Today's press conference

[BigSKINBauer]

man reporters make taylor look bad

it just seems that taylor being gone is a scarier issue than moss.

[Daseal]

PSUskinsfan: Are we blaming Arrington for our woes? Nope. Are we blaming for having a contract out of his league? Yep. I can't think of any player that would turn down more money than they're worth.

Don't act like our comments are all of a sudden new. LaVar is a good player. He makes fantastic plays and is exciting. Problem is, he happens to run right by people sometimes and lets them get large gains because of it. He's not the best player on our team, let alone on our defense. (One could argue Taylor, Washington, Springs, and Griffen ahead of him.) Yet he's the highest paid LB (maybe not anymore) in the league?

[jdlea]

Anybody trying to bring down LaVar isn't going to get any help from me. Last time I tried to say anything remotely bad about him I got crucified on this site. That was before most of you were on this site. But I remember during the offseason/season leading up to Champ's contract year I said the Skins should keep him over LaVar and you would've thought I was trying to get a group together to assassinate the pope or something. I don't think anybody was on my side that time.

Anyway, I'm trying to stay off of this offseason. I don't know what the hell is going on. Where is the discipline Joe Gibbs was going to instill. This is ridiculous. I would have expected this kind of offseason with Spurrier, but I don't know what is going on.

One thing I will say in Arrington's defense is that he is basically the face of the Redskins. He is the most beloved athlete in DC. I don't care what any of you say, that's a fact. I don't care where you rate him on the D, he's the biggest star we have. Is he irreplaceable? No. Does he put fans in the seats? No. He is, however, the most loved athlete in DC.

[PSUSkinsFan21]

Originally Posted by Daseal

PSUskinsfan: Are we blaming Arrington for our woes? Nope. Are we blaming for having a contract out of his league? Yep. I can't think of any player that would turn down more money than they're worth.

Don't act like our comments are all of a sudden new. LaVar is a good player. He makes fantastic plays and is exciting. Problem is, he happens to run right by people sometimes and lets them get large gains because of it. He's not the best player on our team, let alone on our defense. (One could argue Taylor, Washington, Springs, and Griffen ahead of him.) Yet he's the highest paid LB (maybe not anymore) in the league?

Well everybody is entitled to their opinions I guess. You want to rip Arrington apart, and I want to defend him. I would certainly hope I'm not out-of-line for doing such a thing on a Redskins fan site and this certainly isn't anything new between the two of us. I just wonder how many people around the NFL really thought Arrington's contract was out of his league before he was injured last year. I know you're opinion, I'm just looking for somewhere else that any NFL experts said "Wow, what are the skins thinking?" when he signed the contract.

And I'm not acting like this is all the sudden. I don't care how long you've been saying it.........it doesn't make you right just because you keep saying the same thing over and over. If you want to make the case for other guys who have all been with the team for a whopping ONE year, go ahead. I guess then to be fair I'll just take Arrington's best single year and match it up against what they all did last year. I'm willing to make that argument. But I think you'd be hard-pressed to ask around the NFL and get many coaches and GMs who would actually take Cornelius Griffen over LA on their team. Or would rather have Shawn Springs over LA. Or would rather take Marcus Washington over LA if given the choice to take one of them. There's a reason we got those guys as cheap as we did. We didn't exactly have to beat other teams off with a stick or get into any bidding wars to sign them (and I do love those guys, I really do......I'm just being realistic about the comparisons). I don't mean to belittle their contibutions last year. No doubt they had great years and I hope for the same this year. But I would have really liked to have seen what kind of year LA would have had under Williams' system too.

As for comparing a rookie who can't even show up to voluntary workouts with a 3-time pro bowler? Well, again, I guess everyone is entitled to their opinions.

[Daseal]

Enough of this crap - What did Gibbs say about CELL PHONES! Quick! Update us, skinsguy!

[skinsguy]

Originally Posted by Daseal

Enough of this crap - What did Gibbs say about CELL PHONES! Quick! Update us, skinsguy!

LOL!! Nothing actually related to the players and cell phones. During this interview....a cell phone that one of the reporters apparently had kept going off every five minutes during the interview. Gibbs just kind of joked about it.....

[MTK]

Listening to Gibbs right now, he always sets things straight. Of course the team doesn't want LaVar or anybody for that matter to play when they're hurt and shouldn't go.

LaVar is frustrated by the setback, but so is the team. LaVar talks when he's upset and when he's happy, it's no secret and it shouldn't come as a surprise.

[skinsguy]

Back on the subject, NFL Total Access had a story about LaVar Arrington and his media interview. They basically said the samething we said here: Lavar is just frustrated and his passion for wanting to play got the best of him.

The also briefly talked about Santana Moss not showing up for the workouts. Basically what was said is that coaches like for players to be with the team so they can monitor the player's workouts and see them getting stronger and bigger. Also said something about a player must decide if working out at home is going to interfere with establishing that one on one with the QB....especially when you're the new guy in town and you'll need to get on the same page as the QB.

NFL TA also had a brief thing on TO. Apparently, Owens had something to say about McNabb being tired toward the end of the Super Bowl.

[rickmmrr]

I have no problem with players except when they piss and moan about money. I could work my ass off 20 years and not make as much as most of them make in a year. The money they make is outrageous.

[MTK]

I too was in favor of the Brunell deal initially. Ramsey wasn't ready early on, and Brunell was a proven veteran.

Looking back on last year, yeah Brunell played pretty bad, but he had some help in that. The offense as a whole was just totally out of sync. I'm not saying he would have looked like a Pro Bowler if the guys around him played better, but it could have made a difference to a degree.

The thing that bothered me most about Brunell was how timid he seemed in the pocket. He always seemed to have happy feet, perhaps his hamstring injury had something to do with it too because it really looked like his mechanics were way off.

Brunell isn't a fastball pitcher who can just rear back and throw heat, he's an off-speed pitcher who needs to be fundamentally sound, and he clearly wasn't last year in my eyes. Whether or not he can recapture that is yet to be seen, and hopefully we can keep Ramsey on the field so we don't have to find out if Brunell really has simply lost it completely.

[skinsguy]

Yep, I was also a fan of Brunell. I felt it was a good move to give him the starting job - clearly Ramsey wasn't ready to start at the beginning of the season. I'm with you Matty, I think Brunell had a lot of help with his poor play.

[djnemo65]

People need to remember that Springs and Griffin were various degrees of washed up before before they were allowed to thrive in Williams' talent exaggerating defensive schemes, and Pierce was a complete nobody. While all three players had great years last year, their success was largely facilitated by their assimilation into a new defensive culture. So how does Lavar fit into this?

First, to argue that Lavar is not the best athlete on our defense is insane (not that anyone would); but to argue that he isn't the best player when he hasn't been privy to the same year of coaching that has made probowlers out of scrubs is equally mad, or at least shortsighted. Remember how Lavar played under Marvin Lewis, before George Edwards basically sent him out there to run around and jump on people? Or remember how the patently inferior Lemar Marshall played in Lavar's stead under Williams' coaching. It's not a coincidence that a group erstwhile bums all became good players at the same time

Before we turn on yet another Skin let's at least accord him the same opportunity enjoyed by his defensive peers.

[MTK]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

People need to remember that Springs and Griffin were various degrees of washed up before before they were allowed to thrive in Williams' defensive talent exaggerating schemes, and Pierce was a complete nobody. While all three players had great years last year, their success was largely facilitated by their assimilation into a new defensive culture. So how does Lavar fit into this?

First, to argue that Lavar is not the best athlete on our defense is insane (not that anyone would); but to argue that he isn't the best player when he hasn't been privy to the same year of coaching that has made probowlers out of scrubs is equally mad, or at least shortsighted. Remember how Lavar played under Marvin Lewis, before George Edwards basically sent him out there to run around and jump on people? Or remember how the patently inferior Lemar Marshall played in Lavar's stead. It's not a coincidence that these erstwhile bums all became good players at the same time

Before we turn on yet another Skin let's at least accord him the same opportunity enjoyed by his defensive peers.

Nice take, I agree!

[PSUSkinsFan21]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

People need to remember that Springs and Griffin were various degrees of washed up before before they were allowed to thrive in Williams' talent exaggerating defensive schemes, and Pierce was a complete nobody. While all three players had great years last year, their success was largely facilitated by their assimilation into a new defensive culture. So how does Lavar fit into this?

First, to argue that Lavar is not the best athlete on our defense is insane (not that anyone would); but to argue that he isn't the best player when he hasn't been privy to the same year of coaching that has made probowlers out of scrubs is equally mad, or at least shortsighted. Remember how Lavar played under Marvin Lewis, before George Edwards basically sent him out there to run around and jump on people? Or remember how the patently inferior Lemar Marshall played in Lavar's stead under Williams' coaching. It's not a coincidence that a group erstwhile bums all became good players at the same time

Before we turn on yet another Skin let's at least accord him the same opportunity enjoyed by his defensive peers.

VERY, VERY Well said.

fyi, there actually are certain people on this site that have tried to argue that Lavar is not the best athelete on our defense. I won't mention names. They know their folly.

[backrow]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

People need to remember that Springs and Griffin were various degrees of washed up before before they were allowed to thrive in Williams' talent exaggerating defensive schemes, and Pierce was a complete nobody. While all three players had great years last year, their success was largely facilitated by their assimilation into a new defensive culture. So how does Lavar fit into this?

First, to argue that Lavar is not the best athlete on our defense is insane (not that anyone would); but to argue that he isn't the best player when he hasn't been privy to the same year of coaching that has made probowlers out of scrubs is equally mad, or at least shortsighted. Remember how Lavar played under Marvin Lewis, before George Edwards basically sent him out there to run around and jump on people? Or remember how the patently inferior Lemar Marshall played in Lavar's stead under Williams' coaching. It's not a coincidence that a group erstwhile bums all became good players at the same time

Before we turn on yet another Skin let's at least accord him the same opportunity enjoyed by his defensive peers.

I won't argue whether Lavar is the best athlete. We have several "best athletes". S Taylor, C. Portis, LaVarr, and M. Washington come to mind. Pretty hard to rate one above the other.

I never thought Springs or Griffin were in various stages of being washed up. I thought each of their signings was dependent on several issues, injury and their past productivity inclusive. But not washed up. Me, well, I AM washed up! I'm twice the legal age, and over-weight! So, any attempt to sign me would have been a total wash-out!

I've heard a couple of sound bites, and read both the Post & Times on the Press conference. I do agree with the Sports Reporters, 980 Sportstalk, which I was barely able to tune in here in Norfolk, VA. Their assessment was: Why have a press conference for every little distraction such as Arringtons outburst, and S. Taylor and Moss's absence?

Now THAT, I agree with! We have the NFL Draft that the coaches should be concentrating on. These other "minor" blips will be over and forgotten the day after the Draft, and a long distant faded memory come training camp time!

If we take a page from the SB Champion Patriots, who would never have a press conference for such as this, we should do exactly as they! Never even acknowledge it in the press or any other setting. Of course, then, what would we have to talk about?