rskinsfan10
01-10-2007, 09:38 PM
Well, here we are again, at the end of another disappointing season in regards to our Skins. There is no question that rooting for this team over the last 10+ years has been quite trying, but hey, for most of us it's just another off season to get the batteries charged and ready for another season of loyalty and fanaticism that in my opinion is unmatched in the sporting world. At this point, we don't know what the 2007 season will bring, but we do know that the fans will be there as we always are. Count on it!!
In other news, the bandwagon Cowboy flags have mysteriously disappeared as quickly as the popped up. Figures. I'm not sure what happened though. Maybe they "slipped" off of all the vehicles that were carrying them? Who knows......
rsf10-For starters, all of the Redskin faithful is buzzing about the explosive conversation that you and Al Koken had with Clinton Portis on the John Thompson Show today. Give me your take on what Portis had to say.
DW-Well, I think a lot of what he said was predicated off of the Jason LaCanfora article. It talked about the season from a year ago and it involved a lot of the rumors that we heard, including the Tom Friend article from ESPN. He had a lot of teammates making comments, but no one was saying who was saying what. So I said to Clinton that it would seem to me that a team that had so many team meetings would be able to air a lot of these things out and to come to some conclusions. So he illustrated how he thought that things had come out about how Clinton Portis wanted this changed and that Clinton Portis wanted that changed, but in reality it was a group of friends that had said it, and when Joe Gibbs confronted people everybody said it was Clinton. That usually happens when you have a guy that seems to have a lot of clout. It just seems that you have a lot of disconnect and a lack of communication between the staff and the players, and I think that it's something that needs to worked out this off season.
rsf10-Do you think that Portis in any way threw Gibbs and the coaching staff "under the bus"?
DW-No. I think that when you are trying to get to the truth about things, you just ask for the truth and he gave his opinion. It's no different then when the reporters and people that cover the team come up with things. At least he was man enough to give you his opinion and not hide behind being anonymous. There is always some truth in everything. The question is to what level and what degree, and more importantly what is the solution. Every team that is not winning has issues. Winning teams have issues. It's just that winning super cedes it. This is no different then what you will find in Cleveland, Tampa, Detroit, Arizona, Atlanta. That's why teams don't win, because they are having some problems. I go back to what's the solution and how do you fix it. Clearly, there are mixed signals coming out of the park, and a lack of understanding among the players.
rsf10-At this juncture, do feel as though this program is progressing, regressing, or just treading along somewhere in the middle?
DW-The 5-11 record is a pretty good indication that it regressed following last year's success. Some of it had to do with bringing in another offensive system, but no one anticipated the slide of the defense. There is no way to hide the NY Giants game. That was pathetic. When you look at the fundamentals of tackling and gap control. They had played so much better during the Eagles game, but the bleeding seemed to start when Jackson took over the second half during the Rams game. Again, it always seems to me that if Springs is injured, and playing without Washington, this defense his just handicapped. They have got to address that this off season.
rsf10-With you being a former player, in my opinion you would be better equipped to be able to put your finger on what is directly leading to some of the things that show up on the field. Can you put your finger on what led to 5-11 this past season?
DW-Offensively, it started with Brunell's injuries. That hamstrung the offense. Also, Portis' original injury during camp led to the problems early on. You had four of your five offensive linemen coming off of off season surgery. I just think that September was a slow start for them. Brunell's play in a limited offense didn't help. After that, when you look at the offense after Jason Campbell got in, then on Nov. 22nd when Joe Gibbs took over and they went back to Redskins football, back to the championship uniform, back to that mindset, the offensive line having five great weeks, the running game reemerging, Jason making some good plays, you saw progress. With the defense you had Springs, Griffin and Washington injured, and you had Taylor and Rogers trading bad weeks. The secondary had breakdowns and gave up too much in the air, and tackling just became ridiculously poor. Games like against St. Louis when they had the chance to win, they didn't do the simple things that they needed to to win.
rsf10-After reading the Post article where they had a couple of quotes from Gibbs and Saunders in response to whether or not they were getting along, I would point out that to the casual fan it would seem that they indeed have a rift between them despite what they may say publicly. What do you think is going on with these two?
DW-Well, if you are Al Saunders, I don't think that he took on this job to be the passing game coordinator. I think that is something that has emerged. I also think that it would be naive of all of us to think that Joe Gibbs would easily give up something that he has done his entire head coaching life. I think that he got uncomfortable with it, as he should have when it wasn't working well. As a leader, he has a right to get back involved as he did in the running game. So then you had two voices, and I don't know if that's ever good. One is good at running plays, the other is more about the passing game, that's just too much. Hopefully this off season they will work that out and get on the same page. No matter who is calling it, they will be about the same thing.
rsf10-I know that it's only been one season , but looking back at what has happened so far, was bringing in Al Saunders overkill?
DW-I thought that it was mistake from day one, but Joe clearly felt that it was the best thing to do. Things change in the course of any operation. As long as you put the team first, then you have the chance to work things out, but you have to make sure that the ego doesn't creep in. Once ego steps in, then it becomes very tough to determine what's right. From a players standpoint, they should have been trying to placate two coaches, and that's tough.
cont...........
In other news, the bandwagon Cowboy flags have mysteriously disappeared as quickly as the popped up. Figures. I'm not sure what happened though. Maybe they "slipped" off of all the vehicles that were carrying them? Who knows......
rsf10-For starters, all of the Redskin faithful is buzzing about the explosive conversation that you and Al Koken had with Clinton Portis on the John Thompson Show today. Give me your take on what Portis had to say.
DW-Well, I think a lot of what he said was predicated off of the Jason LaCanfora article. It talked about the season from a year ago and it involved a lot of the rumors that we heard, including the Tom Friend article from ESPN. He had a lot of teammates making comments, but no one was saying who was saying what. So I said to Clinton that it would seem to me that a team that had so many team meetings would be able to air a lot of these things out and to come to some conclusions. So he illustrated how he thought that things had come out about how Clinton Portis wanted this changed and that Clinton Portis wanted that changed, but in reality it was a group of friends that had said it, and when Joe Gibbs confronted people everybody said it was Clinton. That usually happens when you have a guy that seems to have a lot of clout. It just seems that you have a lot of disconnect and a lack of communication between the staff and the players, and I think that it's something that needs to worked out this off season.
rsf10-Do you think that Portis in any way threw Gibbs and the coaching staff "under the bus"?
DW-No. I think that when you are trying to get to the truth about things, you just ask for the truth and he gave his opinion. It's no different then when the reporters and people that cover the team come up with things. At least he was man enough to give you his opinion and not hide behind being anonymous. There is always some truth in everything. The question is to what level and what degree, and more importantly what is the solution. Every team that is not winning has issues. Winning teams have issues. It's just that winning super cedes it. This is no different then what you will find in Cleveland, Tampa, Detroit, Arizona, Atlanta. That's why teams don't win, because they are having some problems. I go back to what's the solution and how do you fix it. Clearly, there are mixed signals coming out of the park, and a lack of understanding among the players.
rsf10-At this juncture, do feel as though this program is progressing, regressing, or just treading along somewhere in the middle?
DW-The 5-11 record is a pretty good indication that it regressed following last year's success. Some of it had to do with bringing in another offensive system, but no one anticipated the slide of the defense. There is no way to hide the NY Giants game. That was pathetic. When you look at the fundamentals of tackling and gap control. They had played so much better during the Eagles game, but the bleeding seemed to start when Jackson took over the second half during the Rams game. Again, it always seems to me that if Springs is injured, and playing without Washington, this defense his just handicapped. They have got to address that this off season.
rsf10-With you being a former player, in my opinion you would be better equipped to be able to put your finger on what is directly leading to some of the things that show up on the field. Can you put your finger on what led to 5-11 this past season?
DW-Offensively, it started with Brunell's injuries. That hamstrung the offense. Also, Portis' original injury during camp led to the problems early on. You had four of your five offensive linemen coming off of off season surgery. I just think that September was a slow start for them. Brunell's play in a limited offense didn't help. After that, when you look at the offense after Jason Campbell got in, then on Nov. 22nd when Joe Gibbs took over and they went back to Redskins football, back to the championship uniform, back to that mindset, the offensive line having five great weeks, the running game reemerging, Jason making some good plays, you saw progress. With the defense you had Springs, Griffin and Washington injured, and you had Taylor and Rogers trading bad weeks. The secondary had breakdowns and gave up too much in the air, and tackling just became ridiculously poor. Games like against St. Louis when they had the chance to win, they didn't do the simple things that they needed to to win.
rsf10-After reading the Post article where they had a couple of quotes from Gibbs and Saunders in response to whether or not they were getting along, I would point out that to the casual fan it would seem that they indeed have a rift between them despite what they may say publicly. What do you think is going on with these two?
DW-Well, if you are Al Saunders, I don't think that he took on this job to be the passing game coordinator. I think that is something that has emerged. I also think that it would be naive of all of us to think that Joe Gibbs would easily give up something that he has done his entire head coaching life. I think that he got uncomfortable with it, as he should have when it wasn't working well. As a leader, he has a right to get back involved as he did in the running game. So then you had two voices, and I don't know if that's ever good. One is good at running plays, the other is more about the passing game, that's just too much. Hopefully this off season they will work that out and get on the same page. No matter who is calling it, they will be about the same thing.
rsf10-I know that it's only been one season , but looking back at what has happened so far, was bringing in Al Saunders overkill?
DW-I thought that it was mistake from day one, but Joe clearly felt that it was the best thing to do. Things change in the course of any operation. As long as you put the team first, then you have the chance to work things out, but you have to make sure that the ego doesn't creep in. Once ego steps in, then it becomes very tough to determine what's right. From a players standpoint, they should have been trying to placate two coaches, and that's tough.
cont...........