LANDOVER, Md.—Hello again from FedEx Field, where the Arizona Cardinals will play the Washington Redskins today. I always want to say, “It’s a cold, gray day here . . .“ and there’s a reason for that.
Back in the dark ages of the NFL, the networks did not have the plethora of announcers they now have. Often, the team’s play-by-play guy would do the network telecast. There weren’t that many network games then. There was the 1 p.m. game, the 4 o’clock game and the Monday Night game.
Green Bay played the 4 o’clock game and their announcer, Ray Scott, always seemed to open the telecast with, “It’s a cold and gray day here in Green Bay. . .“
Anyway, back to the Redskins-Cardinals.
No one in the Redskins organization has asked, but I’ve got the solution to their punt return problems. Cut rookie cornerback Justin Tryon and re-sign him to the practice squad. Sign cornerback Byron Westbrook off the practice squad and put him back on punt returns. Westbrook worked on that during the preseason. He can catch the ball. No one can say for sure what he’ll do after he makes the catch, but it’s worth finding out. (Westbrook is the brother of Eagles running back Brian Westbrook).
Tryon had a good start in training camp, but has struggled since. It’s difficult to see him helping the team in coverage for a while. Antwaan Randle El appears to have hit a plateau on punt returns and needs a break.
Jim Zorn has talked about putting Santana Moss back there, but that’s a huge risk. Moss is a dynamic return guy. He’s also the team’s best receiver and their only deep threat. He also has injury problems—hamstring, knee, heel—and exposing him on punt returns is not a great idea.
The best way to use Moss as a punt returner is in the Darrell Green mode—put Moss back there when you need a big return. That worked pretty well with Green.
That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.
What ho! What’s this? The Redskins have handed out their list of inactives.
As usual, Colt Brennan is the third quarterback. Wide receiver Malcolm Kelly is out because of his sprained ankle. It must really limit him, because Zorn wants Kelly to play. Yep, there’s Justin Tryon. You see. They’re not going to play him. They should give Westbrook a try. Yes, if they put Tryon on the practice squad, someone might sign him to their roster. But if you’re not going to play him, you have to ask how much you’ll miss him.
Anyway, back to the inactives.
Free safety Justin Hamilton, offensive linemen Jason Fabini and Chad Rinehart and defensive ends Rob Jackson and Erasmus James round out the list.
To recap, the Redskins inactives are: Colt Brennan, Malcolm Kelly, Justin Tryon, Justin Hamilton, Jason Fabini, Chad Rinehart, Erasmus James and Rob Jackson.
The name that’s missing is James Thrash. He suffered the dreaded “high ankle sprain” last week against the Saints. That injury often means a player will be out a month. That Thrash is playing today is an indication that the injury wasn’t too severe or that Thrash is one of the toughest players in the NFL. The latter certainly is true.
The Cardinals inactives are running back J.J. Arrington, strong safety Oliver Celestin, offensive tackle Brandon Keith, wide receiver Early Doucet, tight end Jerame Tuman, linebacker Ali Highsmith, defensive tackle Gabe Watson and the third quarterback is Brian St. Pierre.
OK, so now, are you ready for some football?