MLB London Fletcher is back at practice today after taking yesterday off to be with his wife for the birth of their son. Almost everyone is in pads today, apart from DE Erasmus James and rookie S Kareem Moore.
Over the offseason, TB Clinton Portis restructured his contract, became a father, and decided to grow up. Portis also decided to spend time working out with the Redskins during the offseason rather than staying down in Miami, where he went to college. Head Coach Jim Zorn says he’s pleased with Portis’ work ethic and the fact that he’s been around so much — though he correctly attributes much of Portis’ new commitment to offseason work to financial incentives built into his new contract.
Portis, 26, received a $9.3 million signing bonus in March and was guaranteed at least $15.7 million through 2010 as part of his restructured contract that helped the Redskins get under the NFL salary cap.
Although Portis, in his seventh season in the league and fifth with the Redskins, played down financial motivation for his new offseason approach and increased leadership role, Zorn said he believed money was a factor.
“I think [Portis] had a financial motivation to stay here in the offseason,” he said. “I think that worked into his contract.”
Zorn has been pleased with Portis’s performance throughout the offseason and early in training camp but alluded to the contract several times.
“It was a forced issue for him,” Zorn said of Portis. “I’m sure he would have loved to have been in Miami in the warmth and stuff, but he made some sacrifices. Partly it was extrinsic motivation that he made sacrifices. But he did it.
We know Portis doesn’t like to play in the preseason. He injured himself early in the first game of the 2006 preseason and didn’t play again for weeks. He didn’t play in the 2007 preseason at all. Jim Zorn now says Portis will not play in the team’s first preseason contest, the Hall of Fame game against Indianapolis on August 3.
By the 3rd week of the 2007 season, the Redskins lost the entire left side of their starting offensive line — OG Randy Thomas and OT Jon Jansen. Although newcomers like Stephon Heyer, Jason Fabini and Todd Wade tried to step into the breach, the offense never fully recovered from the loss. The problem might be a recurring one. Every single starter on the offensive line is at least 30 years old and some, like Jon Jansen, have become increasingly injury-prone with the passage of time. Both Jansen and Thomas have suffered more than one serious, season-ending injury in the last 3 years. All Pro LT Chris Samuels is 30 years old, LG Pete Kendall is 35, Thomas and Jansen are both 32. Fabini, 33, Wade, 31, Heyer, 24 and 3rd round pick Chad Rinehart will return as backups — at least for now. It looks like a deep line on paper, but it is also an old and injury-prone line, so the Redskins have to expect their backups will see plenty of action this season. Samuels has been held out of contact so far, but will likely see some bouncing around next week.
Head Coach Jim Zorn wisely retained all the offensive line terminology that OL Coach Joe Bugel has been using with this group for years, so the transition to the new West Coast Offense should be smoother for it.
Chad Rinehart has been welcomed to the Redskins by being lined up against Jason Taylor. Clearly, Joe Bugel isn’t mellowing with age.
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