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Redskins news, notes and analysis
By: John Keim
Examiner Staff Writer
11/25/09 5:37 PM EST
Cleaning out the notebook:
...University of Memphis insiders expect Redskins secondary coach Jerry Gray to be announced as coach perhaps as early as Saturday. However, there is a strong push by football alumni and even local high school coaches to have the school hire Jerry Porter, who played at Memphis and is now coaching at LSU. There's even talk of some M-club members, a booster group made up of donors and former players, resigning if Porter isn't hired. That's why no announcement has been made yet. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
And if Gray does indeed get the job, he will be taking over a difficult situation, one where many people wanted the other candidate. Some fences will need major mending. The insider said Fred Smith, the FedEx Founder and Redskins part owner, is "100 percent" behind Gray. But Porter has a big name among the alumni and fan base; Gray does not.
...Gray's loss would be a tough one for the Redsins. The players genuinely seem to like, and more importantly respect, Gray.
...Corner DeAngelo Hall is definitely a "question mark" Redskins coach Jim Zorn said. Hall sprained his knee and did not practice today. If Hall can't play, then Carlos Rogers would return to the starting lineup. He worked with the starting unit in practice today.
...Edwin Williams is expected to start at right guard. Zorn said Williams did a nice job in his one half of action vs. Dallas.
"He held his own," Zorn said. 'He was physical. He anchored well. He did not whiff. When he got his hands on a guy he stayed with him."
...On Zorn's radio show Tuesday, he said he called eight plays in the Dallas game but made it sound as if that was in addition to the two-minute drill and short yardage situations. Today, he made it seem as if he just called plays in two-minute situations and short yardage.
Regardless, it's a mixed-up situation. And you always hear about coaches and quarterbacks being on the same page when it comes to play calls. Kind of hard to do that when there are three guys calling plays throughout the game.
Zorn disagrees with that.
"It's our game plan," he said. "Nobody is pulling the plays out of the air. This is the plan we worked on during the week and the quarterback, as he prepares, has to be ready for all those plays whenever they're called. It shouldn't surprise the quarterback at all."
...Defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth remains questionable for the Eagles game. He ran on the treadmill today.
...Zorn on Rock Cartwright, who popped off earlier this year about being a No. 4 role: "He said his piece, he felt a certain way. Yet he didn't just try to split himself away from the team or tell everyone I'm done with this group. He hung in there. That's what a captain does. ... He will make the most of it and show everyone, 'See, this is what I've been telling everybody all along.' You get his best effort every moment of the game."
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