1. Defensive end Stephen Bowen said neither he nor his linemates were shouting out Dallas’ snap counts, causing center Phil Costa to snap the ball too soon. Costa made five errant snaps in the game and afterward accused the Redskins of calling out the snap counts.
“Just be a man and tell the truth,” Bowen said. “If that was the case, how come no other linemen jumped? It makes no sense because he’s lying. Everyone respects a man who tells the truth.”
Bowen said one official asked a couple of the Redskins defensive linemen during the game if they were giving fake snap counts. They obviously denied doing so.
“I’m not that type of person,” Bowen said. “I just line up and play ball. Honestly, I don’t know how you can do it, you’re so zoned out you’re trying to concentrate on your technique and what you have to do that play and to give a fake snap count you may make your guys jump offsides. There’s no point in doing that.”
And coach Mike Shanahan said centers now wear a microphone, so that can be verified.
“You’ll find out if one of our players did say a snap count and they didn’t do it,” Shanahan said.
2. Receiver Anthony Armstrong (hamstring), safety DeJon Gomes (hamstring) and fullback Darrel Young (hamstring) both were limited in practice Wednesday. No word yet on their status.
3. DeAngelo Hall spoke to reporters for nearly 11 minutes about his comments following Monday’s loss to the Cowboys. Like him or not, the one thing Hall has done when he’s messed up is face the media. He answered every question with the same demeanor; the guy doesn’t mind taking heat.
4. Linebacker London Fletcher said Hall’s comments were nothing like the distractions of the past.
“I wouldn’t put them on the same level in any way shape or form,” Fletcher said.
He also defended the third and 21 blitz. One point before I get back to that: the criticism isn’t just on the blitz; it’s on the fact that it was the third straight one. But Hall said that’s when a team would least expect it.
“You don’t think a guy will come at you three times in a row,” Hall said. “We were trying to catch him off-balance a little bit.”
Meanwhile, coach Mike Shanahan said, “I’d like a number of calls back anytime you lose a game. People forget there’s an interception, a fumble recovery… There’s a lot of good things that those calls caused in the game, especially with that blitz. Anytime something doesn’t work you always second-guess yourself. That’s a part of it.”
5. Rex Grossman admitted Wednesday what I think everyone already knew: his interception was a mistake. Not sure there was much doubt in his mind before today either. “I didn’t see the mike linebacker,” he said. “I have to know he’s there. It was a bad play. There’s no explanation that can make it sound any better.”
6. And, yes, a question was asked about job security was raised. “That’s life in the NFL. I don’t worry about that,” Grossman said. “I know I’m going to play well and I am going to prepare myself to go out there and do that.”
7. Redskins safety Oshiomogho Atogwe’s value often is seen more by coaches and teammates than scouts. When he was a free agent two years ago, longtime NFL scout Dave Razzano said he spoke with scouting buddies on several teams, all of whom said the same thing: He’s not a good player anymore; didn’t like his play speed. Are they right? We’ll find out as the season unfolds.
But Atogwe is an intangibles guy, as Razzano said, which those not in the front office can see better. He’s a guy coaches will like more.
“O.J. is one of my all-time favorite guys,” Rams coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “He’s everything you would want in a player playing for your team, both as a player, as a competitor and as a person. We miss his character and his football abilities. He’s one of the greatest people I know.”
8. Again, we’ll find out over the course of the season what he has left as a player. It’s too soon to judge. But he does provide the rest of the secondary comfort; they know where he’s going to be and that allows them to play the way they want. Hall’s near diving interception vs. Arizona, in front of Larry Fitzgerald, was an example. He knew Atogwe would be over the top and therefore he could play it aggressively. Corner Josh Wilson did the same thing vs. Dallas. Part of that, too, is having LaRon Landry back.
“Those plays I made is from feeling comfortable with LaRon and O.J.,” Wilson said. “I know I can play tighter on my guy. The play with Jason Witten, I know I can play hard on the outside because I trust [the safety] will be where he’s supposed to be and it gives me the ability to make plays on the ball.”
9. Wouldn’t be surprising if they use Chris Cooley again at fullback. It provides the Redskins an advantage at times that Darrel Young can’t provide in terms of versatility. Young provides value, but Cooley provides a chance to expand certain parts of the playbook.
“I had so much fun throughout the day playing the position,” Cooley said. “I don’t know if I created matchup problems, the thing I will create is personnel problems because we’re so versatile out of two tight ends anyway, that if I show our staff can do fullback stuff and move around a ton and that naturally creates personnel problems. What do you do and how do you play our two tight end sets.”
10. And Cooley said he likes being challenged mentally.
“The thing I told Kyle,” he said, “the more responsibility you give me the more you let me move around and let me do things where I have to think, the more confident I end up feeling in the game plan.”
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