Riggo’s Rag Redskins Mailbag: Roster long shots, COVID-19, more
By Ian Cummings
Coaching Activities
razorblade: What kind of daily activities are the coaches having? Are they at the facility or at home?
Ian: Hope you’re doing well, razor!
Most of the coaches returned to the Redskins facility to settle in and get to work in early June. They’ve been resuming Zoom meetings with players on a regular basis, but a face-to-face meeting has yet to commence, due to the restrictions and risks related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. It’s just coaches at the team facilities for now — kind of like a home base.
Zoom meetings constitute the majority of the coaching activities taking place right now. But even virtually, there’s a lot to be done. Coaches must consult with one another to ensure they’re all on the same page. Position coaches must consult with their specific players, to lay a foundation for the limited preseason work that will take place. And Rivera has to maintain the cohesion, amidst a considerable amount of movement and roster turnover.
Additionally, the coordinators have a big task on their hands with scheme modulations on both sides of the ball. Jack Del Rio’s switch to the 4-3 will present many players in the front seven with different roles, and Scott Turner’s offense will feature more motion, more efficiency, and an entirely different game script. It’s up to the coaches to integrate their schemes into the locker room, in order to ensure that the players know what they’re doing when it’s time to hit the field.
By all accounts (although accounts themselves are somewhat limited), players have responded positively to the virtual meetings that have been taking place. With so much uncertainty, teams might be on a more level playing field come September, and that’s something for the coaches to capitalize on.