By John Pappas
Warpath Confidential Editor
On the heels of a tough loss last Sunday in Dallas, the task at hand gets no easier. The Redskins travel to Philadelphia this Sunday to face the Eagles.
Philly is 6-4 and second in the division. They are 2-1 in the division and 5-2 in the conference. Their offense is ranked eleventh in the league, and their defense eighth. They post 355 yards, and 27 points per game on average. They have playmakers in Donovan McNabb, DeSean Jackson, Brent Celek, and Jeremy Macklin. Defensively, they rank second in sacks, and third in interceptions.
Washington coaches and players spoke Wednesday on preparation for the Eagles.
Head coach Jim Zorn on personnel
“Rock [Cartwright] is going to be our starter, getting the bulk of it. You will see all three of them. All three of those guys are going to be special teamers. It will be a little bit more of a community. They are similar runners and hopefully we can stay with Rock and he can pound the ball for us.”
“[Mike Williams] is going to be available. He’s trying to work his way as quickly as he can into the mix now. He’s got a great attitude. His ankle is a lot better. He’s able to move, and move laterally. As soon as Buges (Joe Bugel) and I see how he fits – right now he’s going to be starting from the backup position, but he’s working.”
“[Marcus Mason] will definitely play this week. One of the things about Marcus is that he has real confidence in himself, much like Rock Cartwright. He understands the situation. He didn’t just go huddle in the corner and wait until the phone rang. He has been working out and trying to get ready so that if he had an opportunity he would be ready. That’s what you love about a player like Marcus and other players like him who stay ready. Now he has every opportunity to participate in his first game back.”
Secondary coach Jerry Gray on the approach defensively
“If you take a look, [the Eagles] did a great job right before halftime of getting a big touchdown, and game planning Carlos [Rogers] on a double cut. Then on the reverse, it was one of those desire things, and I thought [DeSean] Jackson did an excellent job. If you take those two plays out, those plays hurt us, especially on defense. Good teams really don’t make wholesale changes, and we’re not going to make a wholesale change on defense, and I don’t think they’re going to make a wholesale change on offense. Whoever schemes the best is going to win those games.”
Quarterback Jason Campbell on playing from behind and Philly’s defense
“When we went to Philadelphia last year I remember we were behind 14-0 and we fought back in that game to win it. But the difference was it was early in the game and we didn’t have to abandon any game plans. When we played here on that Monday night game, they got up really quick on us. Our offense had not been up to par like it was that time of the year a year ago. It was a more difficult situation to be in.
“We definitely have to do our best to protect the football. But at the same time we can’t be afraid to make plays. We can’t be afraid to have fun and play at a high level. With that being said we understand that we are playing with a defense that moves around a lot and causes a lot of issue and problems. So everybody has to make sure that we are on the same page. If things get a little rough we can’t get frustrated. We have to continue to stay on course.
“They do a good job of [stripping the ball]. A lot of teams try to get to the running back, quarterback and the receiver and just try to make the tackle. But these guys try to get the ball out, one guy is making the tackle and the other one is trying to get the ball out. So we have to be very cautious of that and make sure we put two hands on the ball. When I’m in the pocket I have to make sure that there are no hands around me.”
Santana Moss on the rest of the season
“At the end of the day, it’s all about doing it instead of saying, ‘What if.’ We still have an opportunity to do some good things as far as in our division alone, so all we have to do is take advantage of the opportunities. The opportunities are always going to be there, and it’s up to us to do what we have to do with it.
“I feel that every weekend we go out there with the intent to win, still with a 3-7 record. We go out there knowing that we’re just a play here and there, a drive here and there, from being better than that opponent. I think the past three weeks we’ve really been coming together, and playing decently. Decent as in not where we want to be, but it’s better than what we were before. And all you can do is build off of that. I feel very confident in just knowing that I feel like we have something in mind that we know we can do. And I think we can build on to it and just add more to what we got going, and get some more wins.”
Brian Orakpo on DeSean Jackson
“[Donovan] McNabb is obviously the key to getting the ball to him (DeSean Jackson). But 10 (Jackson) is a guy that killed us last game. The double move and then the reverse, I mean we got to stop him from making those big plays.”
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Extremeskins Staff, Warpath Confidential. Warpath Confidential said: New Article: In their own words: Getting ready for the Eagles: – http://tinyurl.com/yl9sqcr #redskins [...]