The Redskins Blog

Carlos Rogers Remains Positive, Even In Practice

The way Carlos Rogers‘ day went on Sunday, it seemed reasonable to be ask if he would be playing again at all. After getting scorched for a 75 yard touchdown pass, Rogers was pulled from the game and did not return. Depending on how the situation with the collective bargaining agreement develops, Rogers may be an unrestricted free agent next season, and there were some who were suggesting that this marked the end of Rogers’ tenure in Washington.

But that’s not the way he sees it, and it doesn’t sound like the way his position coach sees it either.
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Saturday, August 15: Morning Practice – Justin Tryon Moves On

Let me cover the biggest story from this morning’s practice first, in case you weren’t following on Twitter: Colt Brennan is NOT dating Jessica Simpson, despite what the gossip columns are apparently saying.

“My life coach Chris Cooley told me to neither confirm nor deny,” Brennan said, before denying the rumor. (“Oh, she’s not dating Colt,” center Casey Rabach said, “she’s dating Chad Rinehart.” I hope you’ll all forgive me for not trying to chase down Rinehart for comment.)

On the football field, the word was “healthy”. The only people who did not practice were Scott Burley (quad), Anthony Alridge (foot), and rookie Robert Henson (birth of child, as announced on Twitter — congratulations to Robert and his family).

Practice was in shorts and shells, and — while Jason Campbell looked sharp and it was great to see Carlos Rogers back out on the field — I mainly found myself watching a few of the guys who had a rough time in Thursday night’s game. Read more »

Monday, June 8: Jerry Gray Talks Coaching Cornerbacks and The Toughest Job Interview On Earth

I thought you might want a nice long interview to help transition you from the weekend mindset to the reading-the-internet-at-work mindset. This is the latest in a series of interviews with the coaching staff; if you haven’t seen them, check out the previous entries here.

Secondary coach Jerry Gray is one of those people who has excelled at each stage of his career, and he’s got the accolades to prove it. As a player, he performed at a higher level than most — a four-time All-Pro, a Pro Bowl MVP, and the 1989 Defensive Back of the Year — and, as a coach, he’s been impressive enough that he’s been named a number of times as a candidate in head coaching searches.

It’s that second thing that fascinated me most, I think. Every year after the season, a bunch of coaching positions open, and we all watch as the usual names are trotted out and “longshot” assistants fly around to interview. It’s the kind of thing that turns up as one line in a longer article — “Assistant Coach X is scheduled to interview for the Dolphins job opening,” or whatever — but it’s obviously a lot more than that for Assistant Coach X.

Luckily for me, Coach Gray was generous with his time, so we managed to discuss what that process is like from the inside (intense, as you’d expect), as well as how his ability as a player has influenced his coaching (less than I’d expected), and what he thinks of his current crop of cornerbacks.

But I started by asking him about the overall hierarchy of the defensive coaching staff.

Let’s start with some of the behind-the-scenes basics. How does the defensive game-planning go? Coach Blache puts in the system, but how much input — if any — do you have in that sort of thing? How does that break down?

Gray: “Basically, the schematics part of the game can be credited to Coach Blache because he’s the Coordinator. He’s a guy that says, ‘This is what I’m comfortable with, this is what I’ve been doing, and this is what I’ve done.’ It’s our job as position coaches to take that and put our guys into technique positions to win within the defensive call.

“To me, that’s the right way to do it because I’ve been at other places and I’ve heard other things to where their coordinator tries to appease people. If you don’t call what you like and what you know, you’re not really going to be good at it.

“I like the way Coach Blache does things. He’ll say, “Hey, I’m the coordinator. Here are the things I like to do. Let’s all talk about it and get on the same page, and let’s go out there and have you [the coaches] teach the technique, and I’ll call the defense.’”

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