Washington Redskins: Notes and Quotes from First Week of Training Camp

Robert Griffin III had a mixed day to start training camp for the Washington Redskins.

Griffin was praised for accuracy and chided for inaccuracy by various sources. It's safer to say it was probably a steady but not spectacular day for a quarterback entering a pivotal season.

Defensively, the cornerback depth chart shook out in an unexpected way, with a prominent veteran taking away primary starting reps from a highly regarded youngster.

There were also more blurbs on Washington's potential and controversial bid to sign outside linebacker Junior Galette. Yet that controversy may be avoided altogether if second-year player Trent Murphy continues to impress.

Here are the notes and quotes worth knowing after the Redskins opened their 2015 camp.

Griffin and Gruden Singing from Same Hymn Sheet for Now

Jason Hirschfeld/Associated Press

For the moment at least, Griffin and head coach Jay Gruden appear to be on the same page. The first day charting the most important relationship on the team was an exercise in suffering sound bites.

Griffin insists he's all good with Gruden, and the coach is singing the same song. While that's welcome news, this particular detente is also a little difficult to believe.

It's tough to swallow because these two spent most of last season at loggerheads. Griffin bristled in a pocket-based offense, while the coach who insists his quarterback dominate that area grew increasingly frustrated with Griffin's limitations.

Packaging an offense to suit Griffin's strengths and mask his weaknesses remains Gruden's main priority. Doing it or not will determine whether he keeps his job or is looking for a new team in 2016.

As for Griffin, the onus is very much on him to prove he can be even barely competent in any scheme. For his part, he feels like working in the Gruden system is no longer going to be a problem, via Tommy Hamzik of the Baltimore Sun:

"

That's part of the growth of the team and growing together as a quarterback and head coach. But I can tell you now, whatever Jay wants to run, we're going to run and that's what we're going to be successful at. I've bought in, the guys are bought in, so there's nothing much I can really say there.

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While the traditionalists (or downright stuck-up) among us raise an eyebrow at a player using his coach's first name (whatever happened to the days when they were all referred to simply as coach?), Griffin's promise to commit is encouraging.

It's nice of the franchise quarterback to agree to run the offense his coach wants, isn't it? Of course, this is training camp, and Day 1 of camp no less. It's the time of year when you can expect to hear these kinds of platitudes.

Gruden continued the love-in, via Hamzik: "It's an extension of what we've been putting in through OTAs and last year. We're trying to mesh as a football team, No. 1."

In fairness, cohesion will be crucial to Washington's season. In particular, togetherness at the top will determine everything that follows.

Trent Murphy Wowing His Coaches

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

Gruden doesn't single out players for praise very often. Usually, if he singles you out, it's bad news. Just ask Griffin.

But the coach couldn't contain his enthusiasm for the progress and potential of Trent Murphy.

He didn't hold back when addressing the strides the second-year rush linebacker has made this offseason, via CSN Washington's Peter Hailey: "In OTAs, he probably had about 15 sacks, would've been sacks if we let the whistle blow. He's really put on some weight. He's stronger. He looks a little quicker. And he's got great knowledge of the system."

Murphy's development is key for a Burgundy and Gold pass rush that felt the collars of opposing quarterbacks just 36 times last season. As a whole, new coordinator Joe Barry's defense needs another quality pass-rusher to emerge as a complement to the dominant Ryan Kerrigan.

So far, the primary competition exists between Murphy and this year's second-rounder, Preston Smith. The latter tallied nine sacks in the SEC during his final year at Mississippi State, as noted by CFB Stats. In the same period, Murphy was a virtual stranger to pro quarterbacks, as he recorded a mere 2.5 sacks in 15 appearances.

But according to Gruden, the beefed-up former Stanford man won't easily make way for Smith, via Hailey: "Trent's gonna be a tough guy to get out of that lineup. He plays hard, he's a physical guy, he's long and he can move around quite a bit."

In all honesty, Murphy is the better bet to start on the edge, at least initially. He's already proved stout against the run as well as capable and rangy in space.

The next step is adding some chops as a pass-rusher. Extra pounds and a healthy dose of aggression will certainly help a player who led college football in sacks in 2013.

Speaking of aggression, Gruden compared weight-room fanatic Murphy to a puppy ready to become an "angry dog," via Hailey. If he takes to camp with the same tenacity he's used to tackle the initial part of this offseason, Murphy will be Rottweiler-ready to start the season.

Washington Still Considering Galette Gamble

Somewhere out in the ether, where forgotten NFL coaches float, Mike Shanahan is screaming "character guys!"

Character, that important word often uncomfortably used in pro football circles, is nonetheless one of the first that comes to mind when considering Washington's proposed move for Junior Galette.

Dumped by the New Orleans Saints amid accusations of being a locker room cancer, Galette hasn't kept a low profile. In fact, he, his girlfriend or both appeared to go nuclear in a vicious social media rant aimed at tearing down all of his critics in the Big Easy. Galette has since denied he and his girlfriend had any involvement in the Twitter-based outburst, according to WWLTV.com.

B/R analyst Chris Simms believes there are just too many red flags to consider bringing Galette on board.

Still, none of this appears to have deterred the decision-makers at Redskins Park. They remain keen on Galette, having planned talks and a physical for the 27-year-old who has logged 22 sacks in the last two years, according to Zac Boyer of the Washington Times.

Despite the swarm of negativity, Gruden maintains the Redskins will "draw our own conclusions," according to CSN Washington. It's a move that's beyond risky for the franchise.

Yet lost in all the back-and-forth sniping surrounding Galette's status and personality is that's he's a pretty effective pass-rusher. His recent numbers prove that, even if a cynic may argue his spike in production only came after Cameron Jordan and the insanely underrated Akiem Hicks joined the Saints D-line.

Still, two seasons with double-digit sacks can't be easily overlooked. That's especially true for a sack-shy defense with unproven players on the edge.

Murphy is still learning his craft as a pass-rusher, while Smith is a rookie. Meanwhile, former practice squad members Trevardo Williams and Jackson Jeffcoat are raw and untested, although the latter does have some promise.

Galette is an established defensive playmaker, though. He boasts good speed off the edge and is versatile enough to rush standing up or from three- and four-point stances.

What Washington's interest shows is how desperate the team remains for help with its pass rush. Just kicking Galette's tires stirs up a hornet's nest. A franchise doesn't take that risk unless it believes it really has to.

Murphy's improvement may render this a moot point and save everybody the trouble. If not, this move would certainly raise the ire of plenty of Washington and league-wide observers, even if it did add talent to the defense.

DeAngelo Hall Back as a Starter

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

He missed 13 games last season, and in his absence, rookie Bashaud Breeland impressed plenty. But DeAngelo Hall is still a starter in Washington.

Gruden made it brutally clear how much faith he still has in the 31-year-old who is barely removed from tearing the same Achilles twice. "He's going to be our starting cornerback," proclaimed Gruden, via CSN Washington's Rich Tandler.

That's how it went on Day 1, with Hall joining new boy Chris Culliver as the starters on the outside for the regular defense, while Breeland played the slot in nickel sets, according to Mike Jones of the Washington Post.

Jones noted how Hall competed well and felt comfortable back in action. But Hall also described some minor issues: "While it wasn’t evident to the naked eye, Hall said there were indeed some instances where he wasn’t as crisp or explosive as he usually would have been."

It's only natural for there to be some lethargy in Hall's movements after two very serious injuries. Still, there's no denying that at his best, Hall improves Washington's secondary.

He's skilled and savvy enough to be trusted to lock down premier wide receivers. What is less clear is how well Hall will fit with a coverage scheme perhaps more geared to press-style techniques.

New general manager Scot McCloughan helped build defenses for both the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. Those rugged units were defined by big and physically punishing defensive backs.

While D-Hall can mix it up, it's hardly the defining feature of his game. At 5'10" and 198 pounds, he also doesn't boast the size McCloughan has coveted in the past.

So this is a veteran who has entered camp under no small amount of pressure to rediscover his best form. That journey will make for fascinating viewing over the next two weeks.

Griffin Looked Good, Didn't He?

Jason Hirschfeld/Associated Press

Griffin remains an enigma. It's difficult to decide if he's good enough for the pros, so it's understandable that people are struggling to decide how he performed to begin camp.

NFL Network Analyst Michael Robinson (h/t NFL.com) stated that Griffin looked "really, really good." The former Seahawks fullback praised Griffin's accuracy, delivery and footwork.

Those are all things Griffin must improve in his fourth season. Yet Robinson also acknowledged how the early sharpness came during initial practice time, sans pads.

Writing for the Post, Jones offered a contrasting view. He felt that while there were some good moments from Griffin, there were plenty of sketchy ones as well.

On a day when he claimed all of Washington's quarterbacks were "somewhat erratic," Jones highlighted some of Griffin's failings: "There were other plays, like the overthrow to Pierre Garcon up the right sideline, where Griffin waited, threw off his back foot and sailed the ball over the reach of Garcon."

Hesitation to release the ball and throwing from the wrong stance with poor mechanics: If all of that sounds familiar, it's because you've seen it so often from No. 10 during the last two seasons.

In fairness, though, there are bound to be peaks and valleys in every player's performance during camp. A few bad plays don't condemn Griffin in the same way that a sharp performance won't guarantee that he's ready to prove his critics wrong.

It's better to take a measured reaction to these showings during camp. Right or wrong, the Redskins are going to have to show a healthy degree of patience with Griffin this season.

Getting him up to speed will be a path taken in baby steps.

Brandon Scherff Had Some Tough Moments

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

It was a tough first day at camp for Washington's top draft pick. Brandon Scherff found himself exposed in pass protection more than once.

ESPN.com's John Keim detailed how the former Iowa standout offensive tackle particularly struggled against his new team's edge-rushers. Those issues began in a one-on-one matchup against Murphy: "While Preston Smith looked every bit the rookie, second-year Trent Murphy had one strong rush versus rookie tackle Brandon Scherff, quickly beating him inside in full-team work."

Next up, it was Kerrigan's turn to toy with Washington's would-be starting right tackle:

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Ryan Kerrigan made it look too easy versus Brandon Scherff in one-on-one work. A rip move worked the first time. The second time, Kerrigan used another rip move to the outside. Scherff tried to hold on, but Kerrigan turned and Scherff fell to the ground. This is good work for the rookie.

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Keim's not wrong that a rough learning curve will provide Scherff with valuable experience. There's also certainly little shame in losing a one-on-one battle to Kerrigan, a player who ranks among the league's very best pass-rushers.

But by the same token, it would be great to see Scherff making a few of his own highlights. His switch to right tackle is a tricky move, but one that has to work.

It must work not only to provide a bookend for Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams, something that would provide the foundation for the first solid O-line the Redskins have had in years, but also to work because a growing number of football's premier pass-rushers make a living over right tackle.

Sadly, two of the best are on Washington's schedule to start the season. Games against the Miami Dolphins and the St. Louis Rams will pit Scherff against Cameron Wake and Chris Long, respectively.

While his education will be accelerated by those battles, Scherff's learning shouldn't come at the expense of Griffin's health.

This is a problem with moving Scherff from the left side. Washington has also kept him at tackle despite numerous pre-draft projections stating his future lies at guard. Imagine how strong the left side would be if Scherff was paired with Williams. Playing next to a premier blocker would also likely ease his transition to the pro game.

But the Redskins need Scherff to make the grade at right tackle. There's only Tom Compton and Morgan Moses in reserve, neither of whom looked even close to impressive in 2014.

Let's hope for better from Scherff as camp progresses.

Washington's start to training camp has been relatively serene. All of the key players are involved and busy committing to what this regime wants.

But this is just the start. The real proof of progress will be revealed over the course of the next two weeks.