Who won't show up for "Voluntary" workouts?

by Skin Patrol on Mar 19, 2008 12:51 PM EDT in Analysis

Different year same story. We annually discuss who is or isn't showing up to voluntary workouts and why they should/we shouldn't care, and 2008 will be no different. The results are mixed on missing voluntary workouts. Sean Taylor had, in the past, skipped voluntary workouts instead opting for Miami as his preparation destination. And he turned out to be just fine as a result. Shawn Springs has done the same though I question what impact that has had on his body, since he is kind of a perennial injury concern.

Traditionalists who think players have a responsibility to show up for voluntary workouts aren't going to like this. I don't especially like this, either, as I have traditionalist leanings that inform me players should be with their teammates to show solidarity if nothing else. But this team ran a lot of "voluntary" sessions in 2006 that weren't so voluntary. At least one of our better players, and I believe others, were not fond of that policy. Whatever I thought of it, I hated the results: 2006 was a disaster. Just around two months after Clinton Portis complained publicly of the '06 policy, which tends to suggest acquiescence (to the players or the results I won't speculate), Joe Gibbs said peace out and told players they could practice elsewhere prior to the 2007 season. If there is a relationship to be drawn from having players workout voluntarily at Redskins Park it probably isn't the one people who think the team should workout together want, at least as applied to the past two years. 2007>2006.

I'm not saying that voluntary team workouts should be avoided. I'm just saying that I'm approaching ambivalence on the issue; it isn't clear to me that it helps, it might be the case that it hurts. So I don't view recent events with much apprehension. Per Redskins Insider:

Defensive lineman Phillip Daniels, cornerback Shawn Springs and safety LaRon Landry are among the players not expected to attend the Redskins' voluntary offseason workout program, which began Monday.
"There's just a handful" of players not participating, Zorn said. "And really, it's just those guys who, in the past, kind of had their own program."

I don't know what LaRon Landry's "past" "own program" might have been considering this is his first NFL offseason, but maybe that's me. In any event, Daniels isn't about because he's entering power-lifting contests. Defensive ends should be powerful, so I don't lament that participation at all. This is business as usual for Shawn Springs, who goes to Arizona if I recall correctly.

The main concern is that players are out and about up to no good, because offseason is typically where arrests happen. Hopefully that is a non-concern, mitigated in large part because:

Players who are not attending the workouts have been in communication with the Redskins about their individual programs, Zorn said.
"There's a constant communication effort to try to make sure we know what those guys are doing and they know what we're doing," he said. "And then as they come in, it's should be kind of business as usual."

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Not a

fan of no-shows for the same reasons described by Skin Patrol, but IF they have informed the staff as to their whereabouts..then I guess I'll let it slide.

by CptChaosSidekick on Mar 19, 2008 9:46 PM EDT 0 recs