As the The Ted Washington Project enters the second week of its “U Gonna Eat
That?” tour, the show continues to play to rave reviews wherever it goes.
From coaches to teammates to training camp attendees, all marvel at the
large man with the nimble feet and immovable body. And all salivate at the
prospect of someone other than Jason Fisk manning the middle of the
Browns' defensive line.
“He's
already making a huge difference,” inside
linebacker Andra Davis said.
“He's experienced, he's big, he knows the system. He's
not just here to plug up the middle. He's the type of player that will go
make the tackle also.”
Said defensive end Orpheus Roye, on the
opposition virtually being forced to double-team Washington on every play,
“They've got to put two guys on him in the inside and that'll make us
one-on-one. I don't feel there's a tackle out there who can block me
one-on-one, so I feel being one-on-one will give me more chances to make
plays.”
Well, obviously, the players are more than pleased with
Washington's presence on the roster. Does the coaching staff feel the same
way?
“The first thing you've got to do is you can't let
people run the ball inside on you,” defensive coordinator Todd Grantham
said.
“By having a guy like Ted inside, and you have some
stoutness in there, it allows you to play more split-safety coverages -
cover-2, quarters, whatever. When you can do that, you are less prone to
give up big plays. And that kind of goes back to the philosophy of being
hard to score on.”
Hopefully, for the sake of all involved, there are no
blown tires as this tours rolls from city to city this season.
*****
Yesterday in this space, we talked about the progress
being made this camp by wide receiver Frisman Jackson, and the
potential for two circumstances that could keep the veteran from entering
the 2006 regular season as the team's third receiver.
One, the health of Braylon Edwards.
Two, the development of rookie wideout Travis Wilson.
Don't look now, Frisman, but the latter is happening,
and happening at an exponential clip.
Despite the fact that he missed the first three days of
training camp due to a contract holdout, Wilson is gaining ground in the WR
competition. So much so, in fact, that head coach Romeo Crennel, who
would just as soon give up a meal before complimenting a rookie holdout, did
just that in assessing the Oklahoma product's play thus far.
“I thought that was a good effort play on his part. He
got some opportunity and took advantage of it,'' Crennel said, describing
Wilson's “Catch of Training Camp” over the head of cornerback Chris Thompson yesterday.
''He showed some aggressiveness for the ball, which is something he did in
college. He's a big receiver. He can go up and take the ball away from guys.
I was glad to see that.
I was encouraged by what I saw.
If he continues to make plays like that, run the correct routes, block the
correct people, then he can make some progress.”
*****
The battle to be the Browns' third-down running back continues to simmer in
Berea, with rookie Jerome Harrison drawing most of the newspaper copy
and veteran injury-waiting-to-happen Lee Suggs languishing third on the
depth chart behind starter Reuben Droughns and backup William Green.
In spite of the competition with the fast-rising Harrison, Suggs seems more
concerned with who's in front of him than with who's gaining on him.
“Anything other than first is a disappointment,” Suggs told the
Dayton Daily News, “but
that's how they chose to make it, and I have to go with it. I was ready for
it.”
Pssssstttt, Lee: check your rearview every once in awhile. It might behoove
you.
*****
Now let us read from the book of Genesis, Chapter Two, Verse Two: “And
on the ninth day Chuck ended his work which he had made; and he rested on
the ninth day from all his work which he had made.”
In other words, quarterback Charlie Frye was given the day off
yesterday. Not because of any simmering medical issue, but simply to give
his arm a rest from all the work he had made with WR Dennis Northcutt
in the first eight days of camp.
*****
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I threw that ball 66 yards in the air, so I don't
want to hear anything about the arm strength thing."—quarterback Charlie
Frye, offering all Doubting Thomases a free cup of Lipton's
Shut-The-Hell-Up Instant Soup.
QUOTE OF THE DAY, THE SEQUEL: “Let me tell you
how to block him. First of all, you gotta have a backpack of C4 dynamite to
get him out of the hole. It's kind of like he's a mountain in the middle of
the water and water can't move him, fish can't move him, no one
can.”—fullback Terrelle Smith, on defensive tackle Ted Washington.
QUOTE OF THE DAY, TERRELLE'S SEQUEL: “He scoots around pretty well,
which we don't understand, because the guy is 38.”—Smith, again on
Washington.