Redskins are trying to quell storm at home
ASHBURN – The reaction wasn’t what the Redskins wanted to see. Jim Zorn was honest about his thoughts over losing his play-calling duties when he first met the media Monday. It pained him. He let everyone know it.
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His players might have liked it. But management did not, going so far as to wonder whether or not they should just fire him now, one Redskins source said.
Obviously, they didn’t. But it only served to put Zorn further on the proverbial hot seat.
It also speaks to a team in crisis, trying not to let a bad situation escalate.
“There’s a lot of tension out here,” one player said.
However, some of that tension subsided Wednesday, as it usually does. But the craziness has not; players use phrases like “not the ideal situation.”
Others, such as backup quarterback Todd Collins, called it “a little bit unsettling.”
Players who survived the Steve Spurrier era said both of his two seasons resembled the chaos going on now at Redskins Park. Those going through it for the first time aren’t sure what to make of it. Third-year tackle Stephon Heyer cut his long locks.
“You get depressed about the season so you change something up,” Heyer said.
“You can’t let this stuff get you down,” Redskins receiver Santana Moss said. “It could get you down, but it’s life.”
Pick the topic: benched quarterback; benched play-caller; head coach’s fate; ugly losses to bad teams; injured offensive linemen.
“I’ve been here for six years and I’ve been enduring change since I’ve been here,” Redskins running back Clinton Portis said. “This isn’t the first year our line went down. It’s six years straight.”
Now the Redskins are trying to ignite a season with a 67-year old play caller in Sherman Lewis, who was out of football for four years. Their left tackle, Chris Samuels, likely is done for the season. Portis admitted he’s dealing with planter fasciitis, a bad ankle, something with his MCL and an issue with his calf — all in his right leg.
“You can’t do nothing but handle it with humor,” Portis said. “I can’t keep moping around. A couple teammates didn’t speak to me — ‘Tana didn’t speak to me and Jason [Campbell] tried to let the door hit me in the face.”
But regardless, the players appreciated Zorn’s response Monday.
“He’s trying to win,” Moss said. “I don’t know if I could have handled it the way he handled it. He’s a guy who is willing to belittle himself a little bit … and say I’m trying to give my team the best we have. You have to give him a hand for that.
“All you have to do is play your heart out and do things better than you have been doing. That’s the only way you can show him that you have his back. If I’m the coach, I just want to see you play. What better way to show me you have my back is by playing good for me.”
