The linebackers understand his struggles. For a few years, Marcus Washington, a defensive end in college, bit hard on fakes. Quarterbacks lured him towards one receiver; then threw to another. London Fletcher knows that feeling; it took him three or four years to learn how to play zone coverage.
So Rocky McIntosh has players who can sympathize with his learning curve when it comes to coverages. McIntosh earned his starting job with his physical play against the run, not to mention his decisiveness.
But in coverage, McIntosh remains a work in progress. Just ask the Jets, who completed five passes at him last week. He was beaten in man and what assistant head coach/defense Gregg Williams termed an aggressive zone. A few times, the Jets’ receivers would run into McIntosh and break away.
“You have to learn tricks of the trade and that comes through experience,” Williams said. “In most cases it’s easier to learn how to man cover. The zone part of it, there is some indecision and recognition and pattern reads. Even this week in practice I’ve seen him come light years because he’s learned.”
There’s no doubt the Eagles will try to test the Redskins underneath with star running back, and DeMatha grad, Brian Westbrook. They did it in the first game, hitting him with eight passes for 66 yards.
That means more work for McIntosh, who admits he’s still learning to play in coverage.
“It almost changes your mentality,” he said. “Being a linebacker, you want to be aggressive and hit somebody. Now you have to pace yourself and be patient and get in your zone or cover your guy. You have to learn how to read routes and things. It can be difficult at times.”
Fletcher said it took him a while to learn the combination routes when two receivers play off one another, trying to get the linebacker to leave his area. Washington agreed.
“The quarterback is looking at you and you don’t realize there’s a guy behind you,” he said. “He wants you to come up so he can throw behind you.”
But the Redskins won’t be removing pass coverage responsibilities from McIntosh any time soon.
“I’m hesitant to take Rocky off the field because he’s such a good run player,” Williams said, “and he’s such a fast closing player when we play him in zone.”
