Skins mixing, matching spots on offensive line
ASHBURN – The left tackle, with the Pro Bowl resume, is out. The right tackle, who has played with mixed reviews, now shifts to a harder spot. A guy who had previously not played for three years will make his second start.
There’s another new guy moving next to him.
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With this, the Redskins must start their offensive turnaround.
“We’re in a tough situation,” Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell said. “This is one of our bigger challenges. We’re looking forward to that.”
And it’s a situation that will force at least minor changes in game planning. After left tackle Chris Samuels was hurt last week, the Redskins initially stayed with play-action sets out of I-formation. Eventually, with Campbell under heavy pressure, they ditched that tactic.
“It’s tough,” center Casey Rabach said. “Obviously you watch the film and some guys struggled last week. That’s evident. I hate getting off a gameplan any time we have to. It is what it is.”
They can still run play-action out of single-back sets, in which Campbell does not have to turn his back. It’s hard for him to do so, with the rush crashing on him after about two seconds.
“You have to continue to stand tall and not worry so much about the rush,” Campbell said. “Sometimes it’s tough … . If you start to focus on the rush, you start to lose part of your game and you miss guys that are open down the field. My focus is to play every play. We don’t know; things may gel together.”
Consider that Heyer, who started and left guard, Dockery have never played alongside one another in a game. And the same is true of the right side, where right tackle Mike Williams makes his first start.
Will Montgomery will start at right guard.
“Especially on the line, chemistry is a huge deal,” Samuels said. “The only way you can get that down is through time playing together.”
The problem is, they’ve already lost one guy in right guard Randy Thomas who could help compensate for the weaknesses of the player next to him, or be more proactive in stopping certain defensive tactics, such as stunts. Samuels could do the same on the other side.
“When you lose a guy like Randy or Chris, you’re talking about a ton of experience. You can’t replace them,” Campbell said.
Meanwhile, Samuels said he’ll see a spinal specialist Tuesday to get an update on his progress. He has stenosis, a narrowing of the spine, and it was aggravated vs. Carolina Sunday.
“I’ve got to … find out the ups and downs on it,” Samuels said. “I’m just staying positive right now. We’ll see what happens. I’ve been through this before. I’m pretty optimistic that I’ll be fine.”
