D8 EZ M2 THE WASHINGTON POST.FRIDAY, AUGUST 30 , 2019
all out there. Just got to wait and
see.”
Gruden added: “He’s a little
fireball. Fun to watch him. Every
time he gets the ball in his
hands, it’s exciting.”
An injury could affect how the
final 53-man roster is construct-
ed. Outside linebacker Cassano-
va McKinzy left the game with a
concussion. He s hould still make
the team, but the Redskins may
need to keep one more outside
linebacker than originally
planned i f he isn’t c leared to play
against the Philadelphia Eagles
in the season opener Sept. 8.
The defense as a whole didn’t
exactly shine. It allowed Ash-
burn native Trace McSorley to
throw for 171 yards and a touch-
down while completing 15 of 27
passes. McSorley got the start
but is competing to make the
Ravens as the third quarterback
behind Lamar Jackson and Rob-
ert Griffin III. His 24-yard touch-
down pass to Jaleel Scott with
3:52 remaining in the second
quarter gave Baltimore the lead
for good.
[email protected]The wide receiver competi-
tion may be the closest on the
team; the Redskins probably
will keep just six. Josh Doctson,
Paul Richardson Jr., Trey Quinn
and rookies Te rry McLaurin and
Kelvin Harmon are all consid-
ered certain or likely to make the
roster, which may leave just one
spot up for grabs. Robert Davis
and Cam Sims might be the
strongest candidates, but Davis
had a quiet outing (one catch for
14 yards) while Sims struggled
(three drops and just one catch
for 12 yards).
Steven Sims, an undrafted
free agent out of Kansas, may
have done the most to help his
roster standing, with the touch-
down catch and kickoff returns
of 41 and 39 yards.
“Dwayne kind of helped me
with that [touchdown],” Steven
Sims said. “Cam came open first,
so I know Cam’s kind of mad
about that. It really should have
been Cam’s touchdown. But
Dwayne trusted that I would
come open, and I did.... I feel
like I did a good job, the best job
I could do. I gave it my all. Left itsigning in April barely caused a
ripple, and through the spring
and into the summer his name
didn’t generate much discussion.
But he kept making catches in
training camp. And he added the
benefit of being able to return
kicks.
In recent weeks, Gruden has
said that special teams will
dictate the team’s final roster
decisions. He has also said he
needs someone to be a kick
returner. Generally only three
players have handled kickoffs in
camp and through the preseason
— running back Shaun Wilson,
who injured his ankle two weeks
ago; running back Byron
Marshall, who seems unlikely to
make the roster; and Steven
Sims, who had kickoff returns of
41 and 39 yards on Thursday
night.
“Hopefully I’m the [kick
returner Gruden] wants,” Steven
Sims said laughing as he packed
a bag by his locker.
Even if the Redskins trade
Doctson, which might be hard to
do, they will be left with
awkward choices Saturday. They
will have to drop players they
have liked such as Davis, Cam
Sims or Steven Sims, or they will
have to do the once-unthinkable
and release Doctson 3^1 / 2 years
after making him a first-round
pick.
But those are decisions for this
weekend. On Thursday, two men
with the same last name had
different feelings after their
biggest game of the summer.
Steven Sims bounced to the
middle of the field at game’s end
to shake hands with the
Baltimore players.
“Today was a big day for me,”
he said.
Cam Sims was the first player
off the field, walking quickly
toward the tunnel. He ducked his
head and disappeared from the
stadium and the glowing lights,
his football future far less
certain.
[email protected]scoring Washington’s first two
touchdowns this summer on long
passes from Case Keenum and
Haskins. There is also Darvin
Kidsy, who spent last year on the
Redskins’ practice squad and
understands the offense as well
as Brian Quick, an eight-year
veteran, who some in the
organization regretted cutting
before last season.
But then Steven Sims, who
went undrafted after a solid
career at Kansas, came along. Hisfrom Dwayne Haskins that he
should have caught.
As the games have gone on,
other players have looked better.
No one, perhaps, more than
Robert Davis, a promising, tall,
fast receiver from Georgia State
who looked ready to make last
year’s team until he ripped apart
his knee in a training camp
practice. Davis has come back
strong from his injury and has
often been the team’s best wide
receiver in preseason games,year’s training camp and even in
preseason games he made
several spectacular catches. But
he sprained his ankle on the first
kickoff of Washington’s first
game last year. The injury was
severe enough that doctors had
to operate. His season was over
before it ever began.
He came back this spring and
looked solid in practices but he
didn’t have the big catches that
he did last summer. On Thursday,
he dropped two straight passes— Josh Doctson, Paul Richardson
Jr. and Trey Quinn — and draft
picks Te rry McLaurin and Kelvin
Harmon are all but certain to
make the roster, that leaves a
large group fighting for the final
spot.
A few weeks ago, it would have
seemed certain that Cam Sims
would win that battle. The team
kept him last summer because
the coaches loved that he was
quick, 6-foot-5 and could jump
high for passes. Through lastThey sat beside
each other on the
Washington
Redskins’ bench
late in the first
half Thursday
night, two players with the same
last name who could be headed
in different directions when cuts
come Saturday afternoon.
Wide receiver Cam Sims, the
surprise player kept at the end of
last summer, had to wonder
whether a once-certain spot on
the Washington roster was
slipping away. Beside him,
Steven Sims Jr. lounged on the
aluminum seat staring at a future
that has become suddenly bright.
“I treated it like my Super
Bowl,” Steven Sims, once a long
shot to make the roster, said after
the Redskins’ 20-7 loss to the
Baltimore Ravens at FedEx Field.
And if this final preseason
game before cuts are made was
indeed Steven Sims’s Super Bowl,
he made sure his highlights
glowed off the tape Washington’s
coaches will watch Friday, with a
diving touchdown catch and two
slashing, cutting kickoff returns
that totaled 80 yards.
“He’s a little fireball,” s aid
Redskins Coach Jay Gruden, who
went on to call him “fun to
watch” a nd declared that
“anytime he gets the ball in his
hands, it’s e xciting.”
No one much around the NFL
has talked about the Redskins’
receivers in recent years. There
hasn’t been much to say.
Washington’s key receivers often
have been hurt. And even when
healthy they haven’t had much of
an impact. But now Washington
has a different problem. It’s a
problem teams are supposed to
like. Cutdown day looms close,
and the Redskins actually have
more suitable wide receivers
than they can retain.
The Redskins seem unlikely to
keep more than six wide
receivers. Considering that the
starters will be the three who
were kept out of Thursday’s game
explained, “calling the play, get-
ting the motion across, reading
the defense, throwing the right
pass, making a great play on the
ball. It’s all the little things that
go into making a play like that.
It’s a whole bunch of excitement
because you work on that play
like 10 times since Wednesday.... You just want to make it
happen in the game.”
The score gave Washington a
7-3 lead with 20 seconds remain-
ing in the first quarter. More
importantly, though, the outing
showed that Haskins has pro-
gressed from the summer.
“I know I can play,” Haskins
said. “The biggest thing is keep
progressing as far as getting to
the line of scrimmage, calling
the play fast and calling it right
and precise and make sure the
guys hear me, have great body
language on and off the field.
And just making the throws and
making the right reads and get-
ting the right timing.”
While Haskins had a strong
showing, he wasn’t competing
for a spot on the roster or a
starting job. Others were.
product after Coach Jay Gruden
named Case Keenum the start-
ing quarterback for the regular
season Sunday. But this was
Haskins’s first chance to start a
game as a pro, and he finished
the night 10 for 17 with 104
yards, one touchdown and no
interceptions in one half of foot-
ball.
Haskins’s development has
been steady, but it has been clear
throughout training camp that
the rookie is raw. The biggest
issues haven’t been physical but
rather the finer points of playing
the position in the pros: getting
in and out of the huddle quickly,
making the correct adjustments
at the line and communicating
them clearly, and gaining a com-
plete understanding of the play-
book.
Haskins displayed clear im-
provements in those areas
Thursday.
“He had good energy,” Gruden
said. “Communicated the of-
fense well to others. Made some
nice plays. Hurried a couple of
them. Had some pressure. Over-
all, thought he moved the ball.
Had a nice touchdown there,
touchdown drive.... I was hap-
py with the way he played today.”
The first drive was shaky as
the team went three-and-out,
but the next drive was a little
better. Haskins hit wide receiver
Cam Sims for 12 yards on the left
side and scrambled for five yards
on a play that was called b ack for
a penalty.
The third series, however, was
Haskins’s crowning moment of
the preseason. He w ent 4 for 5 on
the eight-play, 75-yard drive,
with the lone incompletion a
drop by Cam Sims. He h it Robert
Davis for 14 yards on a skinny
post, and 6-foot-8 tight end
Donald Parham snatched a 25-
yarder that Haskins threw high
to clear a trailing linebacker.
Tight end J.P. Holtz then worked
free for 24 yards to set up an
impressive seven-yard touch-
down pass to Steven Sims. On
the play, Haskins ran a play-ac-
tion rollout to his right and
threw a bullet on the run, with
Sims diving to grab it before it
hit the turf.
“This goes into it,” Haskins
REDSKINS FROM D1
Excerpted from
washingtonpost.com/redskinsHaskins excels
With Week 1 starter Case Keenum
on the bench, Dwayne Haskins
made the most of his first start in
the Washington Redskins’ final
preseason g ame. The rookie first-
round pick played the first half
and finished with 10 completions
to nine different receivers for
104 yards and a touchdown. He
had long completions to tight ends
Donald Parham and J.P. Holtz as
part of an eight-play, 7 5-yard
touchdown drive in the first
quarter that was his best of the
preseason. Haskins didn’t c ommit
a turnover or take a sack, and
while he hurried a couple of
throws, he was more accurate than
his numbers would indicate. Of his
seven incompletions, at l east four
should have been caught.A tale of two Sims
The fourth preseason g ame is a
final o pportunity for p layers o n
the b ubble to leave an impression
on the coaching staff before the
active roster m ust be t rimmed to
53 over the weekend. Two such
examples are wide receivers
Steven S ims Jr. and Cam Sims.
The former, a n undrafted rookie
out o f Kansas who entered the
game with two catches f or
25 yards, m ade t hree statement
plays — a diving touchdown grab
and k ickoff returns of 41 a nd
39 yards. “ He h as showed out all
of camp, and we are still s eeing
that here,” Coach Jay Gruden told
sideline reporter Sherree Burruss
at h alftime. Washington’s o ther
Sims, a second-year pro, had a
night h e would like to f orget, with
drops on consecutive plays in the
second quarter a nd three o verall.
He f inished t he preseason w ith
five catches f or 66 yards.Injury report grows
The Redskins avoided a season-
ending injury t o a projected k ey
contributor such a s the o ne
running back Derrius G uice
suffered i n their first preseason
game last year, b ut the team’s
injury report grew a gainst t he
Baltimore Ravens. One w eek a fter
starting t ight end Jordan Reed
entered the concussion protocol
after t aking a helmet-to-helmet
hit a gainst t he Falcons, outside
linebacker Cassanova McKinzy
left t he g ame with a concussion.
Andrew Ankrah, who replaced
McKinzy, also w as evaluated for a
concussion.
— Scott A llenProfessional Football
TAKEAWAYS
Haskins’s
progress
is evident
vs. Ravens
TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST
Redskins defensive back Deion Harris just misses the interception but breaks up a pass intended for Ravens wide receiver Jaleel Scott.Fo r Redskins, the toughest call of all may be at wide receiver
On
the NFL
LES
CARPENTER
TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST
Wideout Steven Sims Jr. had the Redskins’ lone touchdown and two impressive kickoff returns Thursday in his bid to make the final roster.Ra vens 20, Redskins 7
Baltimore........................... 3701 0—2 0
Washington ....................... 7000 —7
FIRST QUARTER
Bal: FG Fry 48, 9:44.
Was: S.Sims 7 pass from Haskins (Hopkins kick), :20.
SECOND QUARTER
Bal: Scott 24 pass from McSorley (Fry kick), 3:52.
FOURTH QUARTER
Bal: FG Fry 21, 3:02.
Bal: Turner 1 run (Fry kick), 1:49.
A: 34,282.
Bal Was
First downs........................................ 19 11
Total Net Yards ............................... 358 180
Rushes-yards..............................38-155 22-73
Passing ............................................ 203 107
Punt Returns ....................................4-5 2-10
Kickoff Returns ..............................1-30 3-92
Interceptions Ret. ............................1-2 0-0
Comp-Att-Int............................ 20-37-0 12-25-1
Sacked-Yards Lost............................1-6 2-1
Punts ...........................................5-39.6 8-39.3
Fumbles-Lost ...................................2-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards..........................12-105 9-83
Time of Possession ...................... 35:39 24:21
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: Baltimore, Dixon 13-66, Turner 18-62, Callah-
an 3-11, Ervin 2-8, McSorley 2-8. Washington, B.Mar-
shall 8-45, Reynolds 9-15, Perine 5-13.
PASSING: Baltimore, McSorley 15-27-0-171, Callahan
5-10-0-38. Washington, Haskins 10-17-0-104, McClen-
don 2-8-1-4.
RECEIVING: Baltimore, Scott 6-87, Turner 4-32, Modster
4-28, Scarff 2-27, Herdman 2-14, Wesley 1-17, Ervin 1-4.
Washington, Holtz 2-30, Kidsy 2-16, Parham 1-25,
R.Davis 1-14, C.Sims 1-12, S.Sims 1-7, Reynolds 1-5,
B.Marshall 1-1, Sprinkle 1-0, Harmon 1-(minus 2).
MISSED FIELD GOALS: None.