1. Rookie Chris Neild has a seemingly perfect build for a nose tackle. He’s almost as tall as he is wide. Considering it’s a position where leverage is an absolute, that build will definitely help him. I’ll be anxious to see him in one-on-one drills, assuming camp opens at some point, to see what he can do. And against double teams in preseason games. For now, all we know is that he has a good build for the position. “He’s strong and quick. He’s an animal,” said Selvish Capers, who faced him in practice at West Virginia two years ago. “He’s like a bowling ball. He’ll run straight through you. He has that bald head, that’s the lead right there.”
2. Neild spent time getting tutored by Kedric Golston (who, by the way, received a second-round tender from the Redskins earlier this offseason. Yes, he wants to stay. His wife attended high school in Northern Virginia and has a strong real estate business in the area. Plus he likes it here). Anyway, this is what Golston said of Neild, “He’s what some people would describe as prototypical. He’s 6-foot, about 320 pounds. You can tell that’s what he wants to do. He wants to sit up there and put his face in the sand.”
3. Once again John Beck stayed after practice throwing passes to rookie Leonard Hankerson; this time they were joined by tight end Logan Paulsen. I will reserve comments on Hankerson; I’ve been told a man crush is developing. I want to see him in pads before I say anything more. Paulsen dropped a few passes Thursday so staying after was wise. By the way, Beck is unusual in another way for quarterbacks: He’s not a good golfer. But he’ll join an outing organized by Chris Cooley on Friday.
4. It’s hard to get a feel for any of the linemen in a situation like this; same goes for players such as Ryan Kerrigan and Markus White, both transitioning from end to outside linebacker. When they rush, they’ll make a move but then have to slow down just as they make contact with the tackle. There’s no way to know if the move they made would have worked. I’m curious to see if they stay low as they rush; one of the problems Andre Carter had rushing from linebacker was that he was used to timing up the tackle from a three-point stance. Moving to linebacker cost him any explosiveness.
5. Second-year receiver Terrence Austin has gained eight pounds, though he said it’s not as if he’s been lifting a lot more. What he has been doing, however, is boxing. That obviously helps with his cardiovascular. But there’s another benefit: hand speed. And when you’re trying to get off the line, any extra advantage is welcomed. “They teach you how to use your hands to get the most out of it with less effort. I noticed the form that I was using before when I was first getting ready to get in the ring, I was doing too much. Now I’m more efficient with my hands and it will definitely show on the field.”
6. Today’s player attendance: 39. Chris Cooley showed up late and really didn’t do anything. Some players were absent after attending either Tuesday or Wednesday, including Anderson Russell, Keiland Williams, Jeremy Jarmon and Chris Horton.
7. DeAngelo Hall once more showed his savvy and ball-hawking skills during a red zone, 11 on 11, session. Beck dropped back and, with a blitz coming from the offense’s right, he made the proper throw – out to the vacated area. Problem is, Hall knew what was coming, stayed home and jumped the route for what would have been a Pick Six if they had been playing a game. Beck learned a lesson, though it would be helpful to have, say, his offensive coordinator or coach going over the play with him on film. Instead, he’ll just take away the memory and knowledge of what he’d do next. “If I feel he’s flat-footed trying to jump something, I can just chuck it out of bounds. That’s one you can chuck into the stands….It’s nice to have a guy like that on defense for us. He had one earlier where he was the corner to the right on the outside and he almost snuck in and got an underneath hook route [to Fred Davis]. He’s a sneaky guy. “
8. Lorenzo Alexander did a good job in coverage on one play vs. Davis about 20 yards downfield. He read Davis perfectly because, at the last minute, Alexander threw his hand up and deflected the Rex Grossman pass. Meanwhile, London Fletcher and Kevin Barnes also picked off passes, both of which were tipped. They weren’t the QBs fault.
9. Here’s a really good story on White’s history with seizures. He said he’s had approximately five in his life and none for a few years. He also said, “I pray every day that I can make it through the day.” But he doesn’t worry about it happening in a game. “I don’t think it can happen when I’m fully moving. It has to happen when I’m in a mentally down state. I can’t just be walking and have one.”
10. Thus ends the three-day camp. If there’s a lockout Beck said another one likely would be organized in June. Yes, at an undisclosed location. Gotta say, it’s a lot more relaxing without the coaches around. It’s hard to know how much they really got out of it considering how many players were missing. And two rookies, Jarvis Jenkins and Aldrick Robinson, never attended. But, as Casey Rabach said, “We gave [the rookies] a crash course of what this offense and defense is. The other thing is just to get the guys back together and do some football-related stuff. We definitely didn’t want to show up when this thing ends and have it be the first time we were on the field….Obviously you can’t correct a whole lot of stuff on the field. You can’t rewind [the tape] 10 times and get the full correction. But for the young guys it’s good to hear the verbage and how stuff comes out of the quarterback’s mouth and the different calls we have on the line of scrimmage. It’s good to get some timing between the quarterbacks and the receivers and just get a feel for the guys around us.”
11. A bonus one. Here’s a list of the players who attended today:
Offense » Andre Brown, Fred Davis, Brandon Banks, Leonard Hankerson, Kory Lichtensteiger, Rex Grossman, Ryan Torain, Anthony Armstrong, Mike Sellers, Logan Paulsen, John Beck, Evan Royster, Erik Cook, Clint Oldenburg, Niles Paul, Darrell Young, Maurice Hurt, Terrence Austin, Selvish Capers, Roy Helu, Will Montgomery, Graham Gano and Chris Cooley.
Defense » Chris Neild, Kedric Golston, DeAngelo Hall, London Fletcher, Markus White, Kevin Barnes, DeJon Gomes, Rob Jackson, Brandyn Thompson, Ryan Kerrigan, Chris Wilson, Rocky McIntosh, Kareem Moore, Lorenzo Alexander and Edgar Jones.
