Smoke Signals: The Redskins Soap Opera Continues

By Spence | October 9, 2009

Skins beat reporter John Keim sums up this week aptly in the opening to a story last night:

"This was a bizarre week, even for a team that once nearly hired Pepper Rodgers as an interim coach and one that used to hold press conferences to say they were misquoted in their own releases."

TB Clinton Portis and FB Mike Sellers are feuding and got into a heated confrontation this week. Apparently, Portis is unhappy with Sellers' blocking [with good reason] and Sellers is [probably] unhappy with being yelled at by a guy much smaller and richer than he is. In any case, it's just another day in Redskinsland, where any headline is possible except this one:

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REDSKINS WIN SUPER BOWL!

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Defensive Coordinator Greg Blache is done talking to the media this season and will hand those duties off to secondary coach Jerry Gray. It always seemed to me that Blache was unnecessarily combative and angry in some of his interviews so this might not be a bad thing. It's just more emotion and drama on a team that needs less of both and more focusing on football. Don't look for that to happen any time soon, though. Read it.

Jim Zorn says Blache is avoiding the media for "personal reasons." Read it. If that's true, it's hard to see Blache taking over as head coach if Zorn is fired during the season.

I've written about the inability of Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly to make any real contribution to the offense of the team [see my latest on this subject] and the Post addresses that topic this morning.

""People do group us together all the time, and they just want it right now," Kelly said of fans' growing frustrations. "But like I said, it's going to happen when it's going to happen.""

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Thus far, it hasn't. Kelly is fifth on the team in receiving, with six catches and 65 yards. He revealed Wednesday that he's been bothered by ligament damage in his right thumb since the first play of the St. Louis Rams' game two weeks ago, and Coach Jim Zorn said he expects Thomas to see more playing time Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

"My plans aren't necessarily to play [Kelly] less because of his thumb," Zorn said, "it's just Devin's coming on as well."

Zorn doesn't anticipate a change in the starting lineup but said that he likes how Thomas has progressed since the regular season began, "even though he hasn't been involved that much," he said.

"[Devin's] been coming on at practice, giving greater effort, paying attention to those things that will earn him the right to be on the field," Zorn said.

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You almost have to read this stuff to believe it. Kelly basically tells fans to shut up because he and Devin will make some sort of contribution when they make one, not before. That's not even a reply that makes sense and it certainly doesn't bode well for the offense. And nothing Zorn says can be taken seriously at this point. He likes how Devin Thomas has progressed even though he hasn't been involved? He has one catch! Let me repeat that: Devin Thomas has one catch! In four games! Is someone putting stupid pills into the food at Redskins Park. Read it.

Read the rest of the article at

http://dcprosportsreport.com/2009/10/smoke-signals-the-soap-opera-continues.html