RICHMOND — Day one of Redskins training camp is in the books. Here’s what we learned from watching the team get started on a hazy Thursday in Richmond.
1. It was a good day for Kendall Fuller.
Fuller, the second-year cornerback from Virginia Tech, picked off two passes. The first was a deep ball thrown by Kirk Cousins into double coverage (Josh Norman was the other defensive back in the area) and Fuller made a nice diving grab and held onto the ball to complete the interception.
Fuller ran the ball all the way back to the end zone, celebrating with the rest of the defense.
Later, Fuller intercepted Nate Sudfeld after the quarterback overthrew a pass right at the end of the session. There was a little bit less celebrating after picking off the third-string QB, but a good day at camp for Fuller nonetheless.
Coach Jay Gruden said earlier this offseason that Fuller had been playing at about “85-90 percent” while still recovering from micro-fracture surgery in his right knee in 2015 but that he’s fully healthy now. On Thursday, it showed.
2. Ryan Anderson impressed.
After working with the second and third-string groups for most of Washington’s offseason workouts, second-round draft pick linebacker Ryan Anderson got a bit more work with the first team Thursday.
It was one-on-one drills, though, where he impressed most. Anderson trucked tackle Vinston Painter twice, the first time with Painter falling to the ground and banging his fist into the turf. Painter got one good block on him where he stopped Anderson from turning the corner, but the Alabama product has started to show the nastiness that let him get to the backfield so consistently in college and that led the Redskins to draft him.
3. Fabian Moreau and Montae Nicholson aren’t doing much.
Jay Gruden said Wednesday that the rookie cornerback and safety duo would be limited to start camp, and he wasn’t kidding. It was somewhat surprising that the two avoided the physically unable to perform (PUP) list to begin with. Both were out at practice Thursday but stuck to the sidelines during drills.
Moreau is recovering from a torn pectoral muscle and Nicholson had surgery to repair a torn labrum in March.
4. Josh Doctson is doing plenty.
Doctson participated in most offseason workouts, so it wasn’t surprising that he was ready for training camp, but given his injury history, caution is necessary with the young wide receiver.
“Josh [Doctson] looks very good, knock on wood. He’s doing a good job,” Gruden said Wednesday. “It’s one day of conditioning but throughout the OTA practices and the mandatory minicamp, he was running around good and had no issues so hopefully it’s all gone by now and we won’t have any issues but we’ll see how it goes.”
There were no issues on Thursday, at least. Doctson’s route running was crisp and he beat corners Bashaud Breeland and Quinton Dunbar during 1-on-1s.
Injuries: Breeland started the day on the field but then felt sick, so the Redskins took him out as a precaution. Dunbar filled in as the No. 2 cornerback opposite Josh Norman, with mixed results. Dunbar jumped a route during 11-on-11s to break up a pass from Cousins to Vernon Davis, but was beaten down the sideline by Terrelle Pryor Sr., who got separation at the top of his route with a little comeback move.
Defensive back Lou Young III pulled his groin and Painter and linebacker Mason Foster both got cramps.
Bonus: Spencer Long (yes, the center) did some work on the JUGS machine after practice. Jordan Reed, on the PUP list, was using the machine and Long decided to hop on afterward. He didn’t quite have Reed’s ball skills, but he did pretty well.
• Nora Princiotti can be reached at nprinciotti@washingtontimes.com.
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