Portis and Cooley Calling Out an Offensive Teammate?

[BigHairedAristocrat]

From the DC Sports Blog:

D.C. Sports Bog - Skins Say They Should Be Blowing People Out

Cooley:

I can't really say I want to do this or I want to do this; I just do what I'm supposed to do...What I can tell you is that if everyone on our offense did the job that they were supposed to do every time--not making an exceptional play every time, just the job that you're supposed to do--we would blow everyone out.

Portis:

"You go into one game and it doesn't work, that doesn't mean our offense is some trash....We all made bad plays. That's what we've got to take from that. We made bad plays and we get to the end of the game and we lose by six points. You take that one fumble and touchdown away, we win the game by one....It came down to one play and they made it."

It seems to me that Portis and Cooley feel that atleast one member of our offense wasn't doing what they were supposed to do at times. Obviously, Portis' comment (accurately) alludes to the fact that Campbell cost the team 7 points by not doing what he was supposed to do. And while its plainly apparent that Campbell had a horrible game and made numerous mental errors and bad throws, I've only watched the game once. Upon further review, it could be apparent that others on the team weren't giving their all on every play. I know last year Santana had some issues with giving up on plays - did anyone notice this in the opener? What about other players? Whoever Portis and Cooley are calling out, they know who they are, and hopefully it'll fire them up to have a great game against the Rams.

[53Fan]

I actually find it encouraging. It sounds like they know what the problem is and once it's corrected our offense should kick into high gear and score a lot of points.

[MTK]

I took it as them talking in general, and not pointing fingers at anyone specifically.

[Coff]

Originally Posted by BigHairedAristocrat

From the DC Sports Blog:

D.C. Sports Bog - Skins Say They Should Be Blowing People Out

Cooley:


Portis:


It seems to me that Portis and Cooley feel that atleast one member of our offense wasn't doing what they were supposed to do at times. Obviously, Portis' comment (accurately) alludes to the fact that Campbell cost the team 7 points by not doing what he was supposed to do. And while its plainly apparent that Campbell had a horrible game and made numerous mental errors and bad throws, I've only watched the game once. Upon further review, it could be apparent that others on the team weren't giving their all on every play. I know last year Santana had some issues with giving up on plays - did anyone notice this in the opener? What about other players? Whoever Portis and Cooley are calling out, they know who they are, and hopefully it'll fire them up to have a great game against the Rams.

I read Portis's comment differently; he was just saying that the fumble was the difference in the game, not that it was Campbell's fault.

Cooley seems to be suggesting that other players are not doing what they should be. Is this okay? Well, it depends. Sometimes a comment like that can fire up other players, sometimes it can piss them off. It really comes down to how respected the individual is who said it, and in this case we know this shouldn't be a problem as Cooley is a respected player on the team. Nevertheless, I'd rather he make the comment behind closed doors, which he very well may have.

[SFREDSKIN]

I couldn't agree more with the statement that "they could blow anyone out". They just need to start using all 7 receivers (5 WR, 2 TE) and if they do their job there's just no stopping. I would love to see that.

[gibbsisgod]

Move it along....nothing to see here.

I just don't understand. Portis uses the word WE at least 10 times in that quote. In the paragraph above the one you qouted, the author makes a point to say that Portis was given ample opportunity to call out someone and didn't do it. So how do you go from that to Portis and Cooley call out someone?

[CRedskinsRule]

Cooley's comments seem to speak of confidence in the playcalling, and ability of the team in a general fan like environment. The key is, and we have yet to see it, making it manifest itself in a game day environment. I am hopeful that these next few weeks we demonstrate what Cooley is speaking of.

[KI Skins Fan]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I took it as them talking in general, and not pointing fingers at anyone specifically.

So did I.

I assumed that Cooley was simply trying to say that the design of the offense is fine and it should work well as long as it is well-executed by all of the players. That doesn't necessarily mean that any player is constantly making mistakes. Anyone can make a mistake or miss an assignment on any play.

[CRedskinsRule]

Originally Posted by KI Skins Fan

So did I.

I assumed that Cooley was simply trying to say that the design of the offense is fine and it should work well as long as it is well-executed by all of the players. That doesn't necessarily mean that any player is constantly making mistakes. Anyone can make a mistake or miss an assignment on any play.

so, in your opinion, does this go back to a WCO 2-3 year learning curve? Is it the concept that the mistakes will correct themselves with more practice, or, the concept that mistakes happen just because mistakes happen, and we have to deal with that fact, period? Or is it back to a mental aspect, like with DT, and that throughout the game some players are not able to focus throughout and that is what is limiting this offense?

Really just curious about your opinion.

[warriorzpath]

I think Cooley may be saying in a subtle way that someone is not doing their job, but his comments are very vague - so it's not clear if he is.

One thing that I get from the both of them is - Zorn had a talk with the offense about focusing on their own individual play and assignments.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by KI Skins Fan

So did I.

I assumed that Cooley was simply trying to say that the design of the offense is fine and it should work well as long as it is well-executed by all of the players. That doesn't necessarily mean that any player is constantly making mistakes. Anyone can make a mistake or miss an assignment on any play.

Yeah I took it as, everyone just needs to do their job and stop worrying about winning the game on every play, and things will take care of themselves. I think Cooley may have been hinting that guys are pressing and need to relax.

[Trample the Elderly]

They have the team to blow people up. Other teams have done so with less. If no one else will say it I will, Santana Moss gives up on plays. He doesn't do his job. Bench his ass and put in Malcolm Kelly or Marko Mitchell. They're eager and hungry to prove they can do it. Let Moss get out of the dog house by running back punts and kicks.

[Lotus]

I think those were excellent comments. I liked the inherent offensive swag. Neither Portis nor Cooley were whining and moaning. They simply were reflecting the famous comment by John McKay - they're all for the execution of the offense as it is.

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by Coff

I read Portis's comment differently; he was just saying that the fumble was the difference in the game, not that it was Campbell's fault.

Cooley seems to be suggesting that other players are not doing what they should be. Is this okay? Well, it depends. Sometimes a comment like that can fire up other players, sometimes it can piss them off. It really comes down to how respected the individual is who said it, and in this case we know this shouldn't be a problem as Cooley is a respected player on the team. Nevertheless, I'd rather he make the comment behind closed doors, which he very well may have.

Well, the fumble/TD was obviously campbells fault. I understand how the comments could be taken generally - Portis did say that they all made some mistakes. However, given the fact that Campbell played horribly and Moss is known to take plays off at times, kind of makes me think there are some specific players who are being called out. If thats the case, Kudos for Portis for actually displaying some tact and not publically throwing the guy(s) under the bus.

If its just an issue of guys taking plays off, this problem is easily correctable - the guys need to stop taking plays off. I'm personally hoping Campbell just had a bad game for whatever reason. He certainly looked better during the 1st 8 games last year than he did in this game - when his protection was better than its ever been in Washington. We have seen him play better before, so we know he can do it

[BigHairedAristocrat]

Originally Posted by warriorzpath

I think Cooley may be saying in a subtle way that someone is not doing their job, but his comments are very vague - so it's not clear if he is.

One thing that I get from the both of them is - Zorn had a talk with the offense about focusing on their own individual play and assignments.

Its obvious that Cooley and Portis took Zorns words to heart - here's to hoping that the player(s) who were the primary culprits did as well.