or newly signed Tony Dixon, all of whom have started in the NFL. Said Bowen: "We'd all love to have Sean. But we're working with the guys we have. That's how you play football." Smoot's departure to the Minnesota Vikings followed Washington's decision to hold the line in contract negotiations. Harris, a veteran who recovered from a tricky knee surgery by the end of last season and proved he was still a starting-caliber cornerback, provided the courage to do so. Williams said Harris has enjoyed a "tremendous offseason." Rogers, the draft's ninth overall pick, impressed coaches by practicing Thursday and Friday on an ankle sprain before being held out yesterday. And young players like Wilds and Rufus Brown make coaches think the talent pipeline is strong. With such options available, the Redskins long only for Smoot's jovial nature. "[What] we're going to miss is how he talks trash in the locker room," cornerback Shawn Springs said. "We're going to miss him cracking jokes. But with Walt playing on the other side and Carlos coming in and contributing, I think we'll be just fine." Bowen's ACL has been healed for some time. He was back for last month's organized team activities, even though his original target date to return was tomorrow. Neither he nor the club seems to have much lingering concern about the ligament he ruptured in October. "Our biggest worry with Matt is grabbing him by the collar and holding him back," Williams said. "We had to make sure he took less reps in practice, and [we] finally had to say, 'You don't practice tomorrow.' Those are fun guys to coach." Fun remains the operative word for the secondary, even though three-quarters of the starting unit has reason to believe 2005 won't be as good as 2004. Players and coaches could be choking on problems, questions and issues, but they see only solutions. Perhaps Williams summed it up best while discussing linebacker LaVar Arrington, who last season was at once Washington's biggest star and a total nonfactor. "The Redskin organization, the Redskin emblem, the Redskin defense, whatever it is, is more important than any one individual," Williams said. "We proved that last year." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsTillIDie Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 "The Redskin organization, the Redskin emblem, the Redskin defense, whatever it is, is more important than any one individual. We proved that last year." In the past, with Snyder running the show, the Redskins were about the individual. Now, with Gibbs and co. back, this is all about team. As evidenced in the excellent reports from TK + Tarhog, this group really is about the Redskin franchise, and not necessarily about themselves. We made that clear to guys like Coles and Gardner, players who would openly complain about the system in the locker room, and Smoot, who wasn't willing to take a slightly smaller amount of money to help this team win. I love the new Redskins, and this is the type of attitude that brings Super Bowls. Throughout this offseason, I've tried to keep my hopes and expectations down, but I just can't. We've made all the right moves, despite what so called 'experts' in the media think. We've achieved fiscal responsibility and have cut dead wood. I've got a great feeling about this year, and I, for once, don't feel like I am wearing rose-tinted glasses, following blind optimism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 One or two line sound clips from Coach Williams are nice, but if you haven't heard the entire thing straight from him, see the audio we have in the Day 2 thread. You owe it to yourself to give it a listen in its entirety. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinsTillIDie Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Originally posted by TK-IV II I One or two line sound clips from Coach Williams are nice, but if you haven't heard the entire thing straight from him, see the audio we have in the Day 2 thread. You owe it to yourself to give it a listen in its entirety. I would if I could, but unfortunately, my sound is currently not working. I've reinstalled the software, but it may be a problem with the actual speakers... Anyways, tomorrow I'll get to the bottom of this and trust me, I plan on listening to every sound clip available. Keep up the great work and I look forward to reading (and hopefully listening) to your breakthroughs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCS:BraveCaringSoul Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 "I'm still a Sean Taylor fan," Williams said. "There's a lot of things you all still don't know behind the scenes that I do know. I'll just leave it at that." Hmmm... Paging Andyman! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvoSkins Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 "Our biggest worry with Matt is grabbing him by the collar and holding him back," Williams said. "We had to make sure he took less reps in practice, and [we] finally had to say, 'You don't practice tomorrow.' Those are fun guys to coach." Bowen is a beast and I like it when I hear that you have to hold someone back in practice. Good intensity translates into good play on gameday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kansas_SkinsFan Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 im guessing Sean trial will be like Kobes was, where kobe still had to deal with his legal ordeal but still was able to play during the season. what did it mean in the article when it said the judge might not allow a continueance? whats that mean? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bat~man Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Originally posted by Kansas_SkinsFan im guessing Sean trial will be like Kobes was, where kobe still had to deal with his legal ordeal but still was able to play during the season. what did it mean in the article when it said the judge might not allow a continueance? whats that mean? it means the judge might not allow the case to continue over past the season and make it go to trial sooner , meaning we wont have him some or all of this season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.