Training Camp Day 3 (July 30) Notes & Observations
By: Robbie Duncan
The pads were finally on today for day three of the Redskins training camp and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Right when the first rep of live team plays you could hear the pads thumping; and you don’t know how good it is to hear that sound again. The day was mostly dominated by the defense again. Pressure up the middle and the secondary giving nothing deep, the offense struggled to make big plays. The attitude and competitiveness really showed today as well, no doubt thanks to the cooler weather today and the pads coming on. But enough of that, let’s get to the nitty gritty!
Trent Murphy continues to have a strong camp. On the first play of live offense versus defense, Murphy read a quick screen to the flat and picked off Kirk Cousins for a would be TD. It was very similar to the the plays Kerrigan has made in the past. Hopefully Murphy can continue to put together a strong camp performance.
DeSean Jackson is without a doubt the best player showing up at camp this year. He looks like a man on a mission right now. He looks healthy and motivated. So far this camp he’s been Kirk’s go to guy. I’m not sure what’s given DJax this chip on his shoulder but it’s evident to me that he’s the best player out there, besides Trent Williams. If his camp performance continues into the regular season, expect a huge year out of him.
Greg Toler is making quite a showing this camp. In what was seemingly was a veteran signing to have in camp, he’s looking like one of the best corners we have, besides Bashaud Breeland and Josh Norman of course. But it needs to be said that his skills as a cover corner are showing well. Toler came away with a nice interception today off of Colt McCoy. Toler shadowed wide receiver Rashad Ross on a go route down the far sideline, Colt chucks it up to Ross but Toler had the better position to make a play on the ball. Easy interception. This happened during the middle of the two minute drill segment of practice, so had that been a real game situation Toler would’ve sealed a win.
Now if you’ve been following me since last year’s camp you’d know I was the only one talking about the great camp offensive tackle Ty Nsekhe was having. Some didn’t even think he’d make the roster but sure enough he made the team was the primary backup for both tackle spots. I say this because Nsekhe is having another strong camp. Today in particular was his best day. Nsekhe dominated the one on one OL versus DL segment today. I’d argue, at least in pass pro, that his technique is the best beside Trent Williams. He bullied LB Willie Jefferson each time they went against each other. I’ve made note before on Twitter that he looks like a starter to me. He won’t unseat Trent or Morgan Moses of course but he’s a quality guy to have back them up. I do wonder that if maybe the Redskins could give him a shot to start by playing Left Guard. Crazy as that may seem, tall guys like Nsekhe have played guard before. It can be done and in my experience as an offensive lineman, the best five play. Nsekhe in my opinion is one of the best five.
Rookie running back Keith Marshall had one of the more impressive runs today. After cutting upfield behind the left tackle, Marshall had Bashaud Breeland ready to wrap him up for the tackle, but Marshall juked him out for what looked like a long TD run. The pads were on today so this wasn’t some half-assed attempt to get a tackle by Breeland, Marshall legitimately juked earned that run. I’m impressed enough with what I’ve seen from him and now can’t wait to see him in a preseason game.
Today wasn’t Kirk’s best of days. He threw two interceptions today in practice, one during seven on seven (which I didn’t see, I was busy watching the OL/DL one on one’s) and the second was that screen pass that was picked off by Trent Murphy. Kirk did bounce back from that first interception in seven on seven with a deep bomb touchdown pass to DeSean Jackson. Kirk does need to work on his deep ball accuracy though an a couple of occasions he’s under thrown deep passes to his receivers making them have to slow down to track the pass. I think he’s putting too much touch on his deep passes and needs to put more velocity on them so he can hit his targets in stride and while they’re open.
Our first fight of camp today came between Niles Paul and Martrell Spaight. Niles caught a pass across the middle and Spaight was there to deliver the hit. After popping Paul a little, Spaight gets stiff armed by Paul at the same time and flies backwards into the turf. Paul walks back to the huddle and Spaight follows him to have a few words. They then get in a shouting match and then punches start getting thrown. A brawl then ensues. Paul and Spaight later made amends at the end of practice. That’s camp for you.
The pads brought out the energy today and chippy attitude. You can see that guys are really giving it their all to make the team and battling for playing time. Unfortunately, today’s practice was my last at least until the next week. Since I didn’t get credentialed I couldn’t take time off of work to be there for most of camp. I’ll be there hopefully the following week on my days off. Thanks for following and for being such a fun crowd to report to. HTTR.