Carter has always been fast, but end has focused on his quickness after four-sack season
ASHBURN – The coaches defend his play, steering conversations away from sack totals. So they’ll talk about his improved play against the run. They’ll talk about the half-step-away-near misses of quarterbacks. They’ll talk — rave — about the work ethic.
Recommended Stories
That’s fine. They’re on target with all of that regarding Redskins right end Andre Carter.
But even Carter looks at his sack total (four) and shakes his head.
“This is a productive-type sport,” he said. “If you don’t produce, you don’t feel your season was as good as you expected. From a development standpoint, I was at my best. The technique was great.
“But overall I was like, ‘What’s going on?'”
Which is why Carter altered his offseason training to close that half-second gap. For the first time since he prepped for the scouting combine in 2001, Carter consulted with trainer Thomas Witherspoon.
The result was an interval-training program twice a week on the treadmill. He’d start off at a 4-degree incline, sprinting at a 10 speed for a minute, then resting for a minute; and work his way up to a 12-degree sprint for 30 seconds and then a 16-degree sprint for 20 more. After his last rep, he’d rest for three minutes, then work his way back down.
“I notice a difference on film in my takeoffs,” Carter said.
He also did martial arts once a week, focusing on footwork and drills to help his cutting and side-to-side movement. He ran with cords and bungees serving as resistance.
“Every year he’s been quick,” Redskins left tackle Chris Samuels said. “He’s an awesome athlete; he’s in great shape.”
Carter was supposed to benefit from Jason Taylor’s presence last season, but rarely did. He finished with the lowest sack total of his career for a season in which he’s played at least 14 games.
“Andre a year ago turned into a good player against the run,” defensive line coach John Palermo said. “But they judge you on sacks. Sometimes that’s not fair, but that’s the way it is and we have to get more production out of our ends, if not sack totals then at least disruptions.”
With tackle Albert Haynesworth and rush end Brian Orakpo, Carter could draw more single teams than ever while moving to the left side in passing situations. It’ll help, too, if he really has improved his speed.
“He’s always been fast and quick,” Palermo said, “but he seems like a step quicker.”
And that could mean the difference between near-miss and a fourth-quarter sack.
“There’s not a day that goes by after last year that I don’t look at it,” Carter said of his sack total. “That’s not me. But I move on and say it’s a new year. I’m healthy and faster.”
