Team faces second tragedy in 20 months as Bugel’s daughter passes away
Joe Bugel did what he does best Thursday: he coached his players. But yesterday he did so with a heavier heart than ever before. Shortly before the Redskins took the practice field, Bugel learned that his daughter, Holly, had died of bone cancer.
Bugel was expected to return to Phoenix to be with his wife, Brenda. His daughter had been in Houston to receive treatment until recently returning home to Arizona.
Bugel spent last week in Arizona, returning to Redskins Park Sunday. He’s not expected to miss much time and might return for Saturday’s game at Carolina.
Zorn pulled Bugel out of a position meeting so Bugel’s wife could give him the news over the phone.
“Joe has been very strong,” Redskins coach Jim Zorn said. “It was quite surprising that he would come out and be on the field, but this is where he needed to be to lose himself a little bit. This is where he felt the most comfort.
“[It’s] very, very sad. Our hope was that there could be peace in their family in the midst of this tragedy.”
The players and coaches gathered for a prayer before practice. Unfortunately for the Redskins, they’ve had practice in handling these situations. In the past 20 months, they’ve lost two former players (Kevin Mitchell and Justin Skaggs), their nutritionist and, of course, safety Sean Taylor. Former coach Joe Gibbs had to deal with his grandson’s leukemia and corner Shawn Springs’ father lapsed into a coma in Dallas.
“We have a real tight family here,” Redskins right tackle Jon Jansen said. “When you lose a member it hurts a lot more when you’re tight-knit, but you also know that you have a lot of people around to support you and everyone will be there for Buges.
“None of us have gone through that situation [losing a child]. Some of us have kids and we know how we feel about our own kids. [Bugel] came in and said, ‘Love your kids up; you don’t ever know what’s going to happen.’”
Said left tackle Chris Samuels, “It’s been a tough day.”
Redskins notes
» Linebacker Marcus Washington got his hip checked out Thursday to determine the source of some irritation. Washington, who did not practice Thursday, has battled hip issues in the past and coach Zorn called the check-up precautionary
