The best players — or better yet the most dedicated — won’t have a problem. But how many players like that do the Redskins have? They could find out this offseason.
If — and probably more accurately when — there is a lockout, it’ll be up to the players to stay in shape.
And, as of now, the Redskins players do not have a plan to hold team-based workouts anywhere.
“Some guys have been throwing it around,” linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. “Once it turns into a lockout, we’ll get more serious about planning stuff.”
The problem now is that teams wouldn’t have even started offseason workouts. Those typically don’t start until late March. So to organize anything now would be a little early.
But players also are spread out. Even though many live in the area, there are many who do not.
And even if they do work out together, it would be only a few times a month to run routes or perform positional drills.
“We won’t be doing no full-blown OTA practice,” Alexander said. “It would be more of a mental walkthrough.”
For now, then, most of their work will be on their own.
“Everybody has a trainer they usually use,” receiver Anthony Armstrong said. “At some point I’ll take advantage of that. I’ll make sure I’ll be prepared to at least be in shape so it’s not all for naught when the lockout ends.”
There’s a reason, though, that it’s helpful to work out with others during a lockout.
“For a lot of guys to get together and be around other guys, that normally motivates them,” defensive end Vonnie Holliday said.
And then there’s this worry: Some players won’t be as dedicated. Holliday said he’ll send out e-mail reminders to work out. But not all will take heed.
“It has to be important to you,” Holliday said. “Once this lockout happens, when it’s over you have to be ready to go. … At the same time, some guys aren’t motivated and they need that strength and conditioning coach over their shoulder to tell them how much to lift and run. There are guys that can get it done themselves and there are guys that don’t.”
