RICHMOND – Day two of Redskins training camp is in the books. Saturday, the pads can come on and the football will start to look a little bit more like, well, football. Coach Jay Gruden issued a helpful reminder not to take things too seriously in the early days.
“Judgements can’t be made in shorts after the first couple days,” Gruden said. “You know, you have to put a process of days together and see how they do in pads after they have a good day or a bad day, see how they recover, see how they bounce back, see how they learn new plays, see how they put it all together, see who the most consistent players are, see who the toughest players are - mentally and physically. Then you make your decisions.”
That said, here are a few notes from an overcast day in Richmond.
Junior Galette has got some burst left.
One of the players with the most to prove this training camp is outside linebacker Junior Galette. Ryan Kerrigan, Trent Murphy and Preston Smith were already in place before the team drafted Alabama pass rushing standout Ryan Anderson in the second round. The Galette the Redskins signed could certainly compete with that group but, after two Achilles’ surgeries, it was easy to wonder if Galette would be able to keep up.
That’s still an unanswered question, but Galette had some success working against left tackle Trent Williams on Friday. Few players can ever beat Williams one-on-one, but Galette turned the corner on him during team drills. If there’s anything that can let Galette know that he’s healthy, that’s it.
“That is the best way to get better,” Galette said of facing Williams.
Galette is particularly encouraged because of the specific factors necessary to hang with Williams. He’s so strong and savvy in terms of reacting to pass-rushing moves that the only way to beat him is with a lightning-quick getoff.
“He has everything you can ask for for an offensive tackle,” Galette said. “He has it all. He can literally, he can jump set you and you can try to run around him and he’s still in great shape. Most linemen don’t even think about jump setting speed rushes but he’s done it to me a couple of times where I had to go back in the lab, like, this can’t happen again.”
If Galette-on-Williams looks like a fair fight, his getoff is OK.
Galette said that he’s playing without any mental hangups or worry that he could get hurt again. Once his cast was off, his doctor told him, there was only a 2-3 percent chance that he could hurt himself again. DeAngelo Hall, who who re-tore his Achilles in 2014 while getting late-night pizza, made sure to warn Galette to be extra careful while the cast was still on.
Is Manusky mad or methodic?
We wrote yesterday that there’s genuine competition going on for several spots on the defensive line. Because of the capital used to bring them to Washington, it seems like Jonathan Allen, Stacy McGee and Terrell McClain should be the starting defensive line, but that combination has barely been used during drills.
Defensive coordinator Greg Manusky is the one deciding to keep the rotation so active. Gruden described his faith in that process thusly:
“Well, hopefully there’s a method for Coach [Jim] Tomsula’s madness right now,” Gruden said. “We’re in day one, day two, we haven’t even put on pads yet so we’re giving everybody the opportunity. That’s what it’s all about.”
There are two sides to this. If those players were blowing coaches away, then they’d be getting more consistent reps together. That undrafted guys like Anthony Lanier and Matt Ioannidis, or Phil Taylor Sr., who hasn’t played since 2014, aren’t being totally outplayed means something.
The other side, though, is that the Redskins don’t play in their “base” defense the majority of the time. They started 11-on-11 drills Friday in nickel, with Allen and Matt Ioannidis on the field. There are so many substitutions and packages in today’s game that the word starter does lose some of its meaning.
“We want those guys to have energy, and nowadays there’s very few guys that can play every down as a defensive lineman, especially on interior,” Gruden said. “You’ve got your nickel packages, you’ve got your sub packages, you’ve got your odd packages, there’s so many different packages that guys will be guys rotating. That’s why it’s important to have a lot of them and we do.”
Two-pick day for Holsey.
Seventh-round cornerback Joshua Holsey had an impressive day. He picked off both Nate Sudfeld and Colt McCoy, making a diving grab to hang onto the ball thrown by McCoy. It seems more likely that Fabian Moreau won’t need to go on the regular season physically unable to perform (PUP) list since he’s participating in training camp, having taken the field for some special teams drills Friday. That makes the numbers game tough for Holsey in terms of making the 53-man roster, but he’s earning himself more opportunity.
Injuries: Tight end Derek Carrier was held out of practice with an ankle sprain. He’s considered day-to-day. Wide receiver Maurice Harris strained his knee during practice, where he wore a wrap around his leg.
Tight end Jordan Reed is still on the physically unable to perform list with a sore big toe, but was lifting some weights on a side field after the team walkthrough.
Cornerback Bashaud Breeland, who left practice feeling sick on Thursday and got an IV, was feeling better and back on the field.
Bonus: There was almost a fat-guy-touchdown. Kirk Cousins tried to check down on a play, but the ball bounced off a lineman. McGee caught the rebound and started running. It was just a drill, but still fun.
• Nora Princiotti can be reached at nprinciotti@washingtontimes.com.
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