Marty Schottenheimer ended his first summer practice by inviting fans onto the field to see something special. Something they probably hadn’t seen in years.
Bull in the ring.
In the drill, a running back tried to elude a defender while other teammates formed a tight circle. It was all about who was tougher. The drill served as a prelude to perhaps the hardest training camp since Vince Lombardi was here in 1969. Every day brought two contact practices. The Redskins opened 0-5, and Schottenheimer was fired in January.
Boy, have things changed. The Redskins were off Sunday after just two days of quasi-camp. Workouts were in blistering conditions even by Ashburn standards, but the first pad won’t be popped until Thursday.
With no offseason practices courtesy of the lockout and a new workout schedule dictated by the labor agreement, coach Mike Shanahan must prepare his team for the Aug. 12 preseason opener against Pittsburgh after essentially one week of practice.
During minicamps, coaches love downplaying rookies by saying, “Let’s see what they look like in pads. You can’t judge in shorts and shirts.” Well, that’s all Shanahan will get until Thursday, when the newly signed free agents can join workouts and the real banging begins.
There’s not even a punter in camp yet. Shanahan joked that he didn’t plan on punting this season. Only two quarterbacks were on the field, one of whom won’t be around come September. The probable right tackle isn’t on the roster yet. Indeed, the Redskins needed to sign 20 more players Sunday to reach the maximum camp roster.
Shanahan’s to-do list is enormous. Many players have never seen the Redskins’ playbook, so afternoon workouts will be walkthroughs. But teams are limited to how long they’re on the field. Cameras with motion-sensor timers are recording the length of workouts.
The team needs to get into shape — football shape that only comes from pounding. This is the first camp since the 1970s in which players worked offseason jobs. Camp back then was eight weeks with six preseason games. Now the Redskins must do the same in half the time but can’t accelerate workouts for fear of injuries.
The new labor deal is trying to extend players’ careers by exposing them to less pounding. Teams can practice in pads only 14 times during the regular season, meaning no one will hit in December.
Fortunately, Shanahan has been ahead of this trend. The Redskins were in pads only once a day during camp last summer and didn’t hit tremendously during regular-season workouts. The days of proving who’s the baddest man on the field are over because nobody wants to lose a multimillion dollar player in practice.
Still, this camp seems more like those of 2002-03 under coach Steve Spurrier, who practiced his golf swing or ball tricks with quarterbacks during special teams drills.
And we all know how Spurrier did — “Not too good,” as “Ball Coach” would say.
Examiner columnist Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more on Twitter @Snide_Remarks or email [email protected].
