The Washington Post - 20.08.2019

D6 EZ SU THE WASHINGTON POST.TUESDAY, AUGUST 20 , 2019

have studied throughout the

week. All of that allows everyone

to play faster.

“I’m always preaching to the

guys, ‘Everything starts with

us,’ ” Bostic said. “We’ve got to be

able to communicate to the de-

fensive line, get them lined up

right. We’ve got to be on the same

page because we play a lot of

combo coverages, so if we’re not

on the same page with them and

one of us doesn’t see it at the

same time, or somebody sees it

different over here, it’s going to

leave a hole in our coverage and

that’s what’s going to lead to an

explosive play. And when you

have too many explosive plays in

a ballgame, you lose the game.”

Communication is so often

mentioned as a key to a defense

that it often comes across as

coach-speak, but Bostic’s overall

message seems to have resonated

with the rest of his position

group. It’s one thing to know the

defense on an overall level, but

it’s another to understand each

individual’s responsibilities and

shout out presnap instructions to

get every defender on the same

page. And while they may be

young, particularly at linebacker,

the Redskins hope that a higher

level of thinking and organiza-

tion can give more juice to their

defense.

“It means a lot from the stand-

point of putting in different pres-

sures and different things you

could be having across the board,

in regards to game preparation

and what they can handle and

can’t handle,” defensive coordi-

nator Greg Manusky said. “I’ve

had players you can’t put too

much on them. With these guys,

you can put a decent amount of

stuff on them and let them go

play.”

[email protected]

young inside linebackers who

have no choice but to learn

quickly. Second-year pro Shaun

Dion Hamilton is expected to

start alongside Bostic at inside

linebacker, and Holcomb is al-

ready the top backup. Josh

Harvey-Clemons is on the field

for most passing situations, but

there is little clarity — or depth —

on the roster beyond that. Bos-

tic’s leadership has been pivotal

in bringing the position group

together after the loss of Foster

and surprise release of 2018

starter Mason Foster just before

training camp.

“I’d like to take credit for it...

but [Bostic is] an experienced

guy,” inside linebackers coach

Rob Ryan said. “He’s really

smart. I mean, off the chains

smart. We were fortunate enough

to get him.... He’s an excellent

leader. And his voice is a boom-

ing voice on the field, and that’s

what you need for a middle

linebacker. He’s going to be excel-

lent.”

Bostic has bounced around the

NFL, and the Redskins are his

fifth team since he was selected

in the second round of the 2013

draft by the Chicago Bears. But

he has been a starter with three

of his previous four organiza-

tions.

The team is hoping that hav-

ing cerebral players — in addi-

tion to Bostic, Hamilton had the

reputation of being a heady play-

er at Alabama, and Holcomb has

proved to be a quick study — will

offset some of its youth. Bostic

explained that when players can

read the offense and get everyone

lined up quickly, that two- to

three-second head start provides

time to diagnose the offensive

formation and look for clues they

REDSKINS FROM D1

might talk a little smack, get on

your case a little bit, but at the end

of the day they’re not going any-

where, and that’s what I love.”

Following a recent practice,

fans lined up four-deep behind a

rope, a tangled knot of out-

stretched arms waving balls, hats

and helmets. Left tackle Kolton

Miller, who grew up in nearby

Roseville, just north of Sacramen-

to, was among the last players on

the field.

“I think we’re trying to bring as

many fans over as we can, and

we’re trying to keep that fan

base,” he said. “I know, for my

family, I’m loading up Southwest

points.”

He scribbled his name as

quickly as possible and chatted

with the fans as he moved down

the line.

“You’ve got to hold it down this

year,” one said.

“Stay healthy this year, baby,”

said another.

The team hasn’t ruled out re-

turning to Napa but has also

explored potential training camp

sites closer to its new home. For

now, every week the franchise is

inching toward something new

and away from something famil-

iar, testing a relationship that had

always been defined by loyalty

and passion.

“Thanks for holding it down

for Oaktown,” said a third fan.

[email protected]

Doss knows all too well.

The 23-year-old wide receiver

is trying to make the team as an

undrafted free agent. He grew up

about four miles away from the

Raiders’ team facility in Alameda.

When he hauled in a third-quar-

ter touchdown pass Aug. 11

against the Rams, those were his

family and friends he could hear

cheering in the stands.

“Obviously, they want to see us

stay,” he said. “But at the end of

the day, they support the Raiders,

so when we get to Vegas, hopeful-

ly they’re still supporting us when

we get there.”

The team’s training camp

shows few signs of dissent or

disquiet. That could be by design

— camp was only open this year to

season ticket holders and special

invitees. Still, the group is loud,

presenting a colorful backdrop

for the HBO “Hard Knocks” cam-

eras that buzz around the fields to

document one of the league’s

more intriguing preseason

camps. The fans have endured

losing seasons (4-12 and last place

in the AFC West in Gruden’s first

year back at the helm a year ago)

and plenty of player drama (new

wide receiver Antonio Brown has

changed teams but is reliably

unpredictable), but they still feel

a sense of ownership of a team

that’s being whisked away.

“They never waver,” linebacker

Tahir Whitehead said. “They

sure, but she said she’s able to

draw lines of distinction. She can

be upset with management, but

she chooses to stick by the play-

ers. “Whether they went to Vegas,

San Diego or Mississippi, it’s the

same team. How do you just stop

rooting for them?” she said.

The late Al Davis coined the

slogan “Once a Raider, always a

Raider,” and the organization has

used it plenty to test its fans

plenty over the years. For the

most part, they still show up. The

team has conducted fan surveys

and expects 10 percent of its Las

Vegas season ticket holders to

come from the Bay Area. Las

Vegas is, after all, an inviting

weekend destination — a

90-minute flight or an eight-hour

drive around the Sierra Nevada.

They’ll play seven more games

in Oakland — plus a preseason

contest in Winnipeg and a regular

season game in London — and

then they’ll move the entire oper-

ation across the state line and see

how many fans follow. At the

home preseason opener against

the Rams, the team announced a

paid attendance of 48,715, slightly

down from the 53,024 who paid

for the preseason opener a year

ago.

For many, the team’s logo rep-

resents an attitude as much as it

does any geographic region, and

that won’t change. The relation-

ship is a personal one, as Keelan

not far from Vegas’s Strip, next

year. They’re asking Raiders fans

to stick with them until they load

up the moving vans. Many are.

When the team filed paperwork

to leave Oakland two years ago, it

offered refunds to season ticket

holders. According to media re-

ports, 1,000 fans took the team up

on the offer, and within two hours

those seats had been resold.

Webb, however, canceled his

season tickets.

“A lot of people will deal with it

in whatever way works for them.

My way was to take charge and

not wait until that last moment,”

said Webb, who proudly stuck

with the team during its Los

Angeles sabbatical more than

three decades ago. “I’m out. Peo-

ple can lament and have that last

cry. I’ve already said goodbye and

sold her clothes out the closet.

She can have her new boyfriend.”

Webb will still root for the

team. He can’t help that. He

watched the Raiders’ first pre-

season game two weekends ago

from Ricky’s Sports Theatre and

Grill, a longtime hangout for Oak-

land fans. The sports bar is

decked out in Raiders parapher-

nalia from floor to ceiling, and

nearly all of the 90 or so TVs were

tuned into a mostly meaningless

game between the Raiders and

Rams.

Alicia Orabella, 50, was also

there. She has conflicted feelings,

If all goes as planned, one of

the NFL’s most storied franchises

will relocate to Las Vegas next

season, finally ending a decade-

long dance in which Raiders fans

had to endure endless rumors of

new stadiums and relocation

plans. They’ve known definitively

for the past year that the team’s

departure was inevitable, making

this move unlike many others the

league has seen. Teams such as

the Colts, Browns and Rams fled

their homes much more abruptly,

breaking hearts, angering fans

and prompting impromptu jersey

bonfires.

These fans — often cast (and

dressed) as cartoon characters of

sorts — have very real feelings

and have been forced to live with

the pending loss for the better

part of three years. Some are

sticking with the team, some are

toning down their fandom, and

others are trying to move on.

“It’s just awkward is the best

way to describe it,” said Ken

Webb, 57, a lifelong Raiders fan.

“It’s not a comfortable way to do

it. I would not want a slow break-

up with my girlfriend. If you’re

going to go, then go. I don’t expect

you to still cook for me while I’m

building a new house with my

new girlfriend.”

The Raiders plan to move into

$1.8 billion Allegiant Stadium,

RAIDERS FROM D1

Linebacking corps takes cerebral approach to getting up to speed

Stay loyal or move on? Raiders fans must decide.

BARRY SWEET/CAL SPORT MEDIA/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Allegiant Stadium rises near the Strip in Las Vegas. The Raiders plan to move into the $1.8 billion facility next year, creating a quandary for longtime supporters in Oakland.

Excerpted from
washingtonpost.com/redskins

Gruden goes sly with

Williams comments

Throughout this summer,
Redskins Coach Jay Gruden has
deflected questions about Trent
Williams’s holdout by saying he
has not spoken to the
disgruntled star left tackle. This
week, though, Gruden’s response
shifted.
When asked Monday whether
he had talked to Williams in the
past two weeks, Gruden replied,
“Maybe.”
Pressed on whether the
possible communication was a
phone call or text message,
Gruden again smiled.
“Texted, talked, maybe,” he
said. “It is what it is right now.
He’s not here, so we just got to
talk about the people we have.”
Gruden’s response hardly
amounts to ironclad proof that
he and Williams have been
communicating, but the sudden
change in tone suggests that at
least something might be
happening between Williams
and the Redskins after weeks of
apparent silence. Gruden has
said this summer that he expects
Williams to return eventually.
Williams has not talked
publicly about his holdout,
leaving friends and associates to
occasionally drop suggestions
that he has lost trust in the
franchise and its medical staff
and doesn’t want to play for
Washington anymore. People
familiar with the Redskins’
thinking have said the team does
not plan on trading him and will
wait out the left tackle, hoping
that an accumulation of fines
will bring him back.
Washington’s third preseason
game is Thursday night in
Atlanta. Coaches usually like to
use the third preseason game as
the dress rehearsal for the
season, playing their starters for
most of the first half before
resting them in the preseason’s
final game, and Gruden has said
he will play his regulars for a
quarter and a half against the
Falcons. He has not named a left
tackle to start in Williams’s
place, rotating between Geron
Christian and former Pro Bowl
tackle Donald Penn, who signed
with the team in training camp.
“We’re preparing with the
guys we have now. That’s all we
can do,” Gruden said. “We’re
getting Geron ready. We’re
getting Penn ready. So we’ll go
that route.”
One player who probably
won’t play is running back
Derrius Guice, who has yet to be
cleared for contact as he recovers
from the torn ACL he suffered
last summer. Guice has practiced
and even had a few plays where
he has initiated contact with
tacklers, but he has not played in
any of the preseason games.
Wide receiver Paul Richardson
Jr., who has a sore leg, returned
to practice Monday, but his
status for Thursday is uncertain.
Rookie wide receiver Terry
McLaurin has been practicing
with a sore tailbone, but it’s also
unknown whether he will play in
Atlanta. Defensive lineman Tim
Settle has not been practicing
because of a knee injury, and
cornerback Adonis Alexander
has been working in individual
position drills but not with the
team as he comes back from a leg
injury.
Gruden said running back
Shaun Wilson, who has been
returning kicks and seemed to
have an outside shot of making
the team, has an ankle injury
that will keep him out for some
time. Wilson had to be carted to
the locker room after a player
rolled over his ankle in
Thursday’s preseason game.
— Les Carpenter

REDSKINS NOTES

professional football

JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST

Inside linebacker Jon Bostic, drafted in 2013, is the elder statesman of a youthful position group.

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