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WT: Rogers' Role Now is Clear


CRobi21

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http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...-now-is-clear/

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Rogers' role now is clear

David Elfin

THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Monday, March 2, 2009

As Washington's once-sparkling 2008 season ended in mediocrity, cornerback Carlos Rogers was seething. Rogers, who had been benched in Week 15, said he didn't want to remain with the Redskins in 2009 if he was going to be a backup.

A chat with ever-upbeat coach Jim Zorn had Rogers heading home feeling better about his place on the team. That role became clarified in Rogers' favor on Friday when the Redskins cut veteran cornerback Shawn Springs and his $6 million base salary after re-signing DeAngelo Hall, whose November arrival disrupted the dynamics at the position.

"It was never that I didn't like playing for the Redskins, but if all of us were coming back, I didn't want to be there because I would be a backup," Rogers said this weekend from Atlanta, where he became a father for the first time last week.

Rogers came back way ahead of schedule from major knee surgery in November 2007 to play at a Pro Bowl level in the first half of the 2008 season. But when Washington signed two-time Pro Bowl pick Hall on Nov. 6, there were four corners (counting former starter Fred Smoot) and only two starting jobs. And when Springs was fully healthy again Dec. 14 in Cincinnati, defensive coordinator Greg Blache demoted Rogers.

"It was like, 'Let's put Shawn in there. He'll go out there and make some plays,' but Cincinnati, one of the worst teams in the league, tore us up," Rogers said.

Rogers started at safety against Philadelphia in place of Chris Horton but was benched for the season finale at San Francisco.

"In the Philly game, we got back to the way we play, playing with that swag. And we won," Rogers said. "Then we got to San Francisco, and it wasn't the same and we lost."

Instead of being critical of Rogers' attitude, Zorn reassured him.

"It made me a feel lot better," Rogers said. "Coach Zorn's whole thing was, 'You're my starter. I want your mindset to be that you're coming back and that you're going to be the starter no matter who's here.' "

Zorn said last week that if the Redskins hadn't been able to re-sign Hall, Springs still would be with the club. Either way, Rogers' job was secure.

Secondary coach Jerry Gray remains close to Rogers, but the 27-year-old Auburn product hasn't talked to Blache since the year ended and doesn't feel a need to do so.

"With how things have panned out, there's probably nothing for me and him to talk about," Rogers said. "He felt that Shawn could make these plays and catch the ball. But every top receiver I faced, I shut down. ... Look at the guys in the Super Bowl. [Arizona All-Pro] Larry Fitzgerald had 37 yards on me until we went two-deep and he caught the long ball [on safety Reed Doughty]. I shut down [Pittsburgh Super Bowl MVP] Santonio Holmes until he caught that quick pass for 5 yards to the end zone in the fourth quarter."

Rogers, the ninth pick in the 2005 draft, is looking forward to being part of a regular tandem with Hall and to playing with newly signed defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. But Rogers remains indebted to Springs, who reportedly visited the New England Patriots on Sunday.

__________________________________________

From bubba over in the breaking news section. But I think is definately worth the read. Glad Los is coming back, and AWESOME to here Zorn's quotes of Zorn wanting Los as his starter!

:saber:

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I hope he continues to improve like he did last year and play with a chip on his shoulder. It would be best to re-sign him during the year if possible because it would be cheaper. Worst comes to worst I'm guessing we could franchise him and then talk long term next year. I'm assuming it depends on how Campbell plays because if he does well and they want both they'll only be able to franchise one (obviously) in order to give themselves time to make a deal.

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We are going to need to draft a CB late or something for some depth. Smoot is good as nickel, but if someone get hurt, we only have Tryon.

With a year of experience and this pre season i think Tryon should be ready to take over nickel duties in a year or two.

Also, Rogers is probably going to want an identical deal to Hall's if not more. We may run into a big problem there.

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With a year of experience and this pre season i think Tryon should be ready to take over nickel duties in a year or two.

Also, Rogers is probably going to want an identical deal to Hall's if not more. We may run into a big problem there.

Depending on whether or not 2010 is uncapped or not might be the difference between us keeping Rogers or having to let him walk.

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Still tough to believe something that I specifically wanted to happen over the off-season actually happened. Hall + Rogers = a great young corner duo that have both proven the ability to last through an entire season without small and lingering injuries.

Please no jinx

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We are going to need to draft a CB late or something for some depth. Smoot is good as nickel, but if someone get hurt, we only have Tryon.

We need to draft a corner for his replacement not just depth the dude is old... I think he is probably the best corner out of the 05 draft but I would rather have a 25yr old Marlin Jackson over 27yr LOS... Could be worse though I guess we could have drafted Mike Williams.

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We need to draft a corner for his replacement not just depth the dude is old... I think he is probably the best corner out of the 05 draft but I would rather have a 25yr old Marlin Jackson over 27yr LOS... Could be worse though I guess we could have drafted Mike Williams.
Huh?

He's maybe old by age, but not by his actual playing career. You can have a 25 year old Jackson- 27 year old Rogers is definitely better.

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Definatly would rather have LOS

I'm glad Rogers is back. He's about to have a monster year. Our secondary is great. We do need to draft a second day pick on a corner to compete with Tryon. He's got potential though. I like that he talks alot like Smoot but back it up like Smoot too.

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Sounds good to me. Hopefully they do some catching drills over the off-season with him. With the pressure the big Al is going to be getting them, there are bound to be a couple more balls thrown his way this year, and he sure as hell better hold onto them.

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What is with these coaches egos in this league?

Blache should call Rogers, talk to him EXACTLY as Zorn did, say they thought they had the best chance to get the last few miles out of Springs, youre our starter this year, impressed how you came back from injury, looking fwd to you making the probowl, lets teach you how to catch...see you soon love you buh bye.

DONE. Why do these guys need to be so secretive and harbor ill will?

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one good thing to note from this article is that Carlos knows the #1 concern about his play...

HIS STONE COLD HANDS...

he seems to relate his benching directly to his inability to catch the ball.. hopefully he will improve on that with greater focus...

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