Redskins will cut to 53 today

By Brian Hunsicker

Published: August 29, 2008

LANDOVER, Md. — The Washington Redskins’ preparation for their season opener will start on Sunday. Between now and then, there’s the matter of getting the roster down to 53 players.
That will happen today, the league deadline for final roster cuts.
“It is going to be very difficult. I can get it paired down a little, but there are really a good handful of guys who I need to have a two- or three-hour meeting with everybody to get the mix right,” Redskins head coach Jim Zorn said on Monday.
Most of those 53 spots are set; the only starting position really up for grabs is at punter, where Derrick Frost and Durant Brooks took equal reps in Thursday night’s preseason finale, a 24-3 loss to Jacksonville.
Taking away the 22 starters and three specialists — either Frost or Brooks along with kicker Shaun Suisham and longsnapper Ethan Albright — there are 25 spots remaining; Zorn said that as many as six spots are left to be decided.
It’s not difficult to imagine the secondary being an area of priority. Injuries left the Redskins thin there in 2007; cornerbacks Carlos Rogers and Shawn Springs both missed time. But if the final exhibition game is any indication, Washington could find itself in another dire situation if the injury bug were to strike again.
Young players saw most of the action on Thursday with varying results. Safety Chris Horton had a big hit and seemed to be around the ball; fellow rookie Justin Tryon struggled mightily at cornerback.
Tryon was victimized on the Jaguars’ first two touchdowns. He gave up several steps to Reggie Williams on a crossing pattern, which made for an easy throw for quarterback David Garrard. Tryon had better coverage on the second score, but the 5-foot-9 corner had no answer for Greg Estandia, Jacksonville’s 6-8 tight end.
During one early series, Garrard threw at Tryon on three straight plays; he surrendered two completions and was beaten by Williams on a go route. Only Garrard’s underthrow, intercepted by Reed Doughty, prevented three straight completions.
As a whole, Jacksonville threw for 260 yards on 21-of-31 passing and Rogers, who didn’t play, knows there is a lot of work remaining.
“A lot to learn, I can say that. They’ve got a lot to learn,” Rogers said of the young DBs. “I told them that the speed of the game is much faster.
“They need to watch how they prepare coming into a game, because it ain’t college. You’ve got to sit down and study a lot. The coach can’t be there to babysit you and tell you every little thing. It was good [for them] to have that experience.”
The other area of concern for the Redskins is the offensive line, another unit beset by injuries in 2007. Unlike the defense, where one expected starter took the field, most of Washington’s offense played for most of the first quarter. The line was mostly intact; tackle Jon Jansen was the only one of the five to sit out.
But the younger players on that unit were responsible for six penalties. Rookie Devin Clark had three by himself — one of which wiped out a 32-yard gain — and penalties on consecutive plays.
“We have had some mental errors as we’ve put our [second team] in,” Zorn said after the game. “We haven’t executed well.”