Day one — Redskins training camp
by John Pappas
SEE RELATED:
(Mayor’s Note: John Pappas, Redskins fan and experienced journalist who has covered the Redskins training camp, OTAs and other team events, join us at the Redskins Fan Blog at the Washington Times. He will be reporting activities at the Redskins camp.)
The biggest news following the first day of training camp for the Washington Redskins was the announcement that the team has traded with the Miami Dolphins for defensive end Jason Taylor. According to Executive Vice President/Football Operations Vinny Cerrato the Redskins sent their 2009 2nd-round pick and 2010 6th-round pick to Miami for the 33 year-old Taylor, who had asked to be traded earlier in the year.
The news capped a traumatic day at camp that saw Phillip Daniels go down for the season on the first play of 7-on-7 drills with a torn ACL in his left knee. During the afternoon session, defensive end Alex Buzbee suffered a ruptured tendon, ending his season as well. Both will have surgery later in the week.
In other injury news, Fred Smoot sprained his ankle during 11-on-11 drills and is expected out some days.
Fans were lined up early for today’s morning session which was opened to the public. Fans suffered the early start time and high temperatures to witness the first practice of the Jim Zorn era. The team estimated that approximately 6,100 fans attended this morning’s session.
As for football it was a tale of two practices today with the offense getting the best of it in the morning session and the defense dominating in the afternoon. The quarterbacks played surprisingly sharp during the morning session, completing short, medium, and deep routes.
The receivers looked sharp with Antwaan Randle El looking the best. The new kids make their mark this morning with Devin Thomas, Malcolm Kelly, and Fred Davis all looking impressive. Youngsters Maurice Mann, Burl Toler, and Anthony Mix had good days as well and the team will have some tough decisions to make in the coming weeks.
Defensively the corners had a good morning with Fred Smoot, Leigh Torrence, and draft- pick Justin Tryon making plays. Andre Carter had a good morning session, beating the tackle on a few occasions.
Still, it was the offense that got the best of it during the morning session. During the afternoon practice however, not so much.
The defense ball-hawked the afternoon session, intercepting no fewer than five passes. Linebacker Matt Sinclair picked two, linebacker Khary Campbell one, and defensive end Rob Jackson got double credit when he first batted a pass and then came down with the pick.
The offense was able to redeem themselves towards the end of the second session with Moss, Randle El, Cooley, and Kelly all getting in the act. At one point the offense completed six straight pass attempts.
It is hard to tell how effective either squad is being as the team is still playing in shorts with no pads. The word is they will begin wearing pads and hitting on Tuesday.
(Note: Details of Jason Taylor deal — Redskins sent a 2009 second-round pick and a 2010 sixth-round pick to the Dolphins.)
