Washington Football Team Practice Report - Monday Aug 31st
Landover, Maryland:
The Washington Football Team had a shells and helmet only practice but the big difference was operating out of a 75,000-ish seat stadium with no fans in it.
A practice at FedExField where the Washington Football Team hosts the Philadelphia Eagles in 13 days on the 13th of September was just what the doctor ordered.
It gave the players a feel for playing in a cavernous stadium that had no fans, pumped in crowd noise and a light rain on a newly sodded field. (Sorry no field turf, as we reported earlier.)
Some quick highlights
Dwayne Haskins looked pretty good for the most part today, connecting on red zone touchdown passes to Marcus Baugh.
He had a bad interception on a play that Ronald Darby baited him and Haskins fell for it out of a cover-2 look.
Ron Rivera talked afterwards about the play in general being a teaching and learning moment.
Overall, it was a good day for the quarterbacks. Haskins threw a perfect pass over the shoulder to Isaiah Wright and looked pretty good in the QB/WR vs. CB 1-on-1's, with the fade being a big part of that.
Alex Smith also returned to 11-on-11 drills but once again in a non-padded and therefore less live situation, as it was on Saturday.
It was Smith's return to FedExField with a helmet and a football, which marks another step in his remarkable comeback.
Smith looked okay in the team period, which he took the second team reps for over Kyle Allen but then Allen took the next period and Smith did not take part.
Smith seemed a little erratic with his accuracy and the defense made it harder.
He finished off his work with a short would-be touchdown to Peyton Barber at least, who continues to show why he should be on the initial 53-man roster.
Isaiah Wright seemed to be targeted more as he makes a push for a 53-man roster spot. You have Terry McLaurin, Antonio Gandy-Golden, Steven Sims Jr. and Dontrelle Inman as locks to very likely in Inman's case.
Does Scott Turner's offense take five or six receivers? The battle is between Cam Sims, Trey Quinn, Wright and everyone else would seem to have very little chance of making the initial 53. Alan Lepore had five on his latest roster projection 5.0 with Sims and another receiver on the expanded practice squad, but no Quinn anywhere.
I don't see Quinn being completely let go because of his value as a punt returner but I'm not sure if that's enough to justify him making the initial 53.
Washington made a switch at receiver on Monday morning.
Jonathan Allen, Kendall Fuller and Saahdiq Charles were among the major players not participating at practice on Monday. Charles was loosening up on Sunday and I believe on Monday as well but did not practice.
The clock is ticking on him to get back on the field with a bunch of veterans likely to be released this week.
Chris Russell is the Publisher of this site, a part of SI.com. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Washington Football Team" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621
