Nearly 25,000 fans came out to watch practice and partake in the Redskins Fan Appreciation Day festivities at Redskins Training Camp.
The crowds were treated to a particularly chippy practice, as a combination of the full pads and heat inspired more physical play.
The competitive atmosphere started in one-on-one drills, when receiver Pierre Garcon caught a pair of passes for touchdowns in tight man-coverage.
The offense seemed to be on the same page early today, as rookie quarterback Robert Griffin III raced up the middle twice during full-team drills, breaking into the open field.
On the next play, veteran quarterback Rex Grossman hit a wide open Logan Paulsen down the near sideline, who raced toward the end zone. Paulsen would not have scored on the play, were it not for a key block by receiver Brandon Banks, who successful stonewalled cornerback Brandyn Thompson.
On the third drive of full team drills, quarterback Kirk Cousins failed to score a touchdown, but hit receiver Samuel Kirkland over the middle for a sizeable gain.
Shortly after this, physical play turned into extra-curricular shoving, which drew a postive reaction from fans. Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan interrupted practice for a team huddle, where he reportedly told players to play to the whistle and focus on football.
On the very next play, running back Tristan Davis caught a slant pass for a short gain, before hitting the afterburn and out-running three defensive backs en route to the end zone.
Davis was only activated off the PUP two days ago, and said that he still feels the effects of his time away from the game. Davis was one of the strong performers in offseason workouts, and looks to get some consideration during preseason action.
Inside linebacker Lorenzo Alexander continued to assert himself defensively, swatting a pass from Rex Grossman at the line of scrimmage. Alexander says he feels great in his new role on defense, and is looking forward to testing it out in preseason action.
Practice was capped off with a kicking competition between Neil Rackers and Graham Gano, which Shanahan acknowledged will have some consideration in his final decision.
The only miss of the day was on a short kick by Gano, who banged it off the right upright. Both kickers made the rest of their kicks, even as defensive lineman Chris Baker pulled his shirt up and danced provocatively as a distraction.
Not a pretty sight, but the kicks sailed through.
Players have an off day tomorrow, so there will not be any practice. Practice resumes on Monday afternoon, with an open practice at 3 p.m.
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