Jim Zorn, Washington Redskins / Photo: Newscom

There were key turnovers—three in all. Late in the first half, with a touchdown lead—after an interception of Saints quarterback Drew Brees, Kareem Moore fumbled into the waiting arms of Saints receiver Robert Meachem who returned it for a touchdown. Deflating. That tied the game at halftime. In the second half and overtime, two costly turnovers (a careless interception by Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell and a fumble after a reception by Mike Sellers) gave the Saints golden chances to put the game away. As they eventually would.

What really turned the tide in this game, though, was a missed field goal. It started with 6:52 to play in regulation. The Skins methodically moved the ball from their own 41 to the New Orleans four-yard-line. In the NFL, you have to assume your kicker (in this case Shaun Suisham) can make a 23-yard field goal to give you a two score lead with less than two minutes to play. It was elementary and it would virtually lock the game. So the Skins played the percentages by running the ball into traffic and burning the clock, forcing the Saints to use the remainder of their timeouts. And I don’t fault Redskins head coach Jim Zorn for that, even though running their regular offense probably would’ve resulted in a two touchdown lead. But Suisham missed the chip-shot field goal attempt and five plays later, the Saints tied the game.

There are a few things you simply can’t get away with (interceptions and missing easy field goals) and still expect to win at this level, especially against a team as good as the New Orleans Saints. The Redskins did all those things today. And in most cases, that’s what separates the good teams (like the Saints) from the bad teams (like the Redskins).

Source: NFL.com

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Redskins Help Saints Stay Undefeated

Jim Zorn, Washington Redskins / Photo: Newscom

Well, apparently not because on his own radio show (Inside the Red Zone) today, Redskins executive vice president of football operations Vinny Cerrato made it public knowledge that coach Zorn will, in fact, remain as the head coach in Washington through the end of the year:

“Let me start by making a few things very perfectly clear. Jim Zorn is the head coach of the Washington Redskins and will for the rest of this season, and hopefully into the future.”

I guess I’ll buy the “rest of the season” part—only because they can’t get who they really want in that position at this time—but “hopefully into the future”? I don’t think so. Let’s be serious. Jim Zorn has no more chance of coaching the Washington Redskins in 2010 than I do. I feel bad for coach Zorn. I really do. I can’t put my finger on the cause of the problem in Washington, but I think it runs a lot deeper than the leadership of the head coach. Or certainly the offensive play calling. I think there are a bunch of underachieving players who have mysteriously already called it a season.

Source: Redskins.com

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Jim Zorn Will Remain Redskins Head Coach

Jim Zorn, Washington Redskins / Photo: Newscom

The Redskins are 2-4 this season, but each game they’ve played has been against a team with no wins. With a bye week following next week’s Monday Night game against division rival Philadelphia, it’s very possible the ‘Skins could make a coaching change and enter the second half of their 2009 season with new leadership.

Source: NFL.com

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The Beginning of the End For Jim Zorn?

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

The Washington Redskins have been watching and waiting, hoping that running back Clinton Portis would be recovered enough from a two-week-old sprained knee to play in Sunday night’s important NFC East battle with the Dallas Cowboys. But it isn’t looking good. Clinton’s been listed as questionable all week and head coach Jim Zorn is no longer optimistic. Ladell Betts would take Clinton’s place in the starting lineup, but he’s coming off his own sprained knee and after a three week layoff, it’s hard to say how effective he’ll be. That opens the door for Shaun Alexander, who finally feels ready to play a more important role in the Redskins offense:

“I’m pretty comfortable in this offense. I was always comfortable with the passing game, but the run game was just a little bit different. I had to get used to certain angles and where they want to attack (defenses).”

Shaun only has 10 carries for 23 yards in three games for the Skins this season, but his limited playing time has been due to that lack of familiarity with the offense. Coach Zorn has noticed improvement each week, though, so we might get to see what Shaun has left in his proverbial tank soon.

Source: Redskins.com, Photo: Newscom

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Shaun Alexander Ready for More Reps

National Football League Blogcast, NFL Blogcast

When I heard that Washington Redskins defensive end Jason Taylor had a skin infection, I was ready to jump to conclusions. As it turns out, Jason had a minor procedure done on his injured left calf today, but Redskins head coach Jim Zorn was quick to point out that Jason has a skin infection — not a staph infection — that is being treated with antibiotics.

Notice how coach Zorn emphasized that this is not a staph infection. Staph infections are all the rage among NFL players who seem to be coming down with them at an alarming rate lately. At this point, I don’t think any team or the league would announce a staph infection if it happened. There seems to be a minor scare going around. And with good reason.

Anyway, Jason was kicked in the calf during Washington’s win over the Arizona Cardinals last month and wound up needing an emergency operation the next day. He missed two games thereafter and then played in each of the past three. But he’ll most likely miss next Monday night’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers while things settle down.

Source: Redskins.com, Photo: Newscom

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Jason Taylor Has Skin Infection

Former National Football League MVP and three-time Pro Bowler Shaun Alexander signed a one-year contract with the Washington Redskins today. Shaun will backup starter Clinton Portis, a role that had been filled by RB Ladell Betts until he sprained his knee this past weekend in a loss to the St. Louis Rams. Redskins head coach Jim Zorn used to work with Shaun in Seattle, so he knows firsthand what type of player he’s getting:

“As soon as (Shaun) got to Redskins Park, we got him in shorts and took him out and worked him out. He looks fit. He has a lot of want-to in his attitude.”

Shaun had been waiting for a running back injury to open a door for his employment. He comes to Washington with an impressive resume. In eight NFL seasons, all with the Seahawks, Shaun has compiled 9,429 yards, a 4.3 yards-per-carry average, and 100 touchdowns. He has also caught 214 passes for 1,511 yards and 12 touchdowns. His career rushing total ranks him 25th in NFL history. Shaun’s played in coach Zorn’s version of the West Coast offense in Seattle, so he should be able to pick up the scheme and contribute quickly.

Source: Redskins.com

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Redskins Sign Shaun Alexander

I don’t usually post crap like this, but this was too funny to pass up. Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley has his own blog. Good for him. In a recent post, he inadvisably captured a couple photos of the Redskins playbook and head coach Jim Zorn understandably wasn’t happy about it. Nevermind that Chris was apparently naked when he took the pictures because a certain part of his anatomy was visible (Hint: he had the playbook in his lap when he took the pics). What a weirdo. Or he’s just really stupid. Actually, it might be both. Anyway, continuing with my story — coach Zorn said his first thought was to make a team-wide statement stressing common sense. Yes, common sense. The lessons to be learned here are:

• Don’t take pictures of your playbook and post them on the internet.
• Don’t take pictures of your playbook and post them on the internet while you’re not wearing any clothes.

Just for fun, here are some of the questions a Washington Redskins coach might ask his tight ends before a game against the New Orleans Saints:

1. Briefly describe the play of their defensive ends.
2. Do they match our personnel on 1st and 2nd down when we go Zebra?
3. Who are their two starting safeties in Regular and Tiger personnel?
4. Do the safeties change in Nickel? If so, who comes in?
5. Which linebacker comes out of the game if they sub to Nickel personnel?
6. 1st and 2nd down blitzes — they like to blitz from what side of the defense?

I’m not sure how Chris graded on the test, but he did catch five passes for 72 yards in a 29-24 win over the Saints. And he apologized for the pics.

Sources: ChrisCooley47.com, Washington Post, Deadspin.com

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

Chris Cooley Exposes Redskins Playbook and Himself in Recent Blog Post

It’s preseason with a tinge of the playoffs. That will be one of the highlights of a 13-game national television preseason schedule that was announced today by the NFL, along with the complete list of 2008 preseason matchups. All 12 of the 2007 NFL playoff teams will be featured in the national TV games.

It all starts in Canton, OH — site of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. On Sunday night, August 3 on NBC (8:00 PM ET), the Indianapolis Colts will take on the Washington Redskins in the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game. It will be an eventful weekend for the Redskins as two of the greatest players in their history — cornerback Darrell Green and wide receiver Art Monk — will join the class of 2008 at the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Saturday. The game also will mark the NFL head-coaching debut of Washington’s Jim Zorn. That game is just the start of the preseason national TV excitement:

WEEK 1: Two of the top-10 receivers of last season in both catches and yards square off as New Orleans (Marques Colston) visits Arizona (Larry Fitzgerald) on Thursday, August 7, ESPN, 8:00 PM ET ….. NFL fans will see the debut as a starter of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, who this year takes over for the retired Brett Favre, when Cincinnati travels to Green Bay (Monday, August 11, ESPN, 8:00 PM ET).

WEEK 2: Panthers QB Jake Delhomme will continue his comeback from elbow surgery as he is tested by new Eagles (and former Patriots) CB Asante Samuel when Philadelphia hosts Carolina (Thursday, August 14, FOX, 8:00 PM ET) ….. Two recent first-round quarterbacks meet for the first time as Oakland (JaMarcus Russell) visits Tennessee (Vince Young) on Saturday, August 16, FOX, 8:00 PM ET ….. Two division winners go at it as New England (preparing to duplicate its undefeated ’07 season) travels to Tampa Bay (Sunday, August 17, NFL Network, 8:00 PM ET) ….. And the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants debut at home against Cleveland (Monday, August 18, ESPN, 8:00 PM ET).

WEEK 3: Two quarterbacks seeking to re-establish themselves as starters go at it as San Francisco (Alex Smith) travels to Chicago (Rex Grossman) on Thursday, August 21, FOX, 8:00 PM ET ….. The Battle for Texas takes place when Houston visits Dallas (the preseason series is tied 2-2) on Friday, August 22, CBS, 8:00 PM ET ….. Pittsburgh’s No. 3 NFL rush defense of ’07 can judge where it stands for ’08 when it faces Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson, the NFL ’07 Offensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl MVP (Saturday, August 23, CBS, 8:00 PM ET) ….. Buffalo helps Indianapolis open its new 63,000-seat Lucas Oil Stadium (Sunday, August 24, NFL Network, 8:00 PM ET) ….. And two more division winners meet when Seattle travels to San Diego. The Seahawks will be priming new RB Julius Jones (Monday, August 25, ESPN, 8:00 PM ET).

WEEK 4: The national TV schedule concludes with another matchup of playoff teams as Washington prepares to kick off the season and new Jacksonville WR Jerry Porter gets his final tune-up (Thursday, August 28, NBC, 7:00 PM ET).

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

NFL’s Preseason National Television Schedule Features Every ‘07 Playoff Team

From their Annual Meeting in Palm Beach, FL, the NFL announced today its 2008 Kickoff Weekend national primetime television schedule, including a Monday night doubleheader. It’s always exciting to watch the schedule piece itself together and this is where it begins.

In a tradition that began in 2004, the Super Bowl champion annually hosts the NFL Thursday night season kickoff the following year. This September 4 at 7:00 PM ET on NBC, the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants will host their NFC East-rival Washington Redskins and their new head coach Jim Zorn. Kickoff will be 90 minutes earlier than the start time of the traditional season opener due to the Republican National Convention, which NBC News will cover following the conclusion of the game.

The Sunday night primetime game (8:15 PM ET) on NBC will feature a rematch of Super Bowl XLI as the Indianapolis Colts host the Chicago Bears. I’m excited to see this one as the game marks the first regular-season contest at new Lucas Oil Stadium.

Then on Monday night, September 8, ESPN will host a Monday Night Football doubleheader featuring two critical division matchups. The first game (7:00 PM ET) will send the Minnesota Vikings to Green Bay to visit the NFC North champion Packers (without Brett Favre). The MNF nightcap (10:15 PM ET) will be an AFC West battle as the revamped Oakland Raiders host the Denver Broncos. The rest of the 2008 regular-season schedule will be completed and announced in April.

Post from: Every Morning Quarterback

NFL Announces Nationally Televised Primetime 2008 Kickoff Weekend Games

The winter storm that has an icy grip on Indianapolis has slowed things down outside. But as promised, today was a whirlwind of activity around the Media Work Room here at the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine. The players being shuttled in and out were mostly wide receivers, running backs and quarterbacks.

My day was really one big press conference with a few of my own interviews thrown in for good measure. I took part in every head coach presser — Tom Coughlin (Giants), Brad Childress (Vikings), Gary Kubiak (Texans), Tony Dungy (Colts), Herm Edwards (Chiefs), Scott Linehan (Rams), Jim Zorn (Redskins), Jack Del Rio (Jags), Mike McCarthy (Packers) and Romeo Crennel (Browns).

Several team VIPs were also speaking with the media — Packers GM Ted Thompson, Texans GM Rick Smith, Redskins VP of Football Ops Vinny Cerrato, Jags VP of Player Personnel James Harris, Browns GM Phil Savage and Rams Executive VP of Player Personnel Bill Devaney.

We also had a surprise guest — Cleveland Browns RB Jamal Lewis who recently signed a new three-year contract with the team. Jamal said he wants to play three more years and finish his career as a Cleveland Brown. He was thankful the team gave him that opportunity. He just wants to help the Browns get to the Super Bowl and feels they are making strides to get there. When asked how much gas he had left in his proverbial tank, he said:

“I’ve been answering that question for the last three years. I’m the old Jamal. A lot of gas is left in the tank. I work hard in the offseason to prepare myself for a 20-to-24-game season. I’m healthy and when I’m healthy I’m a good Jamal.”

Coach Childress gave some great insight into the career of Vikings QB Tarvaris Jackson. While Tarvaris had an up-and-down 2007 season, his second half play in a loss to the Broncos in the final game of the season was what the team would look for mentality and physically next fall. Coach said he looked forward to Tarvaris logging more games in his third season as a starter. Personally, I think I would’ve pulled the plug by now. But I would like to see Tarvaris succeed. He certainly needs to keep working on his mechanics and he needs to be more consistent. Coach Childress also mentioned that DE Kenechi Udeze, who is battling a form of leukemia, told him: “Coach, this is nothing more than a cold. I’m gonna beat this.”

That would have been a full day in itself. But the offensive skill position players were in and out of the Media Work Room all day as well. Big names that are expected to be called very early in this upcoming Draft — like Matt Ryan (Boston College), Darren McFadden (Arkansas), Rashard Mendenhall (Illinois) and Mario Manningham (Michigan) — all stopped by for a visit. And Brian Brohm (Louisville), who hopes to have a great Combine workout to challenge Matt Ryan for the top QB spot, felt his game was NFL-ready:

“I think the system I was in is going to help me tremendously to play in the NFL. Under Coach Petrino, it was pretty much the same type of system the New York Giants run. It’s where he got the offense when he was with Tom Coughlin in Jacksonville. We were in that system for three years. Then we switched over to a more accountable one back spread with zone running my last year. But just being able to adjust to new systems and being in a pro style system, I think is going to help me out a lot.”

I couldn’t agree more, but I don’t think he’ll be able to do enough to be the first QB taken in April. I think this is a solid group of QBs. The aforementioned Matt Ryan and Brian Brohm. Kentucky’s Andre Woodson. Michigan’s Chad Henne. USC’s John David Booty. Hawaii’s Colt Brennan. These guys were superstars in college and I feel like they can make an impact in the NFL.

Finally, what better way to end the day than to slide (literally — remember, I’m stuck in the middle of a winter storm here in Indy) four blocks down Maryland Ave. to Conseco Fieldhouse for the Pacers/Nets game. A special thanks to Pacers Director of Media Relations David Benner for the hook-up. By the way, Indiana won 113-103. (Check out our Sports Channel’s NBA blog — NBA Obsessed takes you into the hit and run game of NBA Basketball.)

Additional Photos by David Kindervater

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NFL Scouting Combine 2008: Day Two