Barry Cofield knows what’s happened the past five games (all losses) and knows what’s coming up on the schedule (tough teams). And he shudders at the negative possibilities.
The tough part starts Sunday when Dallas visits. That’s followed by a road trip to Seattle and then games vs. the Nets, New England and the New York Giants. Yes, there’s a one game at a time cliché that players and coaches like to use. But they also understand reality.
“There’s no guarantee that we can win another game,” said the Redskins nose tackle. “If we don’t play better there’s no reason to expect to win any games. The ball’s not gonna bounce our way. So it could get very ugly. It could get historically ugly. Hopefully guys are fearful of that. Hopefully guys focus in and do what it takes to get a win because if we don’t it will be a very long winter.”
Cofield knows this is not a time for words or pep talks. It’s about action, not words at this point.
“If we don’t get it fixed then it will get even uglier,” Cofield said. “There’s no magic saying, there’s nothing you can pull out of a hat to make things better. Everyone has to play better. Only a win can get you out of a funk like this.”
The problem is, the Redskins (3-6) have been saying some of these things for a couple weeks. And seven games remain. Cofield agrees with teammates who said after Sunday’s 20-9 loss to Miami that they were at a loss for words.
“There’s nothing new to say; there’s no new recipe,” he said. “The same things we’ve been working on all year, those are the things we have to get better at… We’ve had good days at practice… and sometimes we feel we’ve had a great week and we go out and don’t play great. I don’t know what it takes to get everything clicking.
“I’ve always believed in personal accountability. I feel if I go out and play at a high level and everyone else does the same, we can win. Until everyone does that I don’t know if it’s going to change.”
