RELATED LINKS:
--PHOTOS: Rookies In The Weight Room, Day 2
--T. Williams' Advice For Scherff: Just Relax
For more from the team, including exclusive videos, photos and written content, be sure to “like” the Redskins’ Official Facebook page.
One of the things defensive coordinator Joe Barry noticed right away when he started his job with the Redskins was the work ethic of veterans such as Ryan Kerrigan and Jason Hatcher.
They've made his job easier, in some senses, by being role models for many of the rookies that have started training with the team this week. As Barry mentioned on "Redskins Nation" Wednesday, he's making sure to let rookies know they can use veterans as resources every opportunity they have.
"What I was just talking to [linebacker] Preston [Smith] about earlier today, and I talked to Trent Murphy about this about a month ago, as a young guy coming in, what a great opportunity to have a veteran like a Ryan Kerrigan to look at," he said. "When you come into this league, Preston Smith is walking around the building, he doesn't know where to go, he doesn't know what to do. Every team's not like this, in the sense that you have great veteran leadership. And with our team, as I'm finding out with these guys, you've got the Jason Hatchers, you've got the Ryan Kerrigans, you've got the DeAngelo Halls."
At this point in the season, when everything is new and impressions are important, following the lead of players who have become world-class athletes and teammates is the best piece of advice he can give.
"I told Preston Smith this," he said. "If you don't know what to do, watch those guys, watch Ryan Kerrigan in the meeting. Look how he takes notes. Look how he pays attention. Watch him in the weight room, how he works his ever-living butt off. Look at him in the individual period right now, that we're in Phase 2 and can actually go out on the field with guys. Watch how they work. If you don't know what to do, watch them. That's how you become a great pro."
.
.
.
