Despite Thursday's run game being discouraging to head coach Jay Gruden, running back Mack Brown was pleased with his effort against the Falcons and expects to keep improving.
"That was a real camp practice," running back Mack Brown said after spending Saturday in the hot and humid Richmond heat.
"Today felt like I was back in Gainesville, [Fla.] with Coach [Urban] Meyer," he said. "Ooowheee, every day [it was like this]. Today was tough. We need it though."
The Washington Redskins offense conducted their twelfth day of training camp practice, Saturday August 13, 2016 at Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center in Richmond, Va
What precipitated his last statement was the somewhat tepid rushing performance the Redskins had in their preseason opener against the Falcons on Thursday. Washington accrued just 79 yards of offense on the ground, highlighted mostly by rookie Robert Kelley and Brown, who played the final quarter.
Brown finished with 28 yards rushing on seven carries and caught three passes for 12 yards, touches he said he expected to get before the game.
"I felt good. Had some good runs, broke some tackles, did good on special teams," Brown said. "Got in a good quarter like my coach told me to get in. I'm happy I produced, can always be better, do better on my routes, hopefully this [upcoming] game I can get some more blitzes so I can show them I can block out of the backfield, just trying to make the team."
Brown, who played on the team's practice squad last season, is extremely conscious of what game scenarios he's confident with and which ones he needs to improve on to make the necessary impression with coaches.
With a young, but crowded, running backs group full of rookies, Brown knows he must continue to improve with each preseason game. The difficulty for Brown in his head coach's criticism of the team's run game is trying to balance his own individual merits and the team's.
"We just mis-targeted and backs might have missed a cut," Gruden said. "Like I said before, many, many times, the running game takes all 10 guys, 11 guys for this to be successful. Quarterbacks have got to get us in the right run, number one. We've got to get it counted out right and we've got to stay on our blocks. If one guy misses a block or lose a block or we miss a cut, this looks like a bad running team. We're going to keep with it, man."
"I would never blame the O-line because they in the trenches every day, man," Brown said. "If I can do something better, that's what I'm going to do is watch film."
As he prepares for the team's second preseason game at home against the Jets, Brown knows what he has to do improve individually, and subsequently help turn the narrative about the run game around.
"Just keep putting film out," he said. "Of course I can be a back you can rely on. This game is going to be a better game than last game, show them I can really play, give myself the best chance of making the team."
