Tempers flare
It was in the mid-90’s, the large crowd had the players fired up, the pads were popping, and the players have been going at each other for nine of the last 10 days. That is the perfect recipe for some fisticuffs to break out and that’s just what happened.
First London Fletcher got into a bit of a shoving match with Will Montgomery after a play. That broke up without much happening. A few plays later after Niles Paul and Markus White got into it with Paul throwing a couple of punches. That had almost everyone on the field jumping into the fray but, fortunately, it broke up quickly.
The second skirmish prompted Mike Shanahan to gather the team together and tell them to knock it off. The rest of practice proceeded without incident.
Fans appreciated
The Redskins announced the attendance for Fan Appreciation Day at 24, 650. The fans were packed behind the fence on one side of the field and were at least two deep all the way around the two adjoining fields the Redskins use.
After practice, the team gave each player and coach an official NFL ball to give to a fan in the crowd. A lot of little kids left Redskins Park very happy.
Battle of the Titans
Trent Williams, arguably the team’s best offensive player, and Brian Orakpo, the best defensive player, battled one on one in a blocking drill. Williams went after the linebacker aggressively, knocking Orkapo off balance. Rak regained his footing, though, and raced to the spot where the quarterback would be. With a quick release, the QB gets rid of the ball.
Some other highlights from that drill:
--Markus White just ran around Tom Compton, who never had a chance.
--A couple of times, Adam Gettis got a good base and controlled Doug Worthington.
--On another Rak-Williams matchup, Williams just rode Orakpo where he wanted to go, pushing him outside and away from the pocket.
--Gettis did a good job again against Worthington and Adam Carrigan.
--Willie Smith lunged at his man and lost the battle.
Who’s in, out
Evan Royster and Maurice Hurt took the first snap with the first team at running back and left guard, respectively.
Out of pads and watching practice were Anthony Armstrong (shoulder), DeJon Gomes (shoulder), Josh Morgan (hamstring), Darrel Young (hamstring), James Lee (knee), Lance Lewis (groin), Ryan Kerrigan (heat illness).
Caught my eye
Finally saw WR Dez Briscoe, who was claimed off of waiver last Saturday, flash some of his ability. He didn’t do anything spectacular but I liked the way he grabbed the ball out of the air and snatched it in to his body. Briscoe is 6-3 and he uses his height well.
Play of the day
We’ve seen this play a few times during the regular season. Rex Grossman rolled right, stopped, and threw back to the left, where Logan Paulsen had snuck wide open. Rex’s pass was on the money and Paulsen rolled in for the score.
Kicking battle
Neil Rackers got a bit of an edge in the kicking battle today when Graham Gano clanked a 34-yard attempt off of the right upright. Rackers made all six of his field goal attempts. They both hit from 39, 41, 45, 51, and 44 yards.
RG3 Report
Griffin had better command of the situation for most of the day compared to yesterday. Thee were very few “special” situations, just goal line and hurry up. Most of the time he took the plays through his helmet from Kyle Shanahan.
He went 10-16 with a couple of drops by Leonard Hankerson. He threw one touchdown to Santana Moss.
His receivers:
Completions: Hankerson 3, Garçon 3, Moss 4
Incomplete: Hankerson 3 (2 dropped), Garçon, throwaway, 2
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