Practice Notes from Day 12 of Redskins Camp

It was Fan Appreciation Day at Washington Redskins practice today and with the heat index reaching a high of 109 degrees, that didn’t stop Redskins’ faithful from coming out and supporting their team.

Coming off their preseason loss to the Atlanta Falcons, head coach Jay Gruden made it a point of emphasis during the first half of practice, to work on the running game. During the early portion of team drills the running backs got a lot of reps.

“We worked on it good today. I think we had 12 straight runs today in a period but we’re going to keep working on it,” Gruden said.

There wasn’t much to be excited about though as the backs still had trouble finding any room to run against the front seven of the defense and Matt Jones may be No.1 on the depth chart but his play has to improve.

“With Matt [Jones], it would be nice to get him two, three, four carries in a row to get a rhythm going and see how he does then,” Gruden said.

On the other side of the ball, the first team defense continues to impress and improve each day at practice, especially the front seven. In practice today, the front seven forced two pass deflections and sacked quarterback Kirk Cousins as well.

“Our defense played well today,” Gruden said.

In the secondary, cornerback Greg Toler is making a name for himself at Redskins camp. Toler had a nice interception on backup quarterback Colt McCoy. While covering tight end Vernon Davis, Toler made a nice play on the ball coming away with the interception as he was falling to the ground tussling with Davis for possession. Whether it was a catch or not, Toler finds ways to make plays and may play himself onto the 53-man roster.

After a good professional debut Thursday against the Falcons, linebacker Su’a Cravens aggressive play, shows why he can be a difference maker as he continues to get more experience.

“When he’s around the football, he makes plays…Sometimes he’s out of place, but he’s out of place with great effort,” Gruden said.

Cravens also intercepted McCoy in practice, drawing cheers from the guys on defense.

But what might have been the catch of the day was made by rookie wide receiver Kendall Thompson making a diving catch down the right sideline on a fly pattern during two minute drills. Of course on Fan Appreciation Day, the fans appreciated that effort and catch by Thompson, giving him a nice round of applause from the sidelines.

Other News and Notes from today’s practice

• Tight end Niles Paul did not practice today after hyperextending his knee Thursday against the Falcons
• Wide receiver Jamison Crowder returned to practice after missing a week due to a pulled hamstring
• Offensive tackles Trent Williams and Kevin Bowen both missed practice today. Gruden says Williams should be back on the practice field tomorrow
• Offensive tackle Ty Nsekhe and wide receiver Maurice Harris both tweaked their knees during practice, but nothing too serious