Redskins.com's Stephen Czarda and Jake Kring-Schreifels break down the key plays and highlights from Day 11 of the Washington Redskins' 2017 training camp in Richmond, Va.
Offense:
--The majority of Tuesday's short practice had a game preparation feel. After individual drills, the coaches went right into team drills, skipping over 1-on-1's, so the second and third teams could get in as much extra work as possible before Thursday's first preseason game against the Ravens. Which is to say, after a few reps around midfield (mostly check down passes to running backs), the first team offense mostly watched from the sideline, knowing it will have the fewest minutes of playing time in Baltimore.
--While the offensive line has remained the same on the first team, the second team has seen some changes, primarily with left guard Kyle Kalis, who has taken over for Arie Kouandjio. He's looked pretty strong in 1-on-1 drills going up against Jonathan Allen and has received some praise from the coaching staff during those battles. We'll see how the second line fares protecting quarterback Colt McCoy on Thursday.
--McCoy and Nate Sudfeld aired it out a few times on Tuesday, throwing some deep balls to Robert Davis and Zach Pascal, respectively. For the most part, they haven't spent too much time chucking the ball downfield but with the added reps, coaches opened up more of the playbook. Davis continues to look strong at camp, despite missing one of McCoy's deep passes. Pascal, meanwhile, grabbed a touchdown on a blown coverage downfield and nearly had another score in the corner of the end zone on a nice Sudfeld floater.
--The offense finished with a hurry-up drill to simulate some pressure situations. Sudfeld led a nice drive starting around midfield with less than two minutes on the clock, connecting on some short and mid-range passes to Brian Quick, using his height to his advantage. The offense marched to around the 5-yard line where they couldn't punch it in after a few incompletions at the goal line.
(Jake Kring-Schreifels)
Defense:
--While Tuesday's practice session was relatively light in comparison to others the team has gone through at training camp, thanks to the fact the preseason opener is just two days away, the pass defense had one of its best showings. Cornerback Bashaud Breeland, fresh off a would-be pick-six during Monday's practice, set the tempo early with a nice pass defense on a target for Ryan Grant. With quarterback Trent Williams trying to hit Grant for a short pass in the flat, Breeland stepped up in his coverage before diving to force the incompletion.
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--Later in the session, veteran safety Will Blackmon got his hands on a deep pass attempt for rookie wide receiver Robert Davis and second-year cornerback Jonathan Allen broke up a pass on a third down attempt during the two-minute drill.
--During the last period of practice, the third-team offense was tasked with scoring a go-ahead touchdown with 1:49 left on the clock. After being pressured to throw the ball away on the first play of the drive, quarterback Nate Sudfeld marched the offense down the field and all the way to inside the 10-yard line. But with its back against the wall, the defensive unit held strong before stopping the offense on a fourth down attempt when 6-foot-7 linebacker Lynden Trail swatted down a pass off a three-step drop from Sudfeld.
--To once again prove that defensive line coach Jim Tomsula isn't concerned with a depth chart just yet, the first three defensive lineman on the field for 11-on-11 drills were Stacy McGee, Phil Taylor and Matt Ioannidis. Ioannidis is listed as third-team defensive end on the unofficial depth chart but has been working against the first-team defensive line quite a bit in the last few practices. Also, Joey Mbu got some run at defensive end even though he's listed at nose tackle on the depth chart. This has been and will continue to be a recurring theme over the next few weeks.
--While the Redskins continue to mix and match Will Compton, Mason Foster and Zach Brown as the inside linebackers with the first-team defense, Nico Marley and Josh Harvey-Clemons got some play with the second-team defense. And when Compton and Brown were featured in the first set of red zone defense drills, Foster and Harvey-Clemons were paired together for the first time in camp.
--Finally, Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said both Fabian Moreau (pectoral) and Montae Nicholson (labrum) are among the players who will not dress for Thursday's game against the Ravens. Both have been participants in individual drills but have been held out of unit work. Gruden said the goal is to ramp up their workloads next week.
(Stephen Czarda)
Special Teams:
--With Jamison Crowder ruled out of the game against Baltimore, Kendall Fuller -- who is listed as the No. 3 punt returner on the unofficial depth chart -- was the first to line up deep on punt returns Tuesday. Fuller returned nine punts in practice but didn't tallying any during his rookie season.
--Dustin Hopkins nailed all three of his field goal attempts including a 50-plus-yard attempt with ease.
(Stephen Czarda)