1. Safety LaRon Landry was limited in practice, one day after sitting out because of a sore Achilles’ tendon. (Mike Shanahan initially said he did practice so he must not have been too limited). Landry is expected to play Sunday at Miami. However, right tackle Jammal Brown did not practice because of his groin injury and coach Mike Shanahan said he’s unlikely to play vs. the Dolphins.
As for Landry, defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said, “I don’t think it will be an issue though.”
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2. Free safety Oshiomogho Atogwe (toe/neck) did not practice for a second straight day. He did not play last week vs. San Francisco. My early guess: he doesn’t play. But that’s just a guess. Reed Doughty would take his place vs. Miami. Also, running back Tashard Choice (hamstring) was limited.
3. Locklear likely will start Sunday vs. Miami with Brown nursing a sore groin. And it could be a multiple game start considering Brown already is an unlikely participant for Sunday. But this puts Locklear up against linebacker Cameron Wake (a Beltsville native), who has 5½ sacks. Locklear has athleticism, but needs to play more physical. He also needs to create cutback lanes, which has not been happening of late.
4. Kyle Shanahan was really good with the media today. He’s usually OK, but Thursday was just a little bit better. He had a semi-lukewarm opinion on quarterback John Beck, following what everyone else has pretty much been saying: good vs. Carolina, bad vs. Buffalo and better vs. San Francisco.
“But still not good enough,” Shanahan said. “There’s been some growing pains. But he can get better. He’s shown he can improve in areas and I know John is a tough guy. The physicality of the game doesn’t bother him. He’ll hang in there. He can throw it, too. I know he’s smart enough to read the defenses. I think just give him some time and allow him to develop and I expect him to get better each week.”
5. As for Jabar Gaffney saying he was open – but not always seen – Shanahan agrees.
“Definitely – there were a couple of times during the game where I thought Jabar was open and he [Beck] didn’t [see him],” Shanahan said. “It wasn’t way down the field. It wasn’t over the top of safeties. I don’t think it was something you guys would have considered a big play. There were a few times in the game where I thought he could have got it to move the chains.”
Those outside the organization say this is just Beck being, well, Beck. Not a lot of confidence when you talk to others about him. But the Redskins say it’s just an experience issue.
“When quarterbacks don’t play a lot, you know they’re going to miss some stuff,” Shanahan said. “I’ve been happy with John. He has learned from his mistakes – stuff he’s struggled with each week. He’s done a good job of eliminating those the next week. Yeah, there definitely are some times that he missed some reads in the game. I think he’ll get better with that.”
6. Fred Davis has caught 12 passes for 136 yards the past two games, but 114 of those yards have come in the fourth quarter when the Redskins trailed by at least 16 points.
They just haven’t been able to get him the ball a lot earlier. Part of it is his fault with at least one drop; another part is good coverage by defense. When you miss opportunities early, it leads to stalled drives and fewer chances.
“You can set things up, but, these past few weeks, we haven’t been able to sustain drives,” Shanahan said. “When you don’t sustain drives, a lot of this is going to suffer and show up.”
7. Now onto his father telling him not to come to Washington in 2010. His father wanted to test how strongly he wanted to join him. He reminded his son that: he was leaving an established offense; he was joining a situation where he’d be working for his dad and therefore would be scrutinized heavily.
“Kind of like he told me my whole life not to get into coaching,” Kyle Shanahan said. “Once he realized that it didn’t matter what he said, I was going to do it and he was excited that I was. It’s a hard business. It’s hard stuff. You have to make sure that’s what you want to do. It doesn’t matter what he says. That’s what I wanted to do. Once I think he realized that, then he was excited to have me.”
8. And finally on if the criticism is worse than he expected because he is the coach’s son:
“Not really. I got it when I was little if I started at point guard on my fifth grade basketball team. It was ‘most likely because of my dad,’ “ Kyle Shanahan said. “I’m used to getting all that. I think I’ve been real competitive my whole life. I think that’s why I’m a perfectionist. I think that’s why I work really hard at what I do. That’s why I try to make sure that I’m on top of this game….When you don’t have success and your last name is the same as the boss’, you’re going to get that. It doesn’t bother me. It drives me.”
9. Haslett said he doesn’t worry about his defensive players causing a division in the locker room with how the offense is playing. What helps, I think, is their attitude of course but also the fact that they know the offense is injured. It’s not hard to see.
“This is a good team to be around. I like being around the guys on defense,” Haslett said. “That’s as good a group as I’ve been around from that standpoint. And they have a goal – they want to be one of the best in the league. As long as they have a goal and they keep working hard at it and try to do that, that’s all you can ask of them.”
10. Talked to Greg Cosell of NFL Films for the Expert’s Take. Few people watch as much film as he does. Look for it Friday morning.
11 . In my Friday email report: a little more depth on the run defense; talked to Stephen Bowen about what he looks for before the snap; Q&A with Palm Beach Post beat writer Ben Volin and more. Sign up here.
