Redskins battle the Richmond elements at training camp

RICHMOND, Va. — The Washington Redskins won’t have another afternoon walk-through canceled this year, but only because they don’t have any more walk-throughs scheduled.

Monday’s afternoon portion of practice — a walk-through with no helmets or pads — was canceled due to the threat of lightning in the area. The day before, the Redskins got in less than half of their walk-through, scheduled for 4:40 p.m. to 6 p.m., under a menacing gray cloud before some approaching thunder and lightning brought them inside early.

Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Facility here in Richmond does not have a “bubble” or indoor practice field.

Coach Jay Gruden said before Monday’s practice that the Redskins were “on pace to get everything in.”

“We’ve missed a couple of walk-throughs and one we had at the hotel, just short yardage goal line, which was OK,” Gruden said. “And then [Sunday’s walk-through], we got half of it in. We missed the two-minute portion.”

Gruden then made up for that by having the Redskins run two-minute drills at the tail end of Monday’s morning session, in helmets and shoulder pads. Morning practices tended to end by 11:30 this summer, but the Redskins went until noon to make up for what they’d missed.

Still, it could be worse. Gruden shifted the Redskins’ schedule this year so nine of their 15 training camp practices began at 9:45 a.m. instead of 3 p.m. This was partly to give his players more time to recover in hopes of avoiding needless injuries and partly to avoid showers that more commonly happen in the afternoon, the coach said Monday.

“I think I am pretty much a genius,” Gruden said, tongue in cheek, “because if I kept it in the afternoon we’d have to miss a lot of practice because of the rain, right? That was the other part of it. We wanted to miss the afternoon rain showers and lightning.”

July and August weather mean not only thunder and lightning, but also heat and humidity. Guards Kyle Kalis and Tyler Catlina were both treated for heat-related ailments Sunday, and Monday’s practice was arguably the hottest of the summer.

“You’re still going to have some dehydration issues because they [have not been] playing in this heat which we’ve had,” Gruden said. “You know, it’s hard to gauge. I don’t know if we’ve had improvement in the recovery process or not, but I’d like to think we’ve had.”

Unlike Bon Secours, Redskins Park in Ashburn, Virginia, has a bubble. The Washington Times reported this month that some Richmond officials are unhappy with the current partnership with the team, so it is not out of the question that the team brings its training camp back to Ashburn after 2020.