The Redskins Blog

“Little Skins Football” Event Huge Success

More than one hundred Redskins Kids Club members, ages 5-8, and their parents gathered together today for an exclusive Redskins Kids Club Event from 10am-12pm in the Indoor Training Facility at Redskins Park. Redskins G/C Kory Lichtensteiger was in attendance to read “A Little Skins Football Story”, authored by Richard Torrey, which tells the tale of little Drew joining his first football team.

The one-of-a-kind Kids Club event garnered the attention of families from all across the DC, Maryland, and Virginia area as they showed up in droves to enjoy a beautiful spring day which consisted of an exclusive reading followed by football drills on the field.

Read more »

Redskins Excited To Return To Team

On Monday, the Washington Redskins announced that it has re-signed five players who were instrumental in the team’s late season push to the playoffs and the 2012 NFC East title; the first in 13 years, as well as tenuring another.

On the offensive side of the pigskin the Redskins re-signed fullback Darrel Young, the lead blocker to record-setting running back Alfred Morris, offensive guard Kory Lichtensteiger and tight end Logan Paulsen.

On defense, the team brought back linebacker Rob Jackson, tendered nose tackle Chris Baker, and signed long snapper Nick Sundberg from the special teams unit.

Find out what the players had to say about returning to the Burgundy and Gold and the chance to conquer the NFC East once again.

Read more »

Morris, Lichtensteiger Make ‘All-Joe Team’

(AP Photo)

The 21st All-Joe Team was recently announced by USA Today and Redskins running back Alfred Morris and guard Kory Lichtensteiger were selected.

The All-Joe Team was originally comprised by USA Today Sports writer Larry Weisman in honor of Kansas City defensive lineman Joe Phillips after he helped teammates Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith combined to take down quarterbacks 29 times during the 1992 season.

While Thomas and Smith received the brunt of attention, Phillips was instrumental in paving the way to get his teammates to the ball.

The team is an annual presentation of some of the hardest working players in the league. Often, these players are deemed “over-achievers” and rarely get the same level of media attention that some of the top superstars in the league receive. The only parameter of inclusion to the All-Joe Team is that the player has yet to be selected to the Pro Bowl.

However, many All-Joe Team selections go on to be selected to the annual contest in the Rainbow State. Prime example: 2011 All-Joe and 2012 Pro Bowl special teamer Lorenzo Alexander.

Find out why Morris and Lichtensteiger were deserving of the honor here:

Read more »

Behind The Scenes: Winchester Tour Stop

There was lots of fun to be had Thursday as the Washington Redskins 80th Anniversary Thank You Tour made the first stop of its two-month-long trek in Winchester, Va.

And, boy, what a warm reception we received.

Read more »

Mrs. Lichtensteiger Happy Kory Is Healthy

AP Image

Not to startle you with profound headlines, but I assert that Mandi Lichtensteiger is happy that Kory is rebounding from a traumatic knee injury in Week 5.

There really is a point to this story.

When Kory tore his right ACL and MCL on an awkward play against the Eagles, Mandi embodied the role of his ‘better half.’  She had to do many of the things that he physically couldn’t do, as he recovered from surgery (via his exclusive interview with Redskins Nation’s Larry Michael):

“Probably the first month after my surgery, it was just a lot of pain, and more than I was prepared for,” he said of his lowest point in the recovery.  ”It took me a while to get off the medication and get my quality of life back.”

Five months later, he may not be 100 percent yet, he’s moving around fine without crutches, and can drive himself around without his wife as a chauffeur:

“It was my right leg, so I couldn’t drive.  I had to have a chauffeur–my wife filled that role for me,” he said with a small grin.  ”She was pretty good about it, but I could tell there was some frustration there.  A lot of frustration on my end–but understandably so from her end too.

“It’s good to have the low point over with, and it’s all up from here.”

Check out what Kory has to say about getting back to running, and how he handled watching football from the couch: Read more »

High School Lichtensteiger ‘A Hidden Gem’

AP Image

On January 10, 2010, Mike Shanahan was hired to be the new head coach for the Washington Redskins.  One of his first official moves was signing several players to future’s contracts, including little known offensive guard Kory Lichtensteiger, a former Shanahan draftee in Denver.

Lichtensteiger had taken the long road to Washington (via Denver and Minnesota), and looked to be a player looking for his last, best chance.  After a rookie season in which he appeared in 16 games for Shanahan’s Broncos, Lichtensteiger didn’t appear in a game in 2009.

Reunited with Shanahan in Washington in 2010, Lichtensteiger was installed as the starting left guard in Week 3, where he started the final 14 games.

After battling back from a traumatic knee injury early, Lichtensteiger has been tendered a contract for next season, and appears to be an example of a ‘diamond in the rough’ type of player.

It turns out that Kory has been considered “a hidden gem” since high school, when he was a hometown hero in rural Ohio: Read more »

Injured Redskins Players Back In The Mix

Open locker room on “Black Monday” is generally headlined by quiet, somber reflection for the teams and players that don’t make the playoffs.

But for injured players, this is the first time that many of them have been permitted to sit in on team meetings and team functions.  Rather than feeling like outsiders looking in, this is an opportunity for these players to stand alongside their teammates and look forward to next season.

“As a player who hasn’t produced for my team for what feels like forever, I’m really excited about starting over and moving forward,” tight end Chris Cooley said.  ”Today is good for me because it feels like I’m back to the team.”

This was a fairly common sentiment in the locker room today, as injured players like Cooley, Kory Lichtensteiger, Chris Baker, Kedric Golston, Leonard Hankerson, and Tim Hightower all showed up to meet with coaches and clean out their lockers.

One advantage that the injured players have over their teammates is that they have already reflected on the disappointments of the 2011 season.  For Cooley, today was the first day of his preparation for the 2012 season, and it’s something that he was encouraging his teammates to do as well.

“I think a fresh start’s probably good for everyone right now, in terms of record and in terms of what we have going on right now,” he explained.  ”I don’t think it sounds daunting, we just need to get back to work.”

After a quick shower and change into his sweatpants, he told teammate Logan Paulsen that he was off to go get in a workout.  From the sounds of it, we can expect to see Redskins No. 47 back on the field in 2012.

Seattle In The Rear View Mirror

AP Image

The Redskins have finally awoken from their bye week slumber, grabbing their first win since Oct. 2, a span of 56 days.  To put it in perspective, here’s a few other ways of measuring how long it’s been for the team:

• They’ve made 26 changes to the active roster (and not all of them have involved Brandyn Thompson).
• They’ve traveled approximately 7,733 miles on road trips.
• They’ve had six other games, 22 team practices, and more than a dozen additional walk-throughs.
• They’ve celebrated two major corporate holidays (Halloween and Thanksgiving), and spent almost all of Mo-vember.

It’s been a long time coming, it was a hard-fought battle, and it’s a win that everyone can share in and enjoy until Wednesday.

The Redskins proved a lot of people wrong with yesterday’s win, including every NFL prognosticator except for Mark Schlereth, and we’re here to give Stink his due credit.  On a more global perspective, they also surpassed the deflated expectations of ESPN The Magazine and Phil Steele’s NFL Magazine, both of whom predicted a 3-13 inept finish for the Redskins.  They’ve spent a long time searching for that fourth win, but it’s always nice to prove the doubters wrong.

Yesterday also wrapped up a dominant season series against the NFC West, against which the Redskins finished 3-1, beating Arizona, St. Louis, and Seattle.  Sure, these three teams have 10 combined wins, but those are the games that the Redskins were expected to win, and they did so.  It would have been nice to pull out a win against San Francisco, but there’s no shame in losing to one of the best teams in the NFC, if not the whole NFL.

No shame in beating them either, but you take what you can get.

One unexpected byproduct of this rough patch has been witnessing the emergence of several young playmakers on offense and defense.  With the loss of Chris Cooley for the season, the Redskins were able to confirm what they thought they knew about tight end Fred Davis.  With the loss of Santana Moss, the Redskins were able to get a look at both Niles Paul and Leonard Hankerson, who showed tremendous development during their rookie campaigns.  With the loss of offensive guard Kory Lichtensteiger, the Redskins were able to look at seventh-rounder Maurice Hurt, who has been more than serviceable at guard.  With the loss of Tim Hightower, the Redskins were able to get a look at both Roy Helu and Evan Royster in the backfield.

Helu showed yesterday that he has the dual-threat ability to be an offensive catalyst, getting 30 touches for 162 yards and a long touchdown run.  The instant success that he and his fellow rookies have had is just a testament to the scouting and player development behind April’s draft.  Early, premature indicators suggest that the 2011 Redskins draft class could go down as one of the best.

In between buying holiday gifts this Cyber Monday, enjoy a few game stats from Victory Monday: Read more »

Beck: Injuries No Excuse For Play

AP Image

Clearly, the blocking schemes need to be reassessed this week after the Redskins pass protection yielded nine sacks yesterday.  The Redskins have lost three of their best blockers in Kory Lichtensteiger, Tim Hightower and Chris Cooley, and the absence of left tackle Trent Williams was felt especially hard yesterday.

But Beck didn’t accept any ready-made excuses, and said that they team needs to adjust and get better.

“That’s just part of the NFL,” he said.  ”Because it’s a long season, injuries do happen.  The good teams find a way to win, regardless of who steps in.  That’s our plan: to be the good team.  That’s our plan, to just continually get better so we can insert whoever’s next up, and continue to play well.”

As the Redskins finally come home to take on the 49ers, Beck said his team was aware of the process that it would take to reverse the results of recent weeks.

“You never wanna lose a game, and you never wanna lose back-to-back games, and so forth,” he said.  ”So this will definitely be a week for us to get as much as we can out of the game tape, get the most we can out of practice, and take that next step forward.”

Watch his full post-game presser, below: Read more »

Maurice Brings ‘Mo’ Hurt To O-Line

AP Image

It’s said that NFL linemen should have a mean streak in them in order to survive in the trenches.  They may need to ‘bring the hurt.’

New Redskins guard Maurice ‘Mo’ Hurt is proving that they can be polite off the field as well.

Following his promotion from the practice squad to replace injured guard Kory Lichtensteiger, Hurt answered his first interview requests with a series of “yes ma’am/sir” and “no ma’am/sir” answers.

“I just think it’s a great honor–a privilege–to be here,” he said quietly.  ”I’m just ready to work and help out as much as I can.”

The 2011 seventh-round draft pick (217th overall) marks the eighth member of his rookie draft class that will appear on the Redskins active roster this season.  After about 11 weeks in the Shanahan offense, Hurt said he’s taking it as a vote of confidence that he’s been called up to play.

“Yes ma’am,” he told the reporter who asked.  ”I don’t think they would’ve brought me up if they didn’t think I knew enough about the playbook.  I feel like I know enough about the playbook, where if I get put in a situation to play, I’ll do well.” Read more »