Ashburn, Va. – This week Lake Lewis and I stood in the locker room with a couple of players talking —and laughing a lot — about family, children, college ball and current affairs. Scattered around, other members of the local media were doing the same, whether in interview mode or similar discussion. It was toward the end of the open locker room session and a few guys were sitting at a table playing cards. Still others were at their lockers talking among themselves. It was a scene that has become fairly common in the last month.
The Dallas Cowboys (3-8) are coming to town and, there was a time not too long ago when Washington Redskins (5-6) fans would, upon awaiting a looming Monday-night-prime-time-football-game at home against their team’s division rival, be dismayed at reading about an atmosphere that some might think was too relaxed… too congenial.
If they are, they are mistaken. Fans, analysts, media… none should think that the tone in that room was anything but focused and businesslike, regardless of any laughter heard.
Perhaps because in the recent past the Redskins have had less than stellar performances under the big lights, outsiders might wonder if the Burgundy and Gold will show up and compete with the Cowboys. But these NFC East games have a way of surprising people. In 2014, the week before these two teams’ met up on Monday Night Football, the Cowboys were 9.5 point favorites. However, Dallas lost that game to the Redskins in overtime 20-17 after then-quarterback Colt McCoy threw for almost 300 yards and then-rookie cornerback Bashaud Breeland smothered Dallas Pro Bowl receiver Dez Bryant, limiting him to three catches for 30 yards.
This 2015 squad is very different, however and this year’s Vegas line is reflecting it. The Redskins are currently favored by four points. That isn’t much but, considering the aforementioned recent past, it’s better than one might have thought had they predicted it back in September. Apparently, Vegas has noticed the improvements in the ball club.
Many times in the past month, Head Coach Jay Gruden and his assistants have gushed over how hard the players have practiced and the intensity that they have witnessed in the building. Their players are pushing each other. They are holding each other accountable and it is paying off. Fundamentals and technique are preached not only by the coaches to the players but by the players to each other. The craft of playing professional football is being worked on in Ashburn and it is showing on the field.
“Look, I’m over here sweating like crazy. It was flying bullets, man… …just getting after it,” cornerback Will Blackmon said about how intense practice was Thursday. “The cool thing is everyone just feels the energy of trusting each other and holding each other accountable. You just feel it, you know? It’s really cool. I feel like it’s coming together and guys are just working really hard.”
One might point to the recent players-only meeting that took place the night before last week’s win against the New York Giants as a key to the unity in the locker room but that would be an oversimplification. While nose tackle Terrance Knighton did say this week that he had approached teammate and safety Dashon Goldson earlier that week and told him he thought it was time they all got together in order to “hash this thing out and decide who we’re going to be;” the much-talked-about ‘culture change’ has been going on for some time now and it’s showing as the team readies itself for Dallas.
It began, as most would expect and as is well-documented, with the hire of general manager Scot McCloughan in early January followed by all of the coach and player moves afterward. And he knew what he was doing getting this team together. Take a bunch of winners and put them all together and more often than not, the culture will be one of hating to lose. Put the good guys that have been here awhile with guys that have been on winning teams and the chances are that, within the entire team, losing will become intolerable.
Working hard in practice, holding each other accountable… it’s all part of the equation. And it starts with having the right guys leading their teammates and those teammates being willing to learn. Leaders like Goldson.
“I wish there was one or two or five or even 10, but there’s a thousand,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry said when asked for an example of the leader Goldson is. “He’s just one of those guys that — we’ve all been around people that we work with that when something needs to be said and we’re everyone is kind of saying ‘Oh gosh, should I say something?’ He is that guy that says it and it’s always the right thing. Whether it’s something encouraging, whether it’s something motivational, whether it’s something that he has to put an arm around a guy or get in a guy’s face, I think… Why he wears that ‘C’ on his chest, he is a great captain and does a phenomenal job from the on-the-field-football quarterback of the secondary to on the sidelines to on the practice fields to in the locker room, in the cafeteria, in the weight room. He does a phenomenal job of just like I’ve said always knowing what to say, when to say it, how to say it and at the right time. He’s a true captain.”
The Redskins are in a good place right now. They just won a second “code red” type of game last weekend when they beat the Giants and are now in first place in the NFC East through tie breakers. To win against the Cowboys would increase their in-division wins and get them that much closer to the postseason. They have played a few games that indicate they have enough talent and focus to get it done. We’ll see if they do.