Mike Shanahan has some hard decisions to make this week
The preseason ended for the Washington Redskins last night in a loss to the Arizona Cardinals, 20 -10. But the score of the game mattered less than who played in that loss and how well they did.
Tonight’s game was all about making the team for everyone but the starters who did not touch the field. Working to secure spots on the 53-man roster, many of the ‘bubble’ players focused on having good games that will make the decision on who to cut and who to keep even harder.
Defensive-ends-turned-linebackers Chris Wilson and Robert Henson were especially active and coaches will surely have taken notice of their talents.
Henson did a lot for himself against the Cardinals, leading the team with seven tackles, posting a sack and tackling twice for losses. His name was being called out, it seems, the entire third quarter… up until he hurt his knee. The linebaker said he “landed funny.” There is no word yet on how bad it is and he will have an MRI today.
Head coach Mike Shanahan obviously noticed Henson.
“I thought he made a bunch of plays,” Shanahan said after the game. “He’s all over the field. We’ll see how bad he is in the next couple of days – how bad that injury is.”
Speaking of defense, nose tackle/defensive end Albert Haynesworth was on the field for 49 of 55 plays and did not even say a word about it after the game. In fact, all he said was, “no comment” after the game. According to Shanahan, the enormous amount of playing time was done in an effort to get the player into shape.
“He has to get in football shape,” Shanahan said after the game. “We have to get him some playing time. That is one of the reasons he was playing defensive end and nose tackle. We have to get him in as good as he can possibly be in football shape and there is only one way to do it and that is to practice and play.”
Rookie wide receiver Terrence Austin had a promising game, scoring the lone touchdown in the game. The Redskins took their time getting into the end zone, finally scoring on a 21-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter on a quarterback Richard Bartel pass to Austin. The receiver ran a nice route and making a move off a defender to make the points. Austin ended the game with five receptions for 94 yards. This is enough to negate the one fumble he had during the game.
Receiver Devin Thomas, under the gun since the beginning of the off-season to prove himself worthy of a roster spot, did cause a fumble on special teams (even though Arizona recovered it, the Redskins defense kept them from doing anything on that series). Thomas caught 4 passes for 34 yards last night, the longest 13 yards and returned four kick-offs with an average of 27.5 yards on those returns. Those are quality stats for a guy who has more talent than he has shown. His pass blocking has gotten better during this off-season and he showed it last night, helping Brandon Banks make a couple of first downs.
Brandon Banks is another player who needed to have a good game and he ended up with mixed results. The 5’7″, 150 lb. wide out fumbled the ball three times last night but also had a 40-yard return on the opening kick-off during which he changed directions, scampered through holes and generally was annoying to the Cardinals special teams players. But the fumbling is annoying and dangerous. His exceptional straight-line speed and acceleration is something he brings to the team himself but the coaches have to decide if this tendency to lose the ball can be schooled out of him.
Running back Willie Parker started the game as expected. He had seven carries for 39 yards which averages out to be five yards-per-carry. His longest run was 13 yards and he caught three passes for 10 yards. While his rushing statistics are respectable enough it’s still hard to say he helped himself and that he’ll make the team. His pass blocking has never been great and he does have his age going against him when compared to Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams (Torain carried the ball five time for 22 yards, and played on special teams). Parker is facing an uphill battle this week.
The offensive line was hard to watch tonight. Guard Kory Lichtensteiger was letting defenders by all night and in one case was backed up into quarterback Richard Bartel. Tackle Selvish Capers was beaten by every kind of move a defensive lineman or linebacker can make. Seeing this second and third string offensive line play like this is scary because this is where the Redskins’ depth is – or isn’t- as the case may be.
Now comes the hard part. The next two days will be a very anxious time for some of these guys as they await the coaching staff’s decision on who makes the 53-man roster. To his credit, Mike Shanahan doesn’t seem to like cutting guys any more than the players who will end up being cut.