Josh LeRibeus has improved his snaps since struggling against Panthers

ASHBURN — The last time the Washington Redskins were on the road, hardly anything went right in a 44-16 loss to the Carolina Panthers.

Quarterback Kirk Cousins was sacked a season-high five times — one of which occurred after center Josh LeRibeus botched the snap count. Left tackle Trent Williams and right tackle Morgan Moses were frozen on the play. Running back Chris Thompson was left flat-footed in his pass protection.

LeRibeus has been learning the nuances of the position — the accuracy of his snaps as well as the timing of them — in his first year as a starter since Kory Lichtensteiger was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 10. LeRibeus has been noticeably better with his snaps in the last two games, at home against the New York Giants and Dallas Cowboys, but the next test will come on Sunday when the Redskins visit the Chicago Bears.

In a hostile road environment, it becomes more difficult for the offensive line to communicate its calls, which is why LeRibeus and the offensive line spent extra time on Thursday practicing silent counts.

“We’ve definitely honed those in since then,” LeRibeus said. “I’ve never played in Chicago, so I don’t know how loud it is going to be. I just assume I won’t hear anything.”

When the Redskins placed Lichtensteiger on injured reserve, they signed veteran center Brian de la Puente, who started 50 games in four seasons — three with the New Orleans Saints and one with the Bears.

It appeared as if de la Puente would challenge for the starting job, but the Redskins have remained confident in LeRibeus, who converted from left guard to center in training camp.

“I think the communication is getting better the more he plays,” Gruden said on Wednesday. “The snaps haven’t been an issue, were not an issue Monday night, so that’s a good thing. But, on the road last time — the last time we played on the road — he had a couple bad snaps but we don’t anticipate that happening again. He’s improved his snaps quite a bit. Communication has been good. It’s just a matter of we’ve got to get more better protection from all of our offensive linemen and everybody involved.”