WPost Email: McCants Wants to Contribute

[MTK]

Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs compared Darnerien McCants to Art Monk in the off season before the Redskins signed him to a three-year, $4.5 million deal, which included a $2 million bonus. McCants must have felt like he hit the lottery after being a marginal player in his first two years in the NFL.

Last season, McCants used his 6-foot-3, 214-pound frame to snag six touchdowns, which tied him with Laveranues Coles for the team lead. The most impressive aspect of that achievement was the McCants made only 27 catches, making him a clutch player who excelled in the red zone.

But McCants' impact has been minimal this season. He has been inactive in all but one game.

"I know I can help this team and right now we're struggling," McCants said. "I've been through it before but it's never been this grueling. I was pretty excited out about the season but for it to turn out like this is pretty rough."

McCants has watched Taylor Jacobs pass him on the depth chart, and is mired at the fifth spot among receivers behind Coles, Rod Gardner, Jacobs and James Thrash. McCants confesses that he's not a good practice player, which he said has been a factor.

"Practice matters but how much does it matter when you're 2-5?," McCants said. "Some who look good in practice may not perform as well in the game."

One reason he's been surpassed by Jacobs is that Jacobs is a better contributor on special teams.

"Taylor's playing better and other guys haven't been hurt," Gibbs said. "We'd love to get him out there because I think he'd make plays for us. It's been a problem because of special teams. Right now Danny [Smith, the special teams coach] doesn't have Darnerien slated for special teams work.

"Right now with the limited number of receivers you can carry -- you can only carry four -- that makes it tough. I'd love to have him in there because we think he can make plays."

-- Nunyo Demasio

[Redskins_P]

Ahhhh this reminds me of another athlete that doesn't take practice seriously....

"Practice"? "We're talking about practice here" ? -- Allen Iverson

[MTK]

Sounds like he still doesn't get it.

[SkinsRock]

I like McCants a lot, but if he knows he's not a good practice player or good on special teams, you'd think he'd be really working on it instead of complaining about it and making excuses...

Also, what's with Gibbs saying "you can only carry four" WR's? Isn't how many players are active at each position up to him???

[That Guy]

since at most he goes 3 wide, thats probably all he wants... GW takes a lot of players for D packages, and they carry spare Oline/TEs etc...

[offiss]

Is hard work a prob. in practice. or is it the fact that he's just not that good in practice no matter how hard he work's?

[ChounsMan]

I liked McCants in the Redzone. He made some great leaping catches for TD's last season & even ran some great posts opposite of Coles. It's a shame he's not active. However, Brunell would probably not be able to hit out there anyway.

[illdefined]

Originally Posted by ChounsMan

I liked McCants in the Redzone. He made some great leaping catches for TD's last season & even ran some great posts opposite of Coles. It's a shame he's not active. However, Brunell would probably not be able to hit out there anyway.

with Brunell, we need a receiver who's at least 7'3"

[firstdown]

7.3!! We need a receiver thats 10.3 with very long arms.

[MTK]

Practice like you play, what's so hard about that?

[jbcjr14]

McCants comments disturb me. He doesn't practice hard, he doesn't play....pretty simple.

[bedlamVR]

McCants comments disturb me, he is saying he is better than players infront of him and yet he cannot bring his A game to out play them in practice with no presure nothing on the line and he cannot be bothered/be able to break into the special teams .....soooooo how is he better again?

[sportscurmudgeon]

Very soon the Salvation Army Santas will be out ringing bells to get donations. That's when McCants can contribute all he wants to contribute.

Until then, it's all a lot of chatter on his part.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

I don't buy into the claim that he's not putting forth the necessary effort in practice. I just think that certain guys just seem to really excel in games (not for a lack of desire in practice). I want McCants out there. We could use a good red zone threat.

[oldswill]

Originally Posted by Ramseyfan

I don't buy into the claim that he's not putting forth the necessary effort in practice. I just think that certain guys just seem to really excel in games (not for a lack of desire in practice). I want McCants out there. We could use a good red zone threat.

i'm with you RF, it's different on game day. the tempo's diff. the energy's different it's what one does in the game that truly counts. i'm sure he's still involved in practice but uses a different gear than when he's in a game. i'd like to see him more in the game