Homer: Jammal Brown has unfinished business

[themurf]

(photo by Brian Murphy)

To put it kindly, the offensive line of the Washington Redskins has not been the franchise’s greatest asset over the last few years.

So when the Redskins made the move to acquire tackle Jammal Brown from the New Orleans Saints prior to the 2010 season, I was admittedly excited.

Sure, Brown missed the 2009 season while recovering from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip, but he was a two-time Pro Bowler who had definitely made a name for himself in this league.

Pairing him with rookie tackle Trent Williams gave Washington a legitimate opportunity to solidify the tackle positions for the foreseeable future, so I was okay with the Redskins giving up what turned out to be a third-round pick in the 2011 draft.

And then the season started.

Brown clearly wasn’t playing at his typical Pro Bowl level in the first half of the season, and there were even times when the coaches had him rotating with Stephon Heyer – who has never been confused for an elite NFL lineman.

Just as critics had done with the Donovan McNabb trade, you had to wonder if the Saints had fleeced Washington by dumping a former Pro Bowler before anyone realized he was no longer able to consistently play at that level on a daily basis anymore.

And Redskins fans weren’t the only ones wondering what the problem was. Brown now admits that he too had concerns about his play during the first half of the season, and says he met with a doctor during the season to ask “Am I ever going to play like myself again?”

Brown says he met with a specialist early in the season and that his doctor told him “once that scar tissue breaks up, it’s going to start feeling a lot better.” Fortunately for the six-year veteran, that happened right around the end of October and he began to finally show signs of the athletically-gifted player the Redskins hoped they were obtaining when they made the trade.

“He’s made tremendous strides throughout the season,” said head coach Mike Shanahan during the season. “I’d say at the halfway mark, you couldn’t tell if he was going to get well. And then it just happened.”

I caught up with Brown recently to talk about his thoughts on the 2010 season and, more importantly, his plans for this offseason when he can walk away from the franchise as a free agent.

“The season started off slow for me because I was still coming back from the injury,” he said. “Coming off of the surgery from last year and then with me playing right tackle, it was kind of hard on it because now I have to press off of that leg and that hip that I had surgery on. So I started off kind of slow, but midway through the season – from Detroit and on – I started feeling good.”

That’s something a lot of people didn’t really understand during the season. When Brown was a left tackle, he could play through a left hip injury because whenever he needed leverage or to push off, he did so with his right hip. Once he came to Washington and was converted to the right side, he was then forced to push off of his bad hip while it was less than 100 percent.

As you might guess, that makes it tougher to do the job effectively. The good news though – for Brown and for ‘Skins fans is that the 29-year-old feels great these days and says there are no lingering issues.

“The hip has no problems at all,” Brown said. “It feels brand new. I just had to get through the scar tissue stage and then midway through the season I started feeling like my old self. Hopefully my play speaks for itself because I feel like I was playing a lot better in the second half.”

At this point I openly admitted to Brown that, as a Redskins fan, it would be a shame to see him hobbled for half of the season and then leave town as soon as he fully recovers and returns to his Pro Bowl form.

“I want to be back here in Washington,” he said. “It’s a good place and Coach Shanahan is a proven coach. I like playing for him. We’ve got to get a few things ironed out at other positions, but I hope I’m able to stay here.”

The thought of the Redskins lining up you and Williams, a fellow Oklahoma Sooner who you’re very close with, as the bookend tackles for the next few years has to be exciting to you, right?

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[JGordon_3]

As long as he doesn't expect us to break the bank for him, I think he'd be a good guy to bring back, at the very least for depth. He did look a lot better in the second half and while I think we could do better at right tackle, if he was our third tackle, that could help us get rid of God-awful Stephon Heyer. Plus he played LT earlier with the Saints, so he'd be a good versatile guy to have. Plus, Trent Williams hasn't shown he can play 16 games or even 12-13 games without injury yet.

[CurseReversed]

It is pretty crazy that Shanny would give up what will turn out to be a third rounder for a guy whose contract was up in one year. I would have assumed they would have had some extension or resign worked out in advance. That still could be the case, it might just be some sort of unspoken or unreported agreement, but if it is indeed what it is being reported publicly, just one year, it doesn't sound smart at all.

Either way I would love to have him back at a reasonable contract. I dont think this is the time to be too frugal because we NEED to keep him, we have too many other holes too fill.

Thanks for the great articles and insight into the team, Murf. Always looking forward to these.

[#98QBKiller]

He clearly improved as the season went on. I think it would be smart to re-sign him.

[CurseReversed]

As long as he doesn't expect us to break the bank for him, I think he'd be a good guy to bring back, at the very least for depth. He did look a lot better in the second half and while I think we could do better at right tackle, if he was our third tackle, that could help us get rid of God-awful Stephon Heyer. Plus he played LT earlier with the Saints, so he'd be a good versatile guy to have. Plus, Trent Williams hasn't shown he can play 16 games or even 12-13 games without injury yet.

I really do not understand why so many people want to "get rid" of Heyer.

I can understand not wanting him as a starter. I can even understand not wanting him as the primary backup, so that we can develop young talent.

But this guy is young, inexpensive, and has valuable starts and experience in high pressure situations at both LT, RT and Guard.

He may not be that talented but he is still young enough to be be improving, if we can keep him on the cheap he is the deal of the century to have around.

With Heyer we will never have to throw some rookie 6th round tackle into the fire during some crucial game, just because we have two starters get injured in succession or something.

[Dukes and Skins]

He clearly improved as the season went on. I think it would be smart to re-sign him.

Agreed and he's someone you could tell once he got over the injury he looked a lot better and had that comfort back in him. Would love to see him be resigned by us

[SWFLSkins]

I definately agree that re-signing him would jump start the quality of the OL fielded next year. And keeping Heyer as a backup make sense unless they can upgrade that back-up position. Heyer can play guard as well, so as a back-up I say keep him. Besides even when he was playing he was not the weak link on the OL, IMO, that was at center.

[authentic]

I really do not understand why so many people want to "get rid" of Heyer.

I can understand not wanting him as a starter. I can even understand not wanting him as the primary backup, so that we can develop young talent.

But this guy is young, inexpensive, and has valuable starts and experience at both LT and RT.

He may not be that talented but he is still young enough to be be improving, if we can keep him on the cheap he is the deal of the century to have around.

The problem with Heyer is that he's not good at any position. He constantly gets pushed back, whether it be @ LT, RT, or RG. It doesn't matter, Heyer is trash!

[Chanhillbilly]

He played hurt/injured the whole season. When the offense would come out on the field you could see that he was really gritting his teeth to just trot out there. I don't know how he was able to get up for each play and still be able to pass block or pull and have anything at all behind it. I hope he can get healed up during the off season and get back to where he was. With that kind of determination and toughness, you want a guy like that.

[Chump Bailey]

I think/hope he understands the Redskin's concerns about the hip. Hip injuries are always a big deal. I hope a reasonable deal can be worked out.

[darrelgreenie]

I want to believe that Jamaal Brown is 100% healthy, but, he's 29 years old and after what we learned w/ Samuels and Randy Thomas it seems risky to re-sign an aging injured Brown.

I would prefer that we had a younger more long term solution at the RT position either via the draft or through FA like a Ryan Harris.

Lol, at people still hating on Stephon Heyer, he's a inexpensive back-up that can play RT and LT and can even fill in at OG in a pinch, he fills a valueable role on this team.

I think its kinda hypocritical that the same people that praise Jamaal Brown can turn around and hate on Heyer when for half the season they were basically interchangeable players.

[Chris 44]

Nice read Murf! thanks

[zoony]

Brown would be a smart signing at this point for a 4 year contract. This will allow us to focus on the interior of our line in the draft, which is sorely needed. We need a guard in the 2nd round (a man-beast road grader Hutchinson type) and a center in the 5th.

All of us noticed his increased level of play towards the end of the season. And interesting point about his hip and leverage, Murf. Nice job.

[rumplestilskin]

Yes I would like to see him back. Shanny already said he wants to recognize his mistakes and move on from them. It would be a huge mistake letting him go. I feel we will re-sign him and pick up someone else in free agency as well for competition. He is the one free agent we can re-sign who knows the system and has a year under his belt. Heyer cant compete with Brown when he is on top of his game and I do respect heyer for his serviceable duty and versatility however it must be recognized that we plugged in heyer because there were no other viable options. That is something that needs to be fixed because we have seen enough of him now to know what we are getting. His ceiling has been reached. Its time to bring in a new project who can step in at times and turn out to be good in the long haul. Thats on the scouting department.

[justice98]

Not like we have a whole lot of other choices for that slot.

[JGordon_3]

I really do not understand why so many people want to "get rid" of Heyer.

I can understand not wanting him as a starter. I can even understand not wanting him as the primary backup, so that we can develop young talent.

But this guy is young, inexpensive, and has valuable starts and experience in high pressure situations at both LT, RT and Guard.

He may not be that talented but he is still young enough to be be improving, if we can keep him on the cheap he is the deal of the century to have around.

With Heyer we will never have to throw some rookie 6th round tackle into the fire during some crucial game, just because we have two starters get injured in succession or something.

C'mon man. Throwing Heyer in there is exactly like throwing some "6th round tackle" into the fire. How many times have you seen Heyer just get blown by an end on the right or on the left resulting in a sack. He doesn't have the quickness to block speed rushers. He's awful at tackle. He actually better at guard where some of his deficiencies can be hid. Yet and still we need "QUALITY" depth, not just depth.

[TheLongshot]

The problem with Heyer is that he's not good at any position. He constantly gets pushed back, whether it be @ LT, RT, or RG. It doesn't matter, Heyer is trash!

Fact is, most OL backups are going to have flaws of one sort or another. Heyer is a guy who needs to play with good technique to be effective, since he's not the most gifted athlete in the world. His technique tends to break down as games go on. That being said, Heyer is a guy who, most of the time, is pretty solid. Being a veteran, he knows where he should be and doesn't have many missed assignments. The fact that he can play on both sides of the line is a plus.

While you may not like him, he's probably as good as most backup linemen in the league.

As for Brown, there are two concerns right now:

• Will he be able to hold up for 16 games?
  
• Will he be willing to sign a reasonable contract for a RT?
  

---------- Post added January-13th-2011 at 11:37 AM ----------

How many times have you seen Heyer just get blown by an end on the right or on the left resulting in a sack.

Not as much as people claim. Actually, early in the season, I saw Brown get beat a lot more than Heyer.

[howarddjay2]

Bringing him back is necessary for the continued development of this line. Letting him go, means that we would have to draft a rookie or sign a FA. Either way, that person is one year behind what we would have with Brown. Then we could sure up the interior line. I'd love to the Skins draft the other Pouncey twin from Florida. His brother has proven to be invaluable for the Steelers this year and I know that a stronger, more athletic guy in the middle of our line would bring us one step closer to solidifying our run game and pass pro.

[MWCREDSKINS]

I'd like to see Brown back. He improved as the season went on and now is accustomed to this offense as he wasn' traded hear till June. We have so many holes but this would give us flexibility to look for those other position namely guard and center

[#98QBKiller]

Brown would be a smart signing at this point for a 4 year contract. This will allow us to focus on the interior of our line in the draft, which is sorely needed. We need a guard in the 2nd round (a man-beast road grader Hutchinson type) and a center in the 5th.

All of us noticed his increased level of play towards the end of the season. And interesting point about his hip and leverage, Murf. Nice job.

Stefen Wisniewski and/or Mike Pouncey would do this offensive line wonders. I just hope we draft one of the two. I haven't seen a lot of Pouncey but it seems to be a pretty universal notion that he's going to be a great interior lineman in the NFL.

I've watched Wisniewski play and the kid is an absolute monster that goes 100 percent on every play.

[zoony]

Stefen Wisniewski and/or Mike Pouncey would do this offensive line wonders. I just hope we draft one of the two. I haven't seen a lot of Pouncey but it seems to be a pretty universal notion that he's going to be a great interior lineman in the NFL.

I've watched Wisniewski play and the kid is an absolute monster that goes 100 percent on every play.

Pouncey's numerous errors on shotgun snaps terrify me. I'm not sure if they keep stats on those things but he's probably the worst at shotgun snaps in Division 1. Definitely in the SEC. It is puzzling why I keep hearing his name brought up about elite centers. I guess because of his brother and that he's a pretty good blocker... but it would seem to me a prerequisite that you know how to snap the ball.

google "Pouncey + Bad Snaps"... you'll see what I mean.

He is a good blocker and very athletic. I wonder if he could be made into a guard.

[ExoDus84]

Resign the man. He is a good player, relatively young at 29, and will not break the bank. This will allow us to focus on the real problem of the O-line...the interior. We desperately need a stud RG and C sooner rather than later.

[TheLongshot]

Pouncey's numerous errors on shotgun snaps terrify me. I'm not sure if they keep stats on those things but he's probably the worst at shotgun snaps in Division 1. Definitely in the SEC. It is puzzling why I keep hearing his name brought up about elite centers. I guess because of his brother and that he's a pretty good blocker... but it would seem to me a prerequisite that you know how to snap the ball.

google "Pouncey + Bad Snaps"... you'll see what I mean.

He is a good blocker and very athletic. I wonder if he could be made into a guard.

Many draft people seem to agree with you, that he will be a guard in the pros.

[pjfootballer]

Pouncy and his bad snaps equate to him playing guard in the pros.

[jnhay]

C'mon man. Throwing Heyer in there is exactly like throwing some "6th round tackle" into the fire. How many times have you seen Heyer just get blown by an end on the right or on the left resulting in a sack. He doesn't have the quickness to block speed rushers. He's awful at tackle. He actually better at guard where some of his deficiencies can be hid. Yet and still we need "QUALITY" depth, not just depth.

It's hard for me to imagine that Heyer was able to backup 3 positions this year just by sheer luck or coincidence. I'd imagine most 6th round tackles don't make it in the NFL, so it's not exactly like throwing some random 6th rounder in there.