Deadeye’s Redskins/Texans Practice Observations Day 2: 

By Robbie Duncan

Day two was a better day than yesterday I thought. The teams were not in full pads like yesterday but it still was pretty chippy. We moved the ball better and defense did a great job of getting pressure. Here were my observations from today:

• The star of yesterday’s practice was Jamison Crowder, today it was *drumroll* Matt Jones! Jones was running like a man on a mission today. The OL gave him some good holes to run through, but he showed great vision as well. On almost everyone of his runs you could hear him delivering a hit to the poor soul trying to tackle him. Speaking of poor souls, on one play Jones ran an outside stretch play to the left side and got about fifteen yards before one lone Texans CB came up to try to tackle him. It did not end well for him, at all. Jones lowered his shoulder and knocked the guy off his feet (there’s photo evidence of this, find it on any Redskins twitter feed). It was the cherry on top to what was already a good practice for the rookie RB.

• Brandon Scherff and Morgan Moses had a much better day today. Still not perfect, but better. Both did well in their reps of one on one’s today and handled themselves well during the 11 on 11 sessions of practice. Scherff had a nice pancake block on JJ Watt during the inside run drill. The only shame was hardly no one watching the practice noticed, otherwise I would think he’d get a big cheer from the crowd for it. Moses still struggles with beating Watt to his gap on the backside of running plays. Watt is just too good at reacting and getting leverage. I think I’d rather run the ball to Watt because he’s so good at it. To sum up, I think they look like a starting tandem right side of an offensive line and that they’ll continue to grow and develop. I’ve yet to see a reason why a change should be made since Moses moved Scherff to Guard.

• Quick comment about Trent Williams. Watching him during one on one’s is incredible. He just makes it all look so easy. Just stay healthy big man.

• The offensive line’s struggle against the twist game continued again today. During the 2 on 2 OL vs DL drill, a majority of the reps had our guys playing catch and chasing their guy. The way this works is both guys have to stay square and get themselves turned. If they get turned then it’s almost impossible to adjust to the twist. Callahan will get this fixed, eventually.

• Robert was better today than he was yesterday I thought. Not spectacular but he wasn’t as inaccurate as he was yesterday. He looks a lot more confident in the pocket and isn’t looking to scramble like he used to. Made a couple good throws in the pocket when pressure started to get to him. Also had a pretty ball to Pierre Garcon running a fade route in the red zone for a TD.

• Colt McCoy had his best day today,  especially during the red zone session. One play he scrambled out of the pocket beating the defense into the end zone for the TD. Not long after that, the last play of practice, he dropped the shotgun snap managed to pick the ball back up. He then rolled out to his right avoiding pressure and zipped the ball into the end zone to Evan Spencer for the TD.

• Ryan Grant is taking advantage of his reps with the ones. He’s consistently getting open and making nice catches.

• Evan Spencer continues to catch my eye,  he gets open but still has the occasional bad drop. Reminds me of Leonard Hankerson, only this version is better at special teams.

• Defense once again was on the far field almost all practice, but the couple of series they did do on the fans’ side were pretty good. We’re getting consistent pressure on the Texans. With nothing still being let up on the field the Texans continue to throw quick passes and check downs. The young corners getting their chance with all the injuries we have at the position showed their inexperience, especially during one on one’s. They’re just a step or two behind but not outmatched.

• Quentin Dunbar switched over from receiver to corner today and did pretty well considering how quick a transition he had to make. With all the injuries at this position he has a much better chance making the roster here than at receiver.

Good competitive practice from both teams. I’d give the edge to the Redskins today but not by a big margin. Looking forward to seeing the team continuing to to get better tomorrow. Comment below if you have any questions and if you’re not already, follow me on Twitter (@DeadeyeDunkan) for updates during practice tomorrow. Hail.