[Note by Skin Patrol, 08/06/08 6:52 PM EDT ] This post was published on Wed. but set to publish on Thursday, so any earth shattering events in the world of football that would nullify or otherwise make ridiculous any of the below questions/answers between now and date of publication is totally beyond my control. I won't be blamed.

Exchange of questions with SB Nation Buffalo Blog Buffalo Rumblings below. I'm sure he'll have my answers to his questions up at his site at some point, so you may want to check over there periodically to see just how incredibly uninformed I am on NFL football, if my regular content didn't already give the game away. Anyways, many thanks to Brian Galliford for the exchange of questions and I hope you guys enjoy. Cheers.

Hogs Haven: Looking over Trent Edwards' 2007 numbers, they're typical for a young quarterback in that they are neither super impressive nor do they suggest impending doom. Will Edwards get above 60% completion in 2008 and why? What do Bills fans generally expect of him in the coming year, is he a "don't lose the game for us" kind of QB (for now) or a "go out and win it" QB?

Buffalo Rumblings: Yes, Edwards should surpass the 60% completion mark because he is, in fact, a "don't lose the game for us" kind of quarterback.  Edwards was hand-picked to start by Dick Jauron because he's a game manager; he much prefers that style of quarterbacking to the gunslinger mentality of J.P. Losman.  Edwards will utilize short throws, quick timing and his check-down receivers a lot.  He should hit 60% with ease; whether or not that helps Buffalo's offense score more is another question entirely.  I expect growing pains early, but Buffalo's defense has improved to the point where they should be in games early in the season.

Hogs Haven: Marshawn Lynch is no doubt a beast, but it was Fred Jackson who led the team in YPC with 5.2 (no offense to Losman or Parrish, but I'm not counting their rushing stats). Who is this Fred Jackson guy and will we get to see much of him this coming weekend?

Buffalo Rumblings: First and foremost, Jackson's YPC was inflated heavily by a 15-carry, 115-yard performance he put up against the (at the time) 0-13 Miami Dolphins.  That 7.7 YPC day greatly skewed the stats he put up, especially since he only played heavily in the last six games of the season.

Jackson will be used a lot as a third down back and as a receiver out of the backfield.  Lynch has the total package at RB, but his physical style is complemented very well by Jackson's slashing style.  And in just 6 games last year, Jackson caught more passes (22) than Lynch did the entire season (18).  Combined, both of them could catch 50-60 passes.  I wouldn't count on seeing him a lot - he's a pretty important part of Buffalo's offense, and the Bills have two young bruisers, Dwayne Wright and Xavier Omon, who should see the bulk of the rushing load.

Hogs Haven: Your team was about middle of the pack, defensively, per Football Outsiders. First question: Is that accurate? Second, given that the team spent so many draft resources on defense, how much better can this defense be in 2008? I admit very limited knowledge of the Bills, so use this as an opportunity to educate me and my reader(s) on the development of your defensive rookies.

Buffalo Rumblings: Truth be told, I don't pay a ton of attention to FO outside of offensive line numbers.  All I know is that Buffalo's defense gave up a ton of yards in 2007, but didn't give up as many points as they could have.  They dealt with a ton of injuries, so to see that band-aid unit be able to keep the team in most games was a nice development.  But clearly, they need to improve.

Buffalo already has a playoff-caliber defense, and if the unit can stay healthy, they have a shot at being one of the better units in the league.  We can talk about the rookies all we want - and they're progressing, well, like rookies - but this story starts and ends with Marcus Stroud.  He was easily Buffalo's biggest pick-up of the off-season and is being counted on to shore up a very, very porous run defense.  The results have been excellent to date - Buffalo's defensive line has flashed dominance during training camp, and Stroud has simply been unblockable one on one.  He looks healthy, he looks like he's in great shape, and he's been playing very, very well.  The defense will go as Stroud goes, and it's as simple as that.

Hogs Haven: Sticking to the point that I know very, very little about the Bills, whose name should I expect to hear about this weekend that maybe I wouldn't be familiar with? Same question but replace "weekend" with "year"?

Buffalo Rumblings: The "weekend" guy is Kirk Chambers.  Buffalo is currently one of three teams (St. Louis and Jacksonville being the other two) dealing with the holdout of a high-profile player; in Buffalo's case, it's Pro Bowl left tackle Jason Peters.  His unexplained absence has led the Bills to re-shuffle their offensive line; Langston Walker is now the team's left tackle, and Chambers has assumed the right spot.  You can expect him to be talked about a lot this weekend, simply because the topic of Peters' holdout is such a hot one.

The "year" guy is Reggie Corner.  He was a "who's that guy?" fourth round pick out of Akron, but he's been excellent in camp to this point.  Guess who leads all Bills defenders in interceptions at camp?  Reggie Corner.  Guess who is getting more overall reps than the team's top draft pick, Leodis McKelvin?  Reggie Corner.  Guess who has been taking reps as the first-team nickel back in place of dinged up veteran Will James?  Reggie Corner.  This guy seems to be on the fast track to becoming an excellent sub-package corner and special teams ace right out of the gate.

Hogs Haven Dick Jauron inherited a miserable situation when he took over the team in 2006. But since then he hasn't exactly lit up the league, going just 14-18. Where do Bills fans expect this team to be at the end of this year, and what would need to happen for Jauron to lose his job? Is he even close to that, yet?

Buffalo Rumblings: Most Bills fans see this team as a legitimate playoff contender; I don't know if I'm there yet.  I think the defense and special teams units are playoff caliber, with the potential to be two of the better units in the league.  But I'll need to see a lot of questions answered offensively - particularly in regards to Edwards, Peters rookie WR James Hardy, and new offensive coordinator Turk Schonert - before I can join them on the playoff bandwagon.

As for Jauron, he gets a break from most fans (including yours truly) for keeping the team competitive while dealing with adversity.  Who would have expected the team to go 7-9 last year with injuries and flip-flopping at QB, plus 17 guys on Injured Reserve?  Truth be told, Jauron gets the most out of his players, and that's hard to find in an NFL coach.  He takes some heat for his conservatism and questionable decision-making with his coaching staff, but if the stars align for this guy in terms of certain players developing and avoiding injuries, this team could be a playoff team under Jauron's leadership.  It would take a flop of catastrophic proportions - say, a 5-11 season or worse - for the team to seriously consider replacing him.

[And NOT the other way around.]

Or rookies, same difference, via Redskins 360:

"Rookies are fine and dandy, and I'm glad to see them progressing," said Blache, a notoriously blunt coach. "But I don't fall in love with rookies. You're better to fall in love with a stripper than a rookie, because they'll break your heart. They really will. We will give them some time and let them prove themselves if they are worthy of it."

From Redskins Insider:

(For the record, Blache disavows any personal knowledge of falling for those who remove their clothing for a living. However, he has friends and associates who have come back from clubs saying, "She loves me." As Blache said: "I've heard tales." Again, he is not speaking from personal experience...

Uhh, yea, we've all got friends who have been there before.

Blache joins Coach Zorn in his use of contrasting praise (in Blache's case, for Chris Horton, Matteral Richardson, and Rob Jackson) with criticism of our players' performances. Via Curly R, another Redskins Insider quote:

Zorn liked what he saw from the draft class for the most part. QB Colt Brennan's performance grabbed some headlines, as he went 9-of-10 for 123 yards and two touchdowns, but after reviewing film of the game Zorn wants to see fewer passes put up for grabs. "He has to become a more disciplined quarterback, and not risk as much as he risked in the game," Zorn said, while praising Brennan's exuberance and flair.

This is called "coaching" and was not missed by CptChaosSidekick who thought it reflected well on Zorn. I'll extend that praise to Blache, as a healthy dose of cynicism* is in order after all the heaping, effusive, probably largely undeserved praise the team has received for winning a fake game. The purpose of this post is my attempt at discouraging insane expetations heading into the season on the weight of preseason wins. The fact remains: We open the season @ New York Giants, against New Orleans, against Arizona, and then @ Dallas and @ Philly. We could lose four of those games, will probably lose at least two, and I'd predict something like a 2-3 start. It's dubious whether anything that happens in the preseason (even a 5-0 string of wins equally as convincing as the one last Sunday) either will or should dramatically alter that prediction. Three road games against division opponents (one of whom won the Super Bowl, another that one 13 games) is tough no matter how good the team looks in the fake football season.

So... calm down or something. Or don't:

via misterirrelevant.com but Jamie Chris Mottram credits Awful Announcing and I trust them both.

Also I'm going to Las Vegas this weekend and will be scarce. I have a post scheduled for tomorrow morning but beyond that I should have a hard time finding a computer. Tomorrow's post will be sufficiently Bills related such that I don't feel bad for not doing a game preview. You will have to entertain yourselves for a bit, unless Ben or TexSkins or BnG or zknower takes over.

* I tend to think cynical people are simply more accurate in their world view than are optimists in much the same way that mildly depressed people apparently better understand the feelings of others:

People with mild symptoms of depression pay more attention to details of their social environment than those who are not depressed.

For the record, I'm a cynic.

Very unfortunate news via Redskins Insider (hat tip to CptChaosSidekick):

"He wasn't in condition to go through a training camp like this," Zorn said of Kelly. "He really wasn't."

Kelly and Thomas could not pass the team's conditioning test and their bodies quickly wore down with two-a-day practices, Zorn said (players have to perform a timed shuttle run within certain parameters). Both will miss several more weeks of the preseason and will be quite far behind. Zorn said it will be difficult to count on them to have mastered much of this system by the start of the season - if they are healthy - and they will very much be behind...

Kelly and Thomas may each find a niche in the offense early on in a particular situation (maybe Kelly in the red zone and Thomas on some fly routes), but Zorn has made it clear that James Thrash is definitely the No. 3 WR, and he isn't counting on the rookie receivers for much early on.

I'd like to briefly take a moment to really congratulate James Thrash on his tenacity. He was a Joe Gibbs guy through and through yet managed to convincingly convert this new coaching staff in spite of challenges from much younger, more talented receivers in both Kelly and Thomas.

I guess the question is: How much of that is attributable to the two of them? I am equally impressed with Thrash's ability to win out for the #3 position as I am disappointed that neither of our 2nd round wide receivers managed to do so. And while I remain optimistic that, at some point down the road, both Kelly and Thomas will earn their billing as two of the best receivers coming out of the 2007 NCAA class, it is very disheartening to hear the coach candidly discuss their lack of conditioning.

I was just asked the question on who I thought would be the most productive of our 2nd round draft picks and, strange as it is now to say this, I have to admit Fred Davis is distancing himself in that. Strange because it was Davis' sleeping tendencies that suggested, at least early on, that he would be the trouble maker regarding professionalism and mental readiness to play. Yet no word on him lacking conditioning and he's on the field, making catches and moving piles in our preseason opener. That's hollerable behaviour. I am hollering at Fred Davis. Please holler back.

The silver lining here is that even if Kelly and Thomas don't pan out for a minute or two, the coaching staff has three talented tight ends on the roster to pick up much of the slack. Todd Yoder looks better and better -- seriously, have you seen this? -- and Chris Cooley shows no signs of slowing down. Quite the opposite, his professional career to date has been one steady improvement after another culminating ultimately in last year's deserving Pro Bowl nod. There will be plenty of opportunities to pass on 1st and 2nd down with two tight end sets involving some combination of Cooley + Yoder/Davis that will give opposing defenses fits, considering that lineup would also tend to do quite well running the ball. Actually, scratch just 1st and 2nd down, what about 3rd down with Cooley lined up wide and Yoder and Davis as TE (with Moss and ARE likewise out there)? That presents its own unique difficulties and mismatches for opponents that I'd like to see. Who needs more than three receivers?

Also, in case you didn't know, Fred Davis' roommate is emerging blog superstar and Hogs Haven favorite Colt Brennan. And Chris Cooley managed to corner both of them in their room and ask them some "funny" questions (his words -- I think the questions are brilliant). Highlights, though you'll have to click the above link for the full interview as I can't imbed it:

Colt Brennan pees in trashcans and has a high opinion of Eddie Money.

Fred Davis does not get down with 80s music and knows exactly one song from that entire decade (dubious): Pour Some Sugar on Me by Def Leppard.

Clinton Portis' playgirl spread name is Talcum Powder.

The interview is fucking hilarious, go listen to the entire thing, it doesn't disappoint.

PS: Hat tip to Ben at Curly R for alerting me to the Colt Brennan Blog. More on that to come.

Let's get this out of the way: Your Head Coach wins his game-calling debut 30-16 and his quarterbacks play out of their minds, the hyperbole will run wild. So that I don't have to keep reminding reader(s) of the fact below, all my pending effusive phrase should be contextualized by the fact that it was a preseason game against an injured Colts team (Indy fan reaction here). Still, it's hard not to be impressed by...

19 of 22 for 199 yards and 3 touchdowns with zero picks. Cumulative QB rating is 144 including the less impressive works of Derek  Devine and Todd Collins. Colt Brennan was a 157 QB Rating with a 90% completion percentage and Jason Campbell was even better (157.7 QB Rating, no incompletions). I've said it before I'll say it again and again and again: the people who will benefit most from the Jim Zorn experiment are the quarterbacks, as one could hardly hope for a better mentor than a guy who has spent his entire professional career either learning or teaching others to learn how to pass the ball effectively. That was the conventional wisdom going in being confirmed to the extreme at least after the tiny sample size that is this young season. Could any of us have reasonably expected better production out of our starting three quarterbacks, all of whom have had to learn an entirely new offense?

And look at how much we spread the ball around through the air: ten different players had receptions on just 22 throws. I don't know if that's unusual for a preseason game whatsoever (to be fair, the other team had 13 players with receptions) but receiving progressions were clearly read. Campbell was: Cooley, Randle El, Moss, Moss, Cooley. Even better was Brennan, who passed all over the place: Mason, McMullen, Davis, Mann, Goode, Cartwright, Mann, Davis, Mason.

We didn't draft Fred Davis just to look pretty as tight ends appeared prominently last night; Davis and Yoder led the team in receptions with 3, and Cooley tied for 2nd with two receptions. All three quarterbacks completed passes to tight ends.

The runners would not be outdone, though. Ben at Curly R has a prepetual love affair with Marcus Mason, and I can see why: He carried the lion's share of our 155 yards rushing. His 5.4 YPC average was superb and an enormous credit to him for keeping his eyes forward and legs moving. Reader dr WNC noticed that Mason round lowground. No dancing or dipping or diving or dodging, just solid lower them shoulders and move towards the chains and endzone.

Cartwright also aqcuitted himself well with 58 yards on 13 carries, though he did pick up many of those yards on his first run against a 10 man Indy defense.

Speaking of the defense... Chris Horton was player of the game by a mile. He was second on the team in tackles (5) but added 2 sacks, the last one looking effortless. Rookie Rob Jackson added another sack for 3 on the day. Matteral Richardson closed the game out with a nice pick six late in the 4th. Jared Lorenzen, one of my favorite non-Redskins to watch, was not amused.

Before we get to the peanut gallery, a Redskin fan/friend of this site/obvious Colt Brennan partisan was screaming quarterback controversy to me after the game. I told him that's way premature but couldn't deny that Colt Brennan really could not have done better. He was throwing laser beams peeyow pachow bizzang all over the field and looked generally menacing towards an admittedly subpar defense (made up of backups). In other words: he played much like he did in college, as an incredibly accurate passer who knows how to get the ball in the endzone.

Moving on, the bloggers said, starting with Redskin Report:

I didn’t originally catch that Chris Horton recovered the onside kick… and with that hair, it was well into the 3rd quarter before I caught that it was Horton (all I could see was #48).  But #48 was ALWAYS near the ball.  In a defense that was giving up WAY too much yardage, he seems to have a been a true bright spot in the defense.  My wife even started commenting on it, stating he seemed to have a good instinct on where to be.  Even on plays where he’s NOT making the play, he’s almost always right there by the ball.  Early return says our 7th rounder may be a keeper.

He benefitted from the dreads, as that made him the most recognizeable Redskin on the field at any given time. He didn't hurt himself, as Lee Gibbons pointed out, by constantly being in the play.

Curly R:

Marcus Mason is still the man, 18 carries for 98 yards and saw action in all four quarters. I am telling you people, this is the Redskins future tailback.

I am more convinced of that today than I was yesterday.

Redskins Insider, emphasis added:

The team has made a couple of moves, releasing safety Stuart Schweigert and linebacker Danny Verdun-Wheeler and signing safety Patrick Ghee and fullback-tight end Pete Schmitt.

1. Stuart Schweigert didn't play all that well but was hurt more by the great performance of Chris Horton, in my opinion. As telling perhaps as the way he played on the field was the fact that Chris was constantly on the field in the first place. He was on special teams to start and making sacks to finish. Best wishes to Schweigert.

2. Praise jeebus Pete Schmitt has returned -- JaLa should've said resigned. I don't know how long he'll last on the roster given he plays behind Nemo and Sellers and has already been cut once. Just speculating here, but wouldn't Schmitt make the perfect goal line player? He is being trained to block like a fullback but has phenomenal hands. His emerging hybrid playing style could do serious damage in the redzone a la Sellers circa 2005. Just sayin'. Hogs Haven still loves Pete Schmitt.

Hog Heaven:

The big concern when Joe Gibbs left was “continuity,” especially regarding Jason Campbell’s grasp of the offense. After a two year investment in Al Saunder’s offense, you figured the big payoff for Campbell would come this season. It was put at risk when Daniel Snyder sacked Saunders. 

Jim Zorn’s time invested in the quarterbacks showed in the Hall of Fame game. Campbell (5/5, 61 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) was sharp leading the offense to an opening drive touchdown. Todd Collins, said to be struggling in training camp, was less effective, yet completed five of six passes. And then there was the Colt Brennan show (9/10, 123 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INT).

Chris Cooley's iPod speaks.

TORB (The Pickler!) has the scoop on Malcolm Kelly which I can't quote because to do so would be to steal the entire post's content. To paraphrase: Kelly to have surgery, will be out at least two weeks. My hat is also tipped to TORB (The Magnificent!) for finding The Om Field, run by former Extreme Skins mod Om (hence the name). Om is a talented writer and an extremely passionate Redskins fan, and he probably likes Art Monk even more than I do:

I’ll be honest, what I've come to realize is that I don’t really want to know what it is that moved me so deeply last night, watching Art Monk stand tall, silent and humble as wave after wave of pent-up adulation washed over him ... all before he’d said a single word. Hell, two minutes into that tribute, as far as I was concerned he could have simply nodded, maybe given a little smile, and walked silently back to his seat.

AOL Fanhouse:

The only thing that truly disappoints me is that the interviews with the Hall of Fame class are too short. Usually, they invite each member into the broadcast booth and spend a few minutes with them. Now, they don't have everyone in the booth (some interviews are done on the sideline) and all the interviews are painfully short. I mean, ask a better question than "how does it feel?"

Of course, if I had my druthers it probably would've been more Art Monk, more Darrell Green, all the time, although that's horribly selfish of me. Fug it.

Washington Times quoting Jim Zorn:

On whether he took time during the game to take in the moment:

"I was very excited about calling plays. I was wondering how it was going to be on the sideline. What last night showed was that our staff has a lot of experience and everybody did their job. We had a lot of veteran leadership on the sideline, and all of them stayed in the game and rooted on the younger players."

Mark Newgent giving appropriate love to Darrell Green and Monk:

How fitting it is that Art goes into the hall with his teammate Darrell Green. For Redskins fans of a certain vintage, the names Art Monk and Darrell Green conjure up nostalgic reflections of our youth, the glory years. Watching the game with our families, turning the volume on the television down and the radio up to hear Sonny, Sam, and Frank call the game, when the playoffs were a given, and all that mattered in our lives was a win on Sunday. The Redskins provided moments, Art and Darrell’s among so many others, that transcend football.

Ben aint' alone in Marcus Mason love:

He was decisive, quick to the hole, and he had a sneaky way of dodging through traffic to make the most out of each carry. He wound up with 98 yards on 18 carries. Mason also caught a touchdown pass from Colt Brennan, improvising like a veteran as the rookie QB rolled out of the pocket.

And yet...

Barring injury, Mason has a very small chance of making the final 53. It's a numbers game, as simple as that.

And, finally, before I head to dinner, Mr. Irrelevant has the floor:

Loser: Shaun Suisham — Missed a 39-yarder, makes me hate kickers.

Loser: Me — Actually watched a full preseason game and blogged about it.

Kindred spirit, that guy.

And now I tag, which should probably take me another 10 minues. I'll be back tomorrow with more, make sure you keep an eye over at Buffalo Rumblings this week as we face him this coming weeked (I'll be in Las Vegas!). Cheers and HTTR.

Testing, testing. The fake season provides an excellent opportunity to test one of the newer features of the site. Back when we upgraded to SB Nation 2.0, one of the features we picked up was the ability to post-date our entries so that we could write now, say see ya later brohim, and the thing would show up at a specified time. So hopefully you're looking at this at exaclty August 3rd, 2008 08:00PM Eastern.

We've got a home game against the Colts in far off lands this evening and the world will be watching. NFL officially returns to the universe making all well once again, at least for a few fleeting months. The HoF game is played:

The Indianapolis Colts and Washington Redskins will kick off the 2008 National Football League preseason in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game on Sunday, August 3 in Canton's Fawcett Stadium.  The game will be televised on NBC's Sunday Night Football.

Fawcett Stadium, not that I need to tell anyone this, is also where the Canton McKinley High School Bulldogs, Timken Trojans (also High School), GlenOak High School, Waslh University and Malone College play football. The capacity crowd of ~ 22 thousand should be like totally crazy man. I expect ruckus at least rivaling that of the upcoming Mckinley Bulldogs vs. North Canton Vikings (October 4th is right around the corner, get your tickets!).

Hail to Football, we've missed you. Be sure to check out Stampede Blue's pregame post as well as their site periodically throughout the day, as I'm sure they will also have an open thread up.

This is your gameday open thread.

Curly R has one up here as well, enjoy.

Tonight. Football is back.

In an attempt to put some much needed structure and regularity to my pregame posts for the coming season, here is me trying on a few typical commentary type sections. These are not set in stone and I encourage reader(s) to tell me what's up or not below. I'm listening. Obviously the structure will change a good bit once real season starts, as information regarding starters and injuries and etc. will be both more reliable and more interesting.

What I'll be watching closely: The offense, the offense, the offense. Offensive penalties (or privation thereof) will be a big indication of whether this team is ready to move forward under the new Zorn system. You don't want to get too worked up over what happens in a preseason game because a) it's fake football and b) the personnel you are using and going against is not typically indicative of the level of competition one will face in the real season. However, offensive penalties tell how poorly a team is playing against itself and if you can't keep your false starts to a minimum in the calm waters of Fawcett Stadium's 20 thousand someodd capacity, even against what could very well be the opposing team's 3rd string defense, you're in for a loooooooong season.

I would love to see the 1st team offense (sans more than a few of its stars due to injury) come out strong and score quickly, methodically, and appearing effortlessly. That won't send me singing to the hilltops predicting Super Bowl victory, yet, but would do much to allay my fears of a brand spanking new Head Coach with his very own brand spanking new West Coast Offense.

Injuries on both sides of the ball will demand much attention from me as well. I believe I'll be watching the game from home, providing me the valuable resource of internet to track down injury updates in real time. We simply cannot afford many more injuries at key positions such as, off the top of my head, linebacker, running back, cornerback, and defensive line. If there is a stoppage in play, there might likewise be on in my chest.

Rookies (like Colt Brennan cha ching!) have an excellent opportunity to prove themselves to their newest fan bases. Players on the #s fringes battling for a job need these games far more than established veterans and can make or break their 2008 seasons in the next week or so. Show us something.

Forgetting for a moment that there's a game on the field, the most important aspect of this game is actually what's happening behind the scenes. For  years Redskins faithful waited patiently but not passively for Art Monk to get his, and finally it's happened: Two deserving Redskins are getting enshrined in Darrell Green and Art Monk. The owner says:

"This is a day we have long been waiting for and a great day for the Redskins," team owner Daniel Synder said moments before the ceremonies began, beaming under the blinding sun. "It's just a delightful moment and especially for Art and Darrell, who played together, to go in this Hall together, with both players and their families side by side."

Something to remember, our guys weren't just great football players, but great people too. That's been documented here to reader(s) enough not to bear repeating, but it should never be forgotten.

Jamie Mottram does good by the great Art Monk in his own way, honoring him through cardboard history. My favorite:

via misterirrelevant.com

Check out those burns!

Hat tip to Chris Mottram for finding the next great Redskins Superfan's blog; we're talking now about The Mayor's FedEx Field Fuhrer, soon going on the blogroll. The Mayor may not be for everyone, but he's for the Redskins as fiercely as anyone I've ever seen. Unfortunately for the entire state of Ohio, he has landed to bring ill will to anyone who calls themself a foe of the 'Skins. Though not safe for work, his commentary is frequently to the point, which I appreciate:

Getting ready to head to Buffalo Wild Wings down the street, hopefully I will have some better material, as this town is pretty fucking boring.

Matt Terl at TORB (THE DESTROYER!) will also be live-blogging the event, so keep an eye over there for updates periodically throughout the day. I'm heading out the door shortly but will return in time to update this thing (hopefully) up until 8:00PM Eastern. I have an open thread scheduled to post at that time, so you should move there after kickoff. Game will be broadcast nationally on NBC. More to come...

I have attached an event to this post which I believe creates some sort of specialty tag yet discovered in the mean streets of Hogs Haven. The event is a football game on Sunday Night, and I will be watching. Don't expect much on the day's open thread unless yours truly is saved from Ben or TexSkins or BnG or whomever. I intend to postdate an open thread sometime today or tomorrow with limited info, as I shall be celebrating the coming fake football season aaaaaaaaaall weekend. I think the rest of you should as well.

Let's just rant and rave like crazy people.

Ben, when he's not pandering to the lowest common denominator (throwing in Colt Brennan's name in a post just to get google searches is like scantily cladding women to talk fantasy sports -- you guys disgust me) has all the Training Camp updates in the ways I don't conveniently pooled into one paragraph:

The morning practice was spent in short yardage and with significant player on player contact. Bring on the hitting. Ladell Betts took a big hit but walked it off. There were some other collisions, every one was fine. Rich Tandler liveblogged it here, here, here and here. And after he got home he wrote about how great Jason Campbell looks.

Unfortunately, because we're the Washington Redskins in 2008, Betts' recovery was but short respite from sidelining shennanigans per Redskin Report:

Ladell Betts was once again kicked in the thigh during practice and has now been ruled out for Sunday’s exhibition opener against Indy.  Seeing as Clinton Portis is likely to play very little (if at all), all you Marcus Mason fans out there are going to be seeing a lot of your guy on Sunday.  In fact I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of the team signing a FA running back tonight or tomorrow just in case of injuries to either Rock Cartwright or Mason on Sunday.

Eric Shelton (who at 246 pounds moonlights as a fullback), thy time is now. Speaking of whom, Shelton was:

drafted in the second round by the Panthers in 2005...

Which means at least one team thought he was better than Frank Gore, Marion Barber III, and Brandon Jacobs. For all the love Erasmus James is getting due to his "potential" perhaps Shelton should get a look. I say that recognizing, though, that 2nd round is much different than 1st round and that we're enough years removed on Shelton to wonder whether or not the Panthers effectively utilized their draft resources on him, but I'm just sayin'. Eric will hopefully show us something amazing this coming preseason.

Oh wait he was cut this morning. Here is usually where I redact the above paragraph but it remains because I took the time to find out which successful running backs were drafted after Shelton and that kind of contribution to the Football Universe shouldn't go unrealized simply because we think having something like two healthy running backs on the roster for a preseason game is a good idea.

Hog Heaven on Carlos Rogers allegedly playing somewhat soon, original story from WaPo. WaPo has first word:

Rogers plans to play when Washington kicks off the NFL’s regular season schedule on Sept. 4 against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium, and he said he is confident about achieving his goal. When Rogers comes back, he will rejoin a unit that was among Washington’s strengths during its late-season push to the playoffs and could be deeper this season because of an infusion of youth.

Greg Trippiedi at the other HH gets second word:

Everyone in the world knows that it’s only a matter of time before he gets starts, but why push it before it’s necessary?  Shawn Springs and Fred Smoot both had great seasons last year, and it would be tough to just pick one or the other to replace.  Rogers figures to be back in the starting lineup for any sort of playoff push the Redskins would make, but fewer early season plays would decrease the chances of re-aggravating something, or overcompensating for his knee putting another body part at risk.

Myself agrees aggressively with Mr. Trippiedi. I love the enthusiasm from Carlos Rogers as that evidences good football spirit as well as hints towards his mental/physical well-being, but let's simmer down. This is a dangerous summer to wear a Redskins uniform and there's really no utility in pushing him onto the field too soon. If he needs some time to get his sea legs, I say let him do it early in the regular season as a nickel back behind Smoot and Springs. The only thing he can learn during a premature return is how to reaggrivate an injury, just my two cents. (Tandler talks roster ramifications if Rogers isn't ready to go by season's start.)

Chris Cooley gets cool.

Because I wouldn't stoop to throwing out Colt Brennan's name just to get google searches, I'll let Ryan Wilson at Fanhouse talk about Colt Brennan because that's not what I'm about. Enjoy:

Brennan is facing pretty long odds, but who knows, if Collins continues to struggle, maybe Brennan wins the job. I don't see it happening, but, honestly, who had Mark Brunell as an NFL starting quarterback two years ago? Exactly.

In the meantime, Brennan will continue to work hard and do quirky things like wear tights to practice and play the ukulele. And who knows, if this all works out, maybe he can have a recurring role in one of Clinton Portis' many productions.

Just. Crazy. Enough. To. Work.

A great big happy blog welcome to two newcomers, Burgundy Army and Bleeding Burgundy. The former is run by Matt, associated with The Warpath Redskins MB, which is much more big time than this blog. He opens with Rogers and McIntosh injury recovery newsstuffs. Ben done it and alerted me too Bleeding Burgundy, who opened a minute ago but currently wonders why our newest Redskins receivers haven't figured out who Art Monk is yet. Good question.

John Lynch... Redskin? So suggests Riggo's Rag:

Think about it, Skins fans.  Doesn’t this make so much sense? Secondary depth is a problem for us.  Lynch is the kind of veteran leadership that this defense is built on right now.  He doesn’t trap a young player we want to develop.  I love Reed Doughtery’s guts, but he is no John Lynch even at the end of his career. Lynch will likely take a pay cut to go to a winning team so the cap is no problem. What would he cost?  A 7th?  Who would pay more for a 37 year old safety who is contimplating retirement?

All this prompted by Lynch leaving the Broncos. My retort: Maybe Reed Doughty really isn't just a constantly overachieving madman? I'd like to find that out.

Redskins 360 had a post up that titled: For the Gambling Junkies. My degenerate addiction is well documented here so you know I was jotting notes while reading, but stopped briefly to lament when one of the better College Football minds didn't think highly of this football team:

*Phil [Steele] projects the Redskins will 6-10 and finish last in the NFC East. He has Philadelphia and Dallas going 11-5 and the Giants 10-6. The Redskins are 40-1 to win the Super Bowl, 14-1 to win the NFC and 8-1 to win the division.

While we're on the subject of great college football minds, this isn't Redskins related but I've been meaning to get a post up about it all week. Actually: Speaking of greatest college football mind, the bestest will move on to bigger and better things. Sunday Morning Quarterback has been a daily read for me since my first introduction to his writing years ago, and you have him to thank for many instances of posts not getting written here. He writes, I read. He is hands down the most talented writer on this particular blogging network and one of the better sports writers out there, period. He will be missed at SB Nation though his pen will find paper somewhere: He'll write, I'll read.

What else is there, really, to talk about? Because I'm way above this sort of thing, I tsk tsk towards Dan Steinberg obviously pandering post about Colt Brennan and Colt Brennan's training camp blogging. I understand that Hawaii CFB fans are some of the best, greatest, most magnificent people on earth and also happen to frequent the internets massively searching for Colt Brennan news, but that's no excuse to spend a disprapportionate amount of verbiage on third string quarterbacks who happened to be named Colt Brennan. It's just really sad.

I love Coach Zorn and have Great Expectations for the coming season, so don't interpret this as even a modest criticism of the coach, but I don't know if an "intriguing" is really all that preferable (at least in the meaning used below) a quality in coaches. George Halas circa 1962, for example, probably wasn't the most "intriguing" guy; he had coached 427 regular season games to that point and won 281 of them or, put differently, roughly 65.8% of the games he coached he won. He also had five (of his six) NFL Championships behind him. That he won eleven games the following year was hardly that much of a surprise and neither was he. As a coach, when it came to George Halas, what you saw is what you got: a perennially competitive bad ass who was as likely to win you a championship as not.

Jim Zorn intrigues precisely because you don't know what you're going to get. The point I'm trying to make is, as interesting and entertaining as it is to be a Redskins fan right now with all the newness and "intrigue," the end game is that one day I wake up and Jim Zorn is railing off 10-12 win seasons like they're free throws and we are a couple Lombardi (another unintriguing coach) Trophies richer as a franchise. If all goes well Coach Zorn ain't an enigma, he becomes a proven winner.

Hey but intrigue is good for print, so we've got that going for us. Hit up USA Today's Top Five Most Intriguing Coaches and you'd find our very own at numero tres:

3. Jim Zorn, Washington: Joe Gibbs is a Hall of Famer and a legend in Washington. But that really isn't a huge deal since Gibbs' magic wasn't as strong the second time around. But Zorn will be of great interest if only because he was hired as offensive coordinator and then out of the blue named coach. He had great zeal for the job and fans are enthused by his early performance. But he is a coaching unknown and that always makes for good theater.

Briefly:

Joe Gibbs is a Hall of Famer and a legend in Washington the galaxy. But that really isn't a huge deal since Gibbs' magic wasn't as strong the second time around. And that is a big deal.

But beyond that I can't say I disagree with the author. As there is no record on which to judge our head coach, his zeal and early performance (doing what, misa dunno) is all we have on which to hang our hats. And our coach does make for excellent theater, if not vocabulary mentoring.

Hey, praise jeebus, we have a football game this Sunday.

My hat is tipped to: I have no hyperlink for marketing intern from USA Today, but you rule, guy. Don't stop sending me emails.

Umm, I suck.

So I probably should have made this post like a week ago, but I was too stupid to figure out some of the specifics on our now sponsored Hogs Haven Fantasy Football League, run by Fanhouse. Check out the Official Hogs Haven Fantasy Football League here. It's going to be a 12 person league, I believe non-keeper. I can reserve exactly 8 of those 12 spots, so email me after you have registered if you want to be one of the other 7 people guaranteed a spot in that league (but you must register first!). I will select the 7 people based on blog participation and longevity. I think regular reader(s) of this site know who those 7 people will probably be, but since we only have like 7 regular commenters/readers/participants anyways, you should email me even if you are a lurker or an infrequent commenter because I have no idea how many of the regulars will even signup. A good way to increase your odds of getting picked is to create an account and start commenting, immediately, in this thread. The remaining four spots (7+1+4=12) will go to four people randomly selected from all others signing up.

Registration page is here. Just make sure you select the Hogs Haven league from the little pop down menu.

League is totally free. Prizes are unknown for now but here's the little generic blurb they posted for me to enter:

Join the Hogs Haven fantasy league for a chance to beat the SBNation blogger. At the end of the fantasy season, the blogger may even decide to publish YOUR post on Hogs Haven. Or there may be other prizes — check this page and your favorite SBNation blog regularly for details. Click on the Register Now button in the left sidebar and choose which league (Hogs Haven) you want to join. It’s quick and easy. But don’t wait! We’ll be selecting the league participants at the end of the month.

You can alter the "may even decide to publish" to "will publish" if you'd like, as I have zero problem permitting whomever wins this thing to post crazy-super-awesome bragging rights here. Because that person will be me; I rule.

I apologize about the timeline. First: You guys need to register IMMEDIATELY because "at the end of the month" is pretty soon. Second: If you want one of the 7 remaining guaranteed spots, you need to email me ASAP. Third: If you don't get one of the 7 guranteed spots, and you don't get one of the 4 randomly selected spots, don't worry; we'll set up a league for the rest of you through Fanhouse if you guys want to play on that platform. And since I'm feeling saucy, bragging right post prizes will be available for all winners of Fanhouse leagues populated by Hogs Haven registrants.

So get out and go register for the Hogs Haven Fantasy Football League.

Even as the rest of his teammates join him in injury daily, the word today from various places is that Carlos Rogers is making big strides towards returning to the field. Before we get to that, I just want to stress how important cornerbacks are for a defense. We've previously gone over the trials and tribulations of the 2006 Washington Redskins defense, but it's worth remembering. Shawn Springs goes down to injury and the entire thing collapses because we don't have the requisite depth in the secondary to survive that particular disaster. A great philosopher put it best:

I'm worried about the beer supply. After this case, and the other case, there's only one case left.

(Yea yea, Barney's right we should get some more beer.)

What's true of beer is also true of cornerbacks. I don't want to sound fatalistic, but if Carlos Rogers can't get back on the field, and Shawn Springs plays injured, and something bad happens to Fred Smoot, there's only Leigh Torrence left! I'm extremely confident in the abilities of Smootsmack to take out the opposing 3rd WR (that's our best lineup, maybe, as I might even put Smoot in front of Rogers) but less so when it is Byron Westbrook or even newcomer Justin Tryon.

Speaking of which, briefly, but I don't know if II'm reading the depth chart right, but isn't it putting Leigh Torrence in front of Smoot and Westbrook in front of Tryon? If not, injured Carlos Rogers has somehow supplanted Shawn Springs as the team's go-to cornerback.

And maybe he has from all the great print he's getting from camp. As per usual, I'm tipping a hat to the thousand eyes of Extreme Skins. First up is noted only because the frequently misprinted last name of Carlos Rogers as Rodgers is not just a problem with us amateur types, but with the legit-like news outlets. Here's the article (from a TV station or somewhers), here's the title:

Redskins camps: Carlos Rodgers looks strong

Sure does, he bulked up an extra d on his last name, effing hard core!

Howeva:

The surgery was so extensive that the Redskins weren’t sure if Rogers would be able to do anything during the preseason. He was a likely candidate to begin the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list. That would mean he would be out for at least six games.

Healthy enough for preseason? Naw says Coach Zorn:

"Right now he's just practicing, with very limited reps," Coach Jim Zorn said. There are still no plans for him to play in a preseason game anytime soon, and caution remains the buzz word when it comes to Rogers, who underwent major knee surgery in November.

With our dumb luck this offseason, maybe the best of all possible worlds would be the one where Carlos Rogers miraculously or dishonestly recovers from his injury immediately after the last preseason game.

But Rogers wants a piece of the fake season nonetheless:

"It felt pretty good," Rogers said. "I thought I was going to be tired, but actually I'm in better shape than I thought. My knee isn't bothering me. No swelling."

Earlier this offseason, Rogers had targeted the Redskins' regular season opener on Sept. 4 for his return.

Now he thinks he could be available for one or two preseason games.

Careful what you wish for. The above link also says Rogers participated in 7-on-7s, but I've also got word from Zee Times that says he was in on 11-on-11s:

Cornerback Carlos Rogers was on the field for 11-on-11 practice today for the first time in his recovery from a torn ACL and MCL he suffered Oct. 28 against the Patriots.

Whatever it is he did, it was on the field which means he's that much closer to being on the field when it counts. A repeat of 2006 is unacceptable for any number of reasons, least of which being it would represent a cruel and perhaps unrecoverable indictment of a young coaching staff generally and Greg Blache specifically. I'm pretty blind but believe hindsight tells me that but for a disastrous '06 defensive effort, Gregg Williams survives the last head coach search.

Still on injury from The Times, unrelated to Rodgers Rogers:

Eric Shelton has been dealing with some numbness in his hands and legs. The team is trying to be cautious because it is a neck injury.

Very alarming news for Eric Shelton and he is wished the best from this space.