RICHMOND — One of the biggest focuses in training camp is hammering on the situational drills that are most likely to arise in game situations.
Throughout the last three weeks, Washington Redskins coach Jay Gruden has emphasized the basics such as two-minute drills and red-zone scoring, but he saved the most pertinent for Monday: 300-pound defensive linemen fielding punts.
The Redskins wrapped up training camp with a brief session on Monday, but only after a defensive lineman successfully fielded a punt from the JUGs machine. Defensive end Chris Baker was unsuccessful on three attempts, some of which were more graceful than others.
Ricky Jean Francois spared the team from the Richmond humidity and caught one after a few attempts.
“There’s a reason 300 pounds isn’t meant to be back there and do it,” Jean Francois said. “But to get my team to go home a little early, I’m down for it. Jay Gruden, you ever need an emergency punt returner, just in case fifth or sixth string, I’m the guy. I might fair catch it, get 5 or 10 yards at most.
“I’m gonna clown Baker on Twitter, any type of social media, that I caught the pass that sent us home. Could of been out there still doing two-minute [drills], but the man with the hands had to come through.”
It was the second consecutive day that Jean Francois came through with a big save. On Sunday, Jean Francois bought Kona-Ice snow cones for every kid at training camp and served them from the ice cream truck.
“That’s an awesome thing – I hope he doesn’t give the leftovers to Baker,” Gruden joked. “He’s a heck of a guy, man. It just shows you what type of person he is. He’s got a great personality out here. We’re lucky to have him, man. He brings a lot of energy to practice and he obviously brings a lot of energy to the fans and kids. That’s a heck of a deal for him.”
It appeared that the JUGs machine, and not extra snow cones, was to blame for Baker’s shortcomings in the punt return game on Monday.
“It was rigged,” Baker said. “They had the speed of the JUGs machine very, very high. Going all different directions. But very happy [Jean Francois] was able to come in and save the day.”
It’s safe to assume Jean Francois or Baker won’t be challenging for punt returns any time soon.
Overall, Redskins coaches and players were pleased with the way training camp concluded. Most importantly, they avoided any major injuries. At times Gruden had to tinker with the practice schedule and scale back some sessions because of the heat, but the team felt they developed a good foundation to build upon once they return to Ashburn on Wednesday.
“Camp was better than it was last year,” Jean Francois said. “We’re far ahead in the playbook. We’ve got a lot to do….in total, we had a great camp.”
As the Redskins prepare for their second preseason game on Friday against the New York Jets, there will be an emphasis on cleaning up the fundamentals and cutting down on the number of penalties. Washington was flagged 14 times for a total of 123 yards in their preseason loss to the Falcons.
“Those are things that we have to really correct and we have to be on top of our assignments without question,” Gruden said on Sunday after the last full practice. “That can’t be acceptable. We can’t just brush that underneath the rug, we have to continue to work and push our guys and let them know that we have a high standard around here. If they aren’t playing up to it, then it is my job to get them to play up the standard that we expect. I think we have a pretty good group of veterans where they understand the standard that we expect, and they work hard to obtain that.”
• Anthony Gulizia can be reached at agulizia@washingtontimes.com.
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