Here is what you need to know on this Wednesday, September 26, four days before the Redskins take on the Bucs in Tampa.
A couple of “little” injuries lead to a signing
On Monday, when asked about Evan Royster’s health, Mike Shanahan said that he had “a little strained patella tendon”. When asked about Roy Helu Jr., Shanahan said that he had “a little bit of turf toe”.
Apparently those two little injuries added up to a big concern as the Redskins went out and signed themselves a running back. Ryan Grant will be with the team when they take the field to practice today.
Grant, 29, clearly has his best seasons behind him. His back to back 1200-yard seasons in 2008-2009 are ancient history. But the Redskins need someone who can come in and pick up the system quickly. And they have been using Royster or Helu for protection in passing situations and Grant is competent in that department.
It remains to be seen who will be released to make room for Grant. The offensive positions that seem to have some extra bodies, wide receiver and the offensive line, both have injury concerns of their own. Shanahan likely would be reluctant to make a move at either position until the statuses of Pierre Garçon and Trent Williams are determined.
The Redskins also signed cornerback David Jones, who was with the team in training camp and was released in the final cuts on Aug. 31, and waived/injured cornerback Crezdon Butler (hamstring). Why they didn’t just keep Jones out of training camp instead of waiving him and picking Butler, who missed most of last season with a broken ankle, is a mystery.
Schiano’s Bucs up next
The Redskins will be facing the Bucs on Sunday and they are led by one of the more controversial head coaches in the NFL. Just two games into his NFL career Greg Schiano was the subject of this scathing article by Mike Silver of Yahoo! Sports.
He has a reputation as a bully from his days at Rutgers. In particular, he gave NFL scouts very little access to practice and when they were allowed in they were forced to stand in “a small, sunken, dugout area” far from the practice field.
What Schiano did at Rutgers would not be much of an issue if he hadn’t drawn the ire of Tom Coughlin for having his defensive line fire out at Eli Manning during a kneel-down play at the end of the Giants’ win over the Bucs in Week 2. In doing so he violated the unwritten rule that says you don’t risk injuring your players or the other team’s players when the outcome of the game has been decided.
Schiano stuck to the tactic at the end of their loss to the Cowboys last week so apparently it will continue through the season.
The Redskins will be happy to be a “victim” of the Bucs trying to crash their victory formation party because, of course, it will mean that they are on their way to evening their record at 2-2.
Today’s schedule
11:15—Open locker room
1:00—Practice (closed to the media after first 30 minutes)
After practice (approx. 3:00)—Robert Griffin III and Mike Shanahan news
conference
In case you missed it
Tandler’s After further review game comments: first half, second half
El-Bashir’s grades: offense, defense, special teams
Days until: Redskins @ Bucs 4; next home game vs. Falcons 11; RG3’s first division game @ Giants 25; RG3 vs. Cam @ FedEx Field 39; Thanksgiving @ Cowboys 57
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