Ravens fans hoping to see quarterback Steve McNair chuck the ball downfield in Saturday?s scrimmage with the Redskins at FedEx Field might have walked away disappointed.
Ravens head coach Brian Billick and offensive coordinator Jim Fassel kept things conservative for the new quarterback in his brief action on the field. Many of McNair passes were kept underneath the Redskins? secondary.
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McNair, acquired from the Tennessee Titans in June, was expected to upgrade the offense of the Ravens. The team certainly did not reveal any new wrinkles Saturday.
“We?ve got a long way to go, but I was pleased with the way he got the verbiage out and the tempo he had,” Billick said.
The Redskins did not use their own first-team quarterback, Mark Brunell, outside of seven-on-seven drills.
McNair?s most notable pass of the day actually found its way into the arms of Redskins linebacker Marcus Washington. McNair and receiver Devard Darling were not on the same page during a play, and Washington stepped in, collected the pass and waltzed into the end zone.
“That?s our fault. He was just put in a tough situation,” Billick said of McNair.
According to McNair, it took some time to get his bearings straight.
“It was smooth after the first turnover,” he said. “It was a miscommunication with the receiver and quarterback. At the same time, that?s what you practice for, what you scrimmage for, to get those kinks out. But after that, everything smoothed out.”
McNair was asked following the scrimmage if he was as far along ashe had hoped to be at this point.
“Once you?re in a game situation, you never know how well you?re off until you get into that situation,” he said. “Today, I felt very comfortable.”
McNair said the preseason continues to be a learning process.
“I?m not trying to rush myself at this point,” he said. “I?m just going to continue to grasp this offense, the terminology of it, try to do the best I can each week in and week out to get better.”
