Every week, Redskins.com chats with a Redskins coach about a hot topic. This week: secondary-cornerbacks coach Jerry Gray discusses the development of second-year cornerback Carlos Rogers:

"To me, the only chance you're going to get to be the best in this league is when you defend the best. Carlos understands that.

"We have a great test this Sunday against T.O. and Terry Glenn. We play Dallas twice this season. The best thing Carlos can do and our defensive backs can do is show that, when the quarterback puts the ball up, we make him pay."

"When I was a cornerback in this league back in the 1980s, I didn't start feeling comfortable until my second year in the NFL. I didn't get a chance to play my first year, except for a little nickel. Then, my second year, we lost an All-Pro cornerback and they threw me in there. They said, 'Jerry its your time to play.'

"I was on a good team with the [Los Angeles] Rams. That taught me a lesson, because those guys were counting on me to go out and make plays. Well, I got eight interceptions that year and I had a chance to go to the Pro Bowl.

"That's what I told Carlos: 'They're going to throw at you. You just have to make them pay. Once you do it, then they'll go away from you.'

"You have to remember, Carlos was a first-round draft pick in the NFL as a cornerback. So he played good football at Auburn. I don't think [the Minnesota season opener] is the first time he has ever gotten beat. He'll have to be able to bounce back.

"It's about technique. We have to look at it and say, 'Was [a cornerback getting beat] about athletic ability, was it about technique or was it eyes?' We looked at what happened and said, 'It was technique and it was eyes.' Those are the things we can correct."