--No player who has been a Redskin as long is in as much
danger of not making the team as receiver Taylor Jacobs. However, Jacobs is
typically unruffled by being the sixth player at a position where Washington
will keep just five bodies.
"(Training camp) is going to be really big," said
Jacobs, who has caught just 30 passes since being chosen in the second round in
2003. "They've told me that I have to go out and play hard and sometimes,
good people don't make the team, so I'm out there working to be a Washington
Redskin first and whatever happens, happens. I'm going to play my butt off
regardless of the odds."
Those odds are long with Moss, Lloyd, Randle El and 2005
starter David Patten all proven regulars and James Thrash, a special teams
standout and a former starter. Jacobs had a golden opportunity to prove himself
when Patten and Thrash went down last November, but he managed just eight
catches for 60 yards while starting the next three games and was sent back to
the bench. Jacobs could have been released on June 1, but he said that the
Redskins told his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, that they wanted to keep him.
"They told him they want to see me reach my potential
and hopefully this year, I'll do that," Jacobs said.
--Offensive coordinator Al Saunders raved about backup
running back Ladell Betts, who's due to be a free agent in March. Betts ran for
338 yards on 89 carries last season, caught 10 passes for 78 yards and scored
once on the ground, once through the air and on a 94-yard kickoff return. He
averaged 25.9 yards on kickoff returns.
"I don't know if people realize what a quality player
Ladell is," Saunders said. "He's a three-dimensional player -- he
runs the ball, he can catch it and he can block well enough to be successful.
Clinton is Clinton, one of the dominant backs in the NFL. Having somebody like
Ladell has been a surprise because I knew he was good, but not this good. We'll
have situations where Ladell and Clinton will be in the game at the same time.
Ladell deserves to play and we've got to find a way to get him on the field and
not just as a back-up player to Clinton."
--Gibbs said that he plans to continue dressing the Redskins
in the all-white uniforms that proved lucky last year. Washington was just 5-6
before reeling off six straight victories, including the playoff opener at
Tampa Bay, in the ice cream man look. The Redskins' only loss in those
previously rarely-worn uniforms came in the divisional round game at Seattle.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Hopefully the only thing that changes
for me, is that by the third quarter I will be on the sideline with my hat
turned back waving at the cameras saying, 'See you all next week.' " - RB
Clinton Portis on if he expects his role will change this season with the additions
of Saunders, Lloyd and Randle El.
