Redskins offense to work out rhythm, timing as preseason winds down

Jordan Reed laid face down on the FedEx Field grass clutching the football he had failed to catch after bobbling Kirk Cousins’ pass. Instead of a fresh set of downs, the Washington Redskins were forced to punt in the second quarter of Friday’s 21-16 win against the Buffalo Bills.

Earlier in the first quarter, the usually sure-handed tight end dropped a short pass from Cousins and clapped his hands in frustration afterward. Reed redeemed himself by getting wide open for a 20-yard touchdown with 2:05 to play in the first half, getting himself and the Redskins offense back on track after a shaky start.

“It felt good man, felt good to be back on the field for sure but was a little rusty,” said Reed, who played his first preseason game after sitting out the first two. “That’s where the drops came in. It was a little disappointing. That and just taking my eye off the ball on the first drop. Just some rustiness.”

There were drops from others throughout the first half as the Redskins offense looked out of sync for most of the first quarter. There were bad reads, such as Cousins’ throw to Rashad Ross that was intercepted by Corey White. The Bills’ defensive back made a strong play when he deflected the ball back to himself and caught it while on the ground. Cousins worked from the left to the right side of the field and tried to squeeze in the throw to Ross.

Over the next two weeks, the Redskins will focus on sharpening the timing and rhythm of the offense as they prepare for their season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football Sept. 12.

Last Friday’s preseason game was the first Cousins had played since the opening series against the Atlanta Falcons on Aug. 11. Like Reed, it was also the first preseason game for left tackle Trent Williams, who had been out with knee soreness. The offense was also missing wide receiver Jamison Crowder and running backs Matt Jones and Chris Thompson, who were out with injuries.

“Yeah, you know, it’s going to be a four-quarter game for the 16 that we play this season and we’re going to have slow moments or slow quarters at times,” Cousins said after the game. “The key is going to be to find a way to circle the wagons and regroup so that by the end of the four quarters we put together a good performance.

“Certainly in the time we had tonight the body of work overall was pretty productive but there were moments where it wasn’t as good as it needs to be, and we know that. A lot of the stuff I feel will be easily correctable and over the long haul will even itself out.”

The production finally came in the second quarter when Cousins threw three touchdowns to Ryan Grant, Reed and Pierre Garcon. Though by then, the Bills had rested most of their starters.

Entering the game, coach Jay Gruden emphasized wanting the offense to get in a rhythm and operate smoothly and the result wasn’t as crisp as he desired.

The Redskins’ final scoring drive of the first half showed a bit of both. Starting on the Bills 40-yard line with 1:19 to play, Washington needed just 48 seconds to score. Despite consecutive false starts on the offensive line, Cousins kept the Redskins offense moving with a completion to tight end Vernon Davis. The drive ended with a 9-yard fade pass to Garcon for a touchdown.

The penalties aside, the Redskins executed well in the tight situation, something they practiced regularly at the end of each session during training camp.

“We have to get those cleaned up, you know, those things are just—it’s hard enough to go down the field on a first and 10, second and 10, when you had first and 20, second and 25, it’s darn near impossible in the NFL,” Gruden said. “So, it’s something that we have to address and fix.”

Now, the onus will fall on the Redskins to fix the issues that troubled the offense on Friday in practice as they prepare for the season opener. The final preseason game is Thursday in Tampa Bay against the Buccaneers, but the starters won’t be playing.

The Redskins’ first-team offense will next be on the field in the opener against the Steelers. There will be less margin for the errors the Redskins were able to recover from against the Bills.