If you had to name the top five classiest Redskins on last year's team, most fans' lists would include some variation of: Fletcher, Haynesworth, Dockery, McNabb, Andre Carter, Reed Doughty, and Santana Moss. Dockery, who was drafted by the Redskins in the 3rd round of the 2003 draft, was brought back to DC from Buffalo and was heralded as the savior to an extemely sub-par offensive line. Things of course did not work out under Shanahan's expert tutelage, which no doubt frustrated the Dallas native. Dock, the Pro he is, maintained self-blame. An interesting nugget in this interview is when Dock said he never once thought McNabb didn't know how to run this offense. Dock of course was only in the huddle the first 2 weeks of the season, so to think McNabb understood it LESS as the season went on....well... here's my thoughts on Shanny regarding that.
Dock was on 106.7 THE FAN's Lavar & Dukes show last week, and the first question he was asked was how he took the benching.
Dockery: I take personal responsibility for my own play. Coach felt I wasn't playing at a certain level so he went with Kory. I wanted to respect Coach. He did what he felt was best for the team. I waited from there and just wanted to be a class act and help my teammates. I could see this coming. I'm a competitor and work very hard. Coach thought I wasn't playing the way I was suppose to be playing.
Lavar: We all watch the games. Guys are running right by Kory. You watch film. He's not as good as Dockery. It's easy to see.
Dockery: You can take several perspectives. It is what it is. I'm disappointed I couldn't solidy this OLine like I wanted to.
Lavar: You find it strange that people are staying on this team that add very little? Shanahan keeping guys around...
Dockery: You always want coaches that have their guys. If you're playing at a high level you can overcome it but I wasn't playing at that level. Coaches will always have those guys. I wish him and that organization the best. I'm fortunate to have that opportunity.
Lavar: The McNabb benching. Is there validity that Donovan was calling the wrong plays or didn't understand the offense?
Dockery: When I was in the huddle that never happened on my watch. After that I couldn't say. He's a very hard worker. Every person has their ups and downs through the season and it's about working through them. I was excited to have him on my team. He's very focused and can be that guy that leads us where we have to go. I'm disappointed for him and myself what we went though. Coach felt he needed to make a change.
Dockery's home is in DC and he said he plans to keep living in DC when his career over. You'll always get love, and I've inked you in to the list of high quality players that the Redskins somehow are unable to use productively. Thanks for everything Dock.