Vikings running back Adrian Peterson and Redskins’ left tackle Trent Williams.  One turned in one of the finest single-season rushing performances in NFL history. The other blocked for the best Redskins’ rushing performance in 80 years.

Now both players are working together to get better.

Just months removed from an ACL reconstructive surgery, Peterson started Week 1 of the 2012 season and finished the year just eight yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s 2,105-yard season. He started in the Pro Bowl for the NFC squad, and would have played behind Williams, who has become one of the best left tackles in the NFL.

Williams anchored a Redskins’ line that blocked for the best single-season rushing performance in franchise history (Alfred Morris, 1,613 yards), as well as the top rushing attack in the league with 2,709 yards on the ground.

No. 71 allowed just three sacks this year, despite the challenge of matching up against some of the premier pass rushers in the NFL today. In fact, Pro Football Focus rated Williams as one of the best players in the league this season in their “2012 Top 51″ list.

So after an incredible turnaround this season, how does the budding star improve on his 2012 season? The answer is simple. If you want to be the best, then you have to train with the best.

In preparation for his return to Redskins Park for offseason conditioning, Williams is offsite working out with his former Oklahoma Sooner teammate.

Peterson tweeted this picture of the two hitting the treadmill, which we assume was just one of the many exercises as part of their own offseason conditioning program.

Let's get it http://t.co/23JLFOXTNC—
Adrian Peterson (@AdrianPeterson) March 04, 2013

Around the league, Williams is considered among the best — if not the best up-and-coming player at his position in the NFL. He is tasked with, arguably, the most important position on the field and challenged each and every game to protect quarterback Robert Griffin III’s blind side.

He’s proven that he has the skill set and ability to get the job done both in pass blocking and in run blocking. Some may argue that he still has some work to do in order to reach elite status, but it’s fair to say that the sky is the limit for this budding star and he’s definitely taking the right approach this offseason in order to take his game to the next level.

To the rest of the NFL: it’s March 5th; do you know where your left tackle is?

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How did the ‘Skins compare to their rivals?

According to the article (which can only be completely viewed with ESPN Insider access) the Redskins received an offseason grade of B+ — the same grade that the Dallas Cowboys received and just out of reach of the Philadelphia Eagles, who received an A.

The New York Giants, meanwhile, received an offseason grade of C+.

The article — written by ESPN.com’s Matt Williamson — says the addition of rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III “has given Washington Redskins fans something to be excited about for the future.”

Among the Redskins’ key free agent additions Williams listed were wide receivers Pierre Garçon and Joshua Morgan, safeties Brandon Meriweather and Madieu Williams, cornerback Cedric Griffin, linebacker Jonathan Goff and kicker Neil Rackers.

The key free agent losses, according to Williams, were safeties LaRon Landry and OJ Atogwe, linebacker Rocky McIntosh, tackle Sean Locklear, wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth and fullback Mike Sellers.

Here’s clips of Williams’ analysis of the Redskins’ busy offseason:

“This one is very simple: It’s all about Griffin. He can be a difference-maker as a rookie and, under Mike Shanahan’s tutelage, could be an elite QB sooner rather than later. Personally, I’ll be shocked if Griffin isn’t a huge success, so the steep price the Redskins paid to acquire him is well worth it in my book.”

“…the Redskins have much better receiving options now than they did for the 2011 season. And we know Shanahan will have an effective ground game, which will remain the foundation of this offense and make Griffin’s transition to the NFL easier. I still have concerns about the Redskins’ offensive line, but they did use three draft picks to help that area of need and Shanahan has consistently mined productive linemen out of the middle rounds for his zone blocking scheme.”

Williams also said the Redskins appear to be “very strong” in its defensive front seven heading into 2012.

A tip of the cap goes to the Redskins’ front office, which is certainly expecting an improvement in 2012 moving forward.

After a morning of meetings and light workouts, most Redskins players have been seen throughout the rest of the day filing out of Redskins Park — many of whom with their families right by their side.

The end of mini-camp represents the last official team-organized activities of the offseason before the preseason officially kicks off late next month with training camp in Ashburn.

Several players went to Twitter to voice their excitement and gratitude about mini-camp, as well as the upcoming 2012 season:

Safety Jordan Bernstine:

Done with my 1st mini camp. It went well. Around a great group of guys who want the same goal. Ready to see this next chapter. #blessed—
jordan bernstine (@JBernstine) June 14, 2012

Linebacker London Fletcher:

“@redskinsgolfpro: @LFletcher59 what do you think so far of the show? #HTTR”…practice was better than the games!—
London Fletcher (@LFletcher59) June 14, 2012

Quarterback Kirk Cousins:

Finished up mini-camp practices today. First OTA's & mini-camp in the books.—
Kirk Cousins (@KirkCousins8) June 14, 2012

Offensive tackle James Lee:

Finally got my feet up.—
James Lee (@77ways) June 13, 2012

Tight end Niles Paul:

The struggle to get up three flights of stairs after mini camp is real #HTTR—
Niles Paul (@Niles_Paul84) June 13, 2012

Tight end Beau Reliford:

Finished strong today✊—
BEAU RELIFORD (@GHOST_FACE88) June 13, 2012

Kicker Graham Gano:

Finished with OTA's and Mini Camp now and ended 26/27 on FG's. Looking forward to training camp and getting better everyday. #HTTR—
Graham Gano (@GrahamGano) June 14, 2012

We’ll be sure to be on top of the Redskins’ Twitter game as they take a little time off from the facility over the next few weeks.

AP Image

[Editor's Note: In honor of this post, I dredged up an AP Photo of Redskins great Sam Huff with his family, taken on April 10, 1964.  From left to right, his wife Mary, his son J.D., Sam, daughter Cathy, and son Sammy Lee.]

For most NFL players, this part of the offseason is a time for the R’s: rest, rehab, recuperation and relatives.

The regular season doesn’t afford players much time to spend with family, so opportunities like a long Presidents’ Day weekend allows players get away for family time.

Some Redskins players like cornerback Josh Wilson have just been enjoying everyday life with their spouses.  Wilson revealed on Twitter (@TheRealJoshWilson) that he accompanied his wife to her “no limits spin class,” and had some discomfort with the limitations:

Man I went to my wife's workout class today after talk about how trash it was and all I got to say is…some of these classes r da real deal—
Josh Wilson (@TheJoshWilson) February 17, 2012

Good thing Wilson isn’t training to be a cyclist.  Let’s see how the spin instructor handles man-to-man coverage in the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, somewhere between Houston and New Orleans, rookie receiver Niles Paul is meeting the newest member of his family, “little nephew NP Jr.”  Paul also happens to be wearing an awesome Popeye the Sailor Man T-shirt:

Recently, he also celebrated Spiderman-themed Beats By Dre headphones from his aunt and uncle, former NFL running back Ahman Green.  Those might come in handy if NP Jr. fusses too much.

In other baby news, defensive end Adam Carriker was there for his eight-month old baby daughter’s first words, which happened to be “We Want Dallas.”

No, not really.  This is what she actually said:

My baby girl said her first word yesterday. And of course it was, "Dadda."—
Adam Carriker (@BigPoppaPump94) February 07, 2012

“She had been saying word like “dadda” and “momma,” but they were just sounds,” he told me later on the phone.  ”But then today, she looked at me clear as day and said ‘dadda.’  I looked at my wife and said, ‘Was that her first word?’ and she said ‘Yeah.’”

“She wanted it to be ‘momma’ obviously, but [his daughter] knew who she was talking to and what she was saying, so that was pretty cool.”

Carriker went on to explain that it wasn’t really a fair contest, because it’s easier for babies to pronounce the “da da” sound than the “ma ma” sound.  But it still counts.

Other than that, it’s been pretty quiet on the Redskins Twitter network.  Here’s wish you a happy President’s Day Weekend with your loved ones as well.

AP Image

One of the enduring features of the Washington Redskins, is that many of the players stay in the area during the offseason and continue to live amongst the fans.  This is especially important for injured players, who benefit from being close to the trainers and team doctors at the team facilities.

They can also enjoy some of the finer things that the great Washington metropolitan area have to offer with their time off.

Take for example rookie receiver Leonard Hankerson, the team’s third round pick in last April’s draft, taken No. 79 overall.  The team has high hopes for the Godzilla-handed young man, and rightly so after his breakout eight-reception, 106-yard performance in Miami.

His season was tragically ended following that eighth reception, when he tore his hip labrum, landing him on injured reserve.  But following a procedure to fix the hip, Hankerson has been a familiar face at the facilities, and looks to make a full recovery:

I'm feeling good after rehab and that good Ol workout 2day—
Leonard Hankerson (@HankTime85) January 10, 2012

In his down time, Hankerson has been amusing himself with Washington Wizards NBA basketball, embracing the team of his new city:

Watching this #Wizards game—
Leonard Hankerson (@HankTime85) January 09, 2012

As anyone who follows the Wizards knows, this season has been difficult for fans, but Hankerson continues to be supportive. Last night, excited for a matchup against the Toronto Raptors, Hankerson took his dining experience to Velocity Five Sports Restaurant in Landsdowne, Va.:

“@ZsSkins: @HankTime85 where wizards game ?”<<< watching it now, looks like their gona get their 1st win—
Leonard Hankerson (@HankTime85) January 11, 2012

It was there that Hankerson encountered a local Redskins fan that did not recognize his team’s top receiver prospect out of uniform:

I'm sitting nex to this guy in #V5 and he have no clue who I am lol and he got on a #Redskins Hat, smh ask me was I a #Pittsburg fan lol—
Leonard Hankerson (@HankTime85) January 11, 2012

I told him I was a #Redskins fan—
Leonard Hankerson (@HankTime85) January 11, 2012

He may be a fairly recent fan, but I bet Hankerson could name everyone on the Redskins roster.  Just a guess.

So the next time you’re sitting in a sports bar in the DMV region, and you’re in a sports bar seated next to a quiet young man with enormous hands, make sure you do a casual double-take.  He just might be your favorite player in a few years.

Bonus Rookie Rehab Update:

Rookie defensive end Jarvis Jenkins has been a fixture at the facilities since he tore his ACL in the preseason.  He told me in Week 12 that he did not question the move to put him on injured reserve, but rehabbed fast enough to be ready by the end of the season.  He told me yesterday that his offseason hasn’t yet begun because his rehab process will not be complete until March.  As a result, he will not be headed out of town until then.

Perhaps the best news for Redskins fans is that the book has been written on 2010.

With a 0-0 record, tied atop the NFC East, the Redskins have a chance to make a statement this afternoon, but they’ll need the help of the new guys to do it.  It’s possible that the Redskins trot out 10 new starters from last year’s 22–which one turns heads today?

The 2011 uniform conversation hasn’t developed that kind of specific narrative yet, but that didn’t stop reader Andrew DeFrank from suggesting a few changes.

(Obligatory note: these are FAN-CREATED RENDERINGS, and not authentic, official or anything like that.)

DeFrank doesn’t have any professional interest in this — at least not yet. He’s a fifteen year-old who’s a big fan of the Redskins and Paul Lukas’ UniWatch, and he created these using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop and, he says, “templates made by designers much better than me.”

Which isn’t to say that he just haphazardly threw stuff together for no specific reason. Here’s the thinking on the jersey/pants/socks redesigns:

“Our asymmetrical striping on pants and jerseys (red, white) is nice, but we have symmetrical striping along our helmets and gold pants (and those are different!).” He notes that the asymmetrical striping issue was discussed on UniWatch and linked here, and goes on to explain “First off I matched up the striping. Along the pants, they are all now the same style, and along the jerseys, I changed up the striping a little. Now, the TV numbers are along the upper arm, leaving an extremely thin and irrelevant stripe below that. So, I moved the numbers to the shoulder, and now have the striping running along the upper arm, replacing those numbers. I also added the classic ‘spear’ logo along the stripes. I added the striping pattern to the socks to top it all off.”

The helmets are more drastically changed, and came from a totally different approach.

DeFrank explains: “I love the feather helmet from the late 50′s and early 60′s, but it obviously needed a little updating. The helmet rivals that of the Eagles, Bengals, and Vikings in terms of creativity. I changed up the colors and the feather’s breaks. A version actually made would look MUCH nicer than my attempt, but the idea is shown.”

He prefers the version above, without an additional side logo, but worries that most fans would prefer the side logo as well. So he offered this compromise version as well:

“I removed the feathers from the Indian Head logo,” he says, “so we didn’t have 3 different feather types on one helmet, and it gave the feather more room to ‘breathe’.”

You can see a few more of DeFrank’s suggestions below, and the whole batch of concepts is collected here. And now it REALLY feels like the offseason.

DeFrank thinks of that one as the “primetime” jersey, for MNF games and the like. Then there’s this alternate, which he seems lukewarm on, but which I really liked:

This next color combo, however, needs to never be worn again, no matter how the helmet changes or the stripes are tweaked. Seriously: never again.

Check out the rest here.

The Redskins haven’t played a game of football in three weeks, but Conference Championship Sunday seemed like part of Bruce Allen’s mission to reconnect with the team’s alumni. If it wasn’t Shaun Suisham kicking the ball for the Steelers, it was Antwaan Randle El fielding punts for the same team. If it wasn’t Todd Collins coming off the bench in relief of Jay Cutler, it was Mark Brunell warming up to come off the bench in relief of Mark Sanchez.

Redskins fans have not exactly been enthused about seeing these familiar faces. A reader named Jacob Knicely, for example, tweeted this to my attention when Cutler headed to the bench:
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He wasn’t exactly correct on that one — Collins went 0-for-4 for 0 yards and a 39.6 passer rating before being yanked in favor of untested QB3 Caleb Hanie — but it’s one example of a sentiment that I seem to hear a lot from Redskins fans: Some Guy left, and now he is awesome, and that is not fair.

Kevin Ewoldt of Hogs Haven was thinking along those kind of lines earlier today:

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This struck me as a needlessly negative way to look at the situation for two reasons.

1) There are plenty of examples of ex-Redskins players struggling all around the league. Look at the case of Todd Collins, above.

2) As I remember it, the fans were all too thrilled to see Shaun Suisham leave town. This isn’t Ryan Clark or Antonio Pierce, where a young, up-and-coming, fundamentally sound player was allowed to leave despite fan protest. This was a guy who was cut after missing a chip-shot field goal in a near-win over the eventual Super Bowl champs, a move that generated blog posts with celebratory headlines — like “Skins Replace Kicker Who Couldn’t Kick” (mild profanity in the link), for example, from the usually-non-histrionic Mr. Irrelevant.

I suggested these things to Ewoldt in an email; here, with his permission, is a portion of his response:

“Sure, everyone wanted Suisham gone but it says something that he’s stroking kicks now. Did their coaches fix something in his mechanics that Danny Smith couldnt? Who knows…but good players come to DC and suck. Suisham lost key games for us….and now he’s setup to win the biggest one.”

Ewoldt listed a couple other examples of this syndrome — Brandon Lloyd, Jason Taylor — and also noted that he had met Suisham a couple times and found him to be a “super nice dude” that he was rooting for. So there was clearly no malice intended on his part, but here’s the thing — he’s wrong about one very specific detail, and it’s an important one:

Suisham didn’t “come to DC and suck”; in fact, he isn’t actually performing notably better in Pittsburgh than he did here.

It sounds unbelievable, but it’s demonstrably true. Suisham was 18-of-21 (85.7%) with a long of 48 when he was cut after 12 games last season; in nine games (including postseason) he’s 16-of-18 (88.8%) with a long of 48 with the Steelers. Not an enormous difference.

But wait, you might say, his kickoffs have gotten better! Not really. His kickoff average with the Redskins was 60.1 yards with 9.6% touchbacks and an average return of 19.6 yards; with the Steelers it’s 58.9 yards, 5% touchbacks, and a 19.4 yard average return — actually WORSE than with Washington on everything besides those two-tenths of a return yard.

The numbers obscure the point though, because this isn’t really about Shaun Suisham. It’s about the fact that when you see a familiar player on another team, you notice different things. Partially it’s because your scrutiny is likely less careful –it’s a rare fan who can pay the same level of attention to the entire NFL that they pay to their favorite team.

It’s also because you’re only apt to notice a player when he does something notable, good or bad. Todd Collins stands out, because he struggled. Suisham stands out, because he has performed adequately for a winning team. But look at Antwaan Randle El. He has neither failed spectacularly in this stint with the Steelers, nor has he excelled. His punt returns, always a source of criticism in his final years here in D.C., have actually gotten slightly worse — he’s averaged 4 yards on 14 returns (and 17 fair catches), where last year he averaged a relatively robust 6 yards on 17 returns (and 19 fair catches). So he goes largely unremarked on by Redskins fans, because, really, who cares?

I absolutely hate to trot out the most overused simile in sports blogging history, but it’s kind of like seeing an attractive ex at a bar: all you’re going to notice is how she looks. She’s might still be awful in the privacy of her own home; she might still be completely boring in conversation; her family might still be dreary … but looking at her across the bar, all you can think is that she’s really good looking.

Ewoldt’s wording (and, yes, I told him all of this first in a private email) is a perfect example of this: “Suisham lost key games for us,” he wrote, “and now he’s setup to win the biggest one.” If it wasn’t for this ex-in-a-bar syndrome, he could more reasonably have said “Suisham lost key games for us … now he’s set up to lose the keyest game of all for Pittsburgh.”

And all of this ignores the fact that the Redskins are sending guys to the Pro Bowl who were discarded by Atlanta and Oakland (in DeAngelo Hall, who arrived as a supposed locker room cancer and is now a team captain) and Buffalo & St. Louis (in London Fletcher). The most successful running back for the 2010 Redskins was Ryan Torain, who was dismissed by Denver. The narrative on Anthony Armstrong is that he materialized from nowhere (and/or the Intense Football League) this year to catch 44 passes for 871 yards, but he was cut in receiver-needy Miami first. And so on and so forth.

Armstrong is an instructive example, though, because he helps to show that this isn’t a phenonmenon exclusive to Redskins fans — here’s a Dolphins blogger for the Sun-Sentinel apparently noticing AAA’s end-of-year stats:

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In the end, it’s just how things go in the modern NFL, and I feel like there’s a tendency for us as Redskins fans to focus only on the negatives. LIke I noted above, not everyone is a Ryan Clark or an Antonio Pierce, and those are just about the biggest Ones The Got Away that I can think of.

Even with Brandon Lloyd, I’m not convinced he would ever have been successful if he hadn’t experienced the struggles he did here and in San Francisco and even (to a lesser extent) in Chicago. (And if you’re feeling catty about Lloyd’s success, you could point out that the greatest season of his life got his QB benched and his head coach fired.)

Jason Taylor, though … well, that’s the thing in in Ewoldt’s email that I really couldn’t argue with. He was pretty severely miscast in the defense here at the time. Still, his wins and losses in the playoffs — like Suisham’s and Randle El’s and everyone else’s — shouldn’t make this season any more or less disastrous than it already was for Redskins fans.

It has always been easy to go for the fat joke with disgruntled Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth. His name, for examples, historically pairs well with the antecedent “Fat”. He is, in fact, a large man. Combine those two facts with the number of plays in 2009 that ended with him lying on the field, and it was all-too-short a route to fat jokes and lazy jokes and so on.

Then he goes and doesn’t show up for voluntary team activities, doesn’t show up for mandatory team activities, and it’s very easy to combine a little from column A with a little from column B and reach the conclusion that Haynesworth has spent the offseason hiding out somewhere drinking YooHoo through a funnel while stuffing his face with Moon Pies.

Not so fast, says Rich Campbell, Redskins beat writer for the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg. Campbell interviewed with Haynesworth’s trainer in Tennessee, and came away sounding somewhat startled. Writes Campbell:

Tripp Smith, Haynesworth’s personal trainer, said in a phone interview yesterday that Haynesworth has lost 32 pounds since they began their workout regimen on April 5. He said that Haynesworth is committed to getting in top physical shape–albeit away from Redskins Park–for the start of training camp on July 29.

“I think he’s going to open some eyes when he gets to camp,” Smith said.

There’s much, much more in the article, and Campbell posted some leftover quotes on his blog. Like this one:

The program “is just a little more polished and refined now,” Smith continued. “He knows me and I know him, and he gives me feedback. Therefore, I can better custom-tailor that program to him. At this point this year, I think condition-wise I think he’s in the same place he has been in the past. I think he’s ready to go to camp. As far as the little things, I think he’s a lot better this year.

“His hands are going to be a lot better this year than they were in the past. He’s going to have a lot more upper body explosiveness and moves that he can use that he may not have taken advantage of in the past.”

But the money quote, the big question, the most crucial takeaway from the whole interview, is the one that Campbell uses to close both his article and his blog post:

“I told him, ‘If you show up and are playing like an animal, they’re going to forget about the fact that you didn’t go to a two-day minicamp or whatever happened aside from football,’” Smith said. “We need to make sure we do what we need to do to basically blow people’s heads off with what we’ve accomplished this summer. I think we’re well on our way to it.”

Based on the email I’ve been receiving all offseason — all those easy Fat Albert jokes — I’m skeptical. In just fifteen days, we’ll have a much better idea.

Pro Bowl linebacker London Fletcher and new offensive lineman Artis Hicks addressed the media today, and — as Rick Maese of the Washington Post tweeted — what the two guys said can pretty much be summarized as “We’re excited.” Or, in marginally more paraphrased detail: “The atmosphere in the building is optimistic, the new coaching staff is impressive, the transition to the 3-4 defense won’t be nearly as tricky as some people think, and we’re all excited.” It was not a press conference that’s going to wind up in a loop on SportsCenter, that’s for sure.

Despite that, it was the first time I’ve had a chance to hear Artis Hicks speak at length, and I figured it was worth noting some of the things he said actually in his own words. Like these, for example, which will probably speak to what every Redskins fan wants to hear:

On what to expect from the offense:
“I think we’re definitely gonna run the ball and set things up off of that. If you look back over the course of Shanahan offenses over the years in Denver, everything was based off of the run. It helped the quarterback out a lot when you’ve got a great running game. We’ve got some great running backs here, and if we can just do our part up front to give those guys some lanes, man, it will be a great year for us I think.”

Meanwhile, the refrain we’ve been hearing about Hicks since he signed is that he’s versatile and can play just about any offensive line position, so that’s the angle a lot of questions took. For example:

On if being a versatile lineman has helped him throughout his career:
“I was told a long time ago, the more you can do, the longer you can play in this league. I’ve been a couple of places and I learned how to play a couple of different positions and I think it’s definitely helped me out over the years.”

On if he expects to compete for the starting right guard position:
“It’s too early to get into that. Right now, we’re just here working out and that’s all I’m thinking about: getting stronger and getting faster. Once the spring gets here and the OTA’s start and mini-camps start, that’ll take care of itself. I’m not even looking that far down the road.”

On what you learn by playing multiple O-line positions:
“The biggest thing is that you get an understanding of the offense in general, and it kinda helps you to transition from spot to spot once you have an understanding of the concept of what you’re trying to do overall as a unit. Playing a lot of different positions helps you with that a lot.”

On if he has a particular spot on the offensive line that he prefers:
“Not necessarily. With me, I think it is a matter of repetition. At either of the four spots, both guards and both tackles, it’s just a matter of me putting whatever hand on the ground for a couple of weeks and getting a good feel over there. I’ve been fortunate to be able to do that in the past and hopefully I can continue on down the road.”

And here’s that “We’re excited” thing that I mentioned earlier:

On what the attitude is in the building:
“I think, so far, there’s kind of an attitude like, ‘Hey, let’s get this thing right’. Phillip Daniels locker is right next to mine and the first thing he said to me when I introduced myself to him was, ‘It’s time to get this thing right.’ I’ve got a lot of respect for the guys in this locker room because they’ve been through some tough times and they fought through. You turn the film on and watch ‘em, and see that even though they didn’t have a great season guys were still out there playing hard. When you have that attitude [and] you add a little skill to it, you’ve got all the makings for a great season.”

Then there were the questions about assembling the offensive line:

On how it is coming into an offensive unit as the new guy:
“I think when you put guys together it’s a little easier because everybody grows together. You’re not trying to slide in and get a feel for the guy next to you. In this situation, like you said, we don’t know who’s gonna be the left tackle, we don’t know who’s gonna be the right tackle, and so forth. So guys are having to grow and build together, and that makes for a stronger unit down the line.”

On if the lack of certainty as to who will start along the offensive line makes his transition easier or harder:
“It makes me feel like I fit in a little bit better. The guys in this locker room have been great. They’ve welcomed me here. Some of the veteran guys, older guys that have been here for awhile, the first day I arrived guys were coming up and introducing themselves. It’s a good locker room. There’s good chemistry, I can tell that already, so I’m looking forward to it.”

On his familiarity with the zone blocking scheme:
“Some of the stuff I am very familiar with and some of the stuff is a little new to me. It’s moreso the language and learning new calls, because some of the terms we use meant different things to me in the past. It’s just a matter of me kinda erasing those old terms and what they were associated with out of my mind and re-establishing what they mean now. That’s the tough part mentally.”

And one insight into Coach Mike Shanahan:

“I thought he was going to be kind of a quiet guy, a little bit of a tough guy. And not saying that he isn’t those things, but when I sat down with him one-on-one he was very relaxed, very laid back, had a great sense of humor and a great personality. That kind of shocked me a little bit.”

Like I said, nothing that’s going to wind up getting national spin, but a lot of things that seem perfectly reassuring to Redskins fans during the offseason.

Also, check out Larry Weisman’s more specific summary of some of Fletcher’s points.