Doc talks Jason and a few other things....

[rskinsfan10]

Yeah, I know. It's been awhile since I have checked in with my main man Rick from the West Side. I've been busy traveling around the Caribbean, seeing the sites, jumping on and off jet skis, smoking Cuban Cohibas (if you've only tried the Dominicans, then you don't know what you are missing), and drinking every ounce of Grey Goose I could get my hands on. That may all sound excessive, but hey, I had to do what I had to do to get myself ready for the Christmas season at FedEx. Hmmm, maybe I should try to book another cruise for next week....

rsf10- Well, a lot of people around these parts should be happy that the Jason Campbell Era has officially begun. What do you think?

DW- Well, I'm happy for Jason, but I'm still a little bit confused as to why it wasn't Todd Collins since he received most of the work with what little that the backups get. Jason had essentially been shut out with the exception of the bye week. It seems to me that would have been the logical move since he is supposed to know the entire offense. I would have loved to have seen this offense run in the way that Al Saunders intends for it to. That being said, the future is in #17. It's never a great time to start a man who hasn't played, so you might as well get it over with.

rsf10- You mentioned wondering why Collins wasn't tapped to see what he could do. In hindsight, did you ever really understand or go along with the QB structure that was announced before the season started?

DW- I never really understood that. Another thing that I have never understood is Brunell being trotted out the past two games injured. His ribs must have been cracked, and they just didn't divulge that info. Mark has always been an athlete. He has always had the ability to roll out of the pocket and make things happen, but he is struggling physically right now. It's not about his age, it's about his body being beaten up. Can a man that is beaten up and injured be that much better then a healthy man who in a.) Collins who is supposed to know it all, or in b.) Campbell who is athletic, young and with a great arm?

rsf10- Who should then be the backup to Campbell considering all of this?

DW- They are going with Brunell, which further confuses me. If Brunell is injured, then why is he the backup? The whole thing is still just so confusing to me. It was such a dramatic issue over Mark. Joe didn't have to bench him over his play. He could have sat him down because he was injured easily. He made it a eulogy on Monday. 3-6. They aren't 6-3. The offense has scored 3pts in each of the away games against divisional opponents. How are you going to be a champion doing that? Then you compound it with the defensive problems that they have had this year, I mean something had to happen.

rsf10- If you were the GM, would you bring Brunell back to serve as a backup next year if he decided to continue to play football?

DW- I think that is an unfair question for anyone to ask about what a GM should do in a program that doesn't have one. You're stuck with what they have done. I don't have all of the information that it would take to make that type of decision. I can only go by what I see on game day and the results, which aren't very good. I said this two weeks after I had stuck with Brunell for six weeks without any hesitation: I think that it's time to give Todd Collins some playing time. I want to see what he can do with his knowledge, especially after I thought in my mind that Mark was physically unable to lead this team. I would have taken the mental capacity of Collins, along with his healthy body, and given him a shot. I thought that the bye week was an excellent opportunity to do that, but they opted not to.

rsf10- In talking to you earlier, you seemed to think that the chances of Portis coming back this year were slim, and that was before it was announced that he would be placed on IR.

DW- Clinton told Al Koken and I this week that he hadn't had any dialogue with the organization regarding his injury. He was scheduled to have a meeting with Gibbs, and he would look at all of the options. Along with his shoulder problems, he told Al and me 4-6 weeks, so with that we knew then that would pretty much wrap him up going by that time frame with 7 games to go. He should just chalk this up as a bad experience and getting locked and loaded for 2007.

cont..........

[rskinsfan10]

rsf10- Touching on the defense, we now have Shawn Springs back, but the struggles continue, especially within the secondary.

DW- I told our hR members a few weeks ago, that once a pro athlete returns, he doesn't return to game conditioning for three weeks. You can't miss that much practice and come back without missing a beat. Shawn may run a 4.4 straight ahead, but he is not going to have the quickness to cover these WRs that haven't missed a beat. You are covering the best WRs in the world, and you simply cannot miss that much and not miss a beat. I think this week you will see his best football. Rogers has missed time. The only guy that hasn't missed time is Sean Taylor, but he has worked with so many back there that I think that it finally caught up with him last week, and he had his worst ball game. You look for stability in a defense, and I think that the injuries have lessened the chances of this defense regaining the form of 2005.

rsf10- Touching on Taylor a bit, he seems to be lost out there sometimes. Do you attribute that to him just trying to do too much, or is it he simply is having a sub par year?

DW- Well, every body's game in the secondary will slip without pressure on the QB. I think that the loss of Ryan Clark has really been compounded more then anyone could have expected. He's had a different FS for the last couple of weeks. Again, the defense works in concert. I don't think that you can look at one area or one guy, but I agree this has not been the Sean Taylor that we have grown accustomed to, but you can say that about the entire unit. It's not like the unit is dominating and he himself has slipped. He's still probably the best thing that they have to offer along with Washington

rsf10- Well, it's time for our weekly Prescription segment. It's on to Tampa (again). What needs to happen in your opinion to secure a win?

DW- My keys are simply 200yds on the ground to start with. I'd like to see Duckett get 15-18 carries with Betts getting about 12. Betts should be incorporated in the passing game as well, and he is so valuable on 3rd down. Duckett needs to get the ball man. The guy got 12yds on his first carry in Philadelphia. Tampa is undersized. I would really consider giving them a large dose of Caveman Sellers and T.J. Duckett between the tackles. If they handle that, then they are just a better team, but I don't think that they can. I don't think that anybody can if this team would make up it's mind to do it. Especially after letting Jason stretch the field with his WRs and getting those safeties out of the box. Face it, this team has played at a distinct disadvantage all year. Nobody respects their passing game. You have guys like Roy Williams from Dallas sticking their nose in there. Look at the play that he made on Portis. Look at the plays where they had seven shots in the redzone and couldn't get in. Whether or not Jason has played before will be insignificant unless he goes out there and vomits all over himself in the first series. He is going against a fellow rookie, and you look at Tony Romo's success down in Dallas. It's not like he's just out of Auburn. He's had some time here to settle, but he's going to be nervous just like any other professional would be. If they support him, then I think this kid has the chance to come out and give them a different look. If it doesn't work after they have tried it, then so be it. This league now is conditioned to penalize DBs. All you have to do is throw the ball up. The league has victimized DBs; it is what it is. So to not throw down field and not take advantage of it is ignorant.

rsf10- Alright homeboy. We will talk next week.....