1. I read in Peter King's MMQB this morning about how the San Diego Chargers are "mad as heck" about the state of their team, and the fact they have missed the playoffs the last two seasons. I had to chuckle...for a couple of reasons. First of all, and I try to put this as delicately as possible: what do you freaking expect when Norv Turner is your coach? Secondly, if the Chargers are feeling disrespected and undervalued for missing two playoff chances...what does that make us? I know, I know...it's not like we have had a quarterback like Philip Rivers surrounded by the kinds of players they have had on their roster for the last handful or years (or longer). Things are about to change for us...we'll at least be in position to be legitimately upset if we don't make the playoffs in years to come.
2. I can't tell you how awesome it is to see the excitement in my fellow fans' eyes these days. Redskins fans are not fair-weather folks, but it would be fair to suggest that people have become a bit desensitized over the last decade. Do I need to list the possible reasons for this? (Please don't make me...I can only invoke the name of Vinny Cerrato so often before my soul flat-lines.) Even with all the excitement, can we all just agree not to get nuts about a throw in the dirt or a missed completion by Robert Griffin III in practice? I was a little bit shocked to hear the stir caused by a few errant balls. (Note how I expertly navigate past the obvious opportunity to make a joke about "errant balls." THAT, my friends, is called class.)
3. Was anyone watching the Olympics yesterday when a volleyball announcer, in response to his play-by-play partner describing an apparently mangled shot on a ball, said, "If anyone knows about mis-mangled balls, it's my partner." I was trying to imagine the look his partner had to have given him after those words. There is NO way you say something like that accidentally. I know...I am well-schooled in the art of ball references.
4. On last week's edition of the Hogs Haven Staff Meeting podcast, we discussed who we thought would have the most sacks between Ryan Kerrigan and Brian Orakpo. It was part of my prop bet post from last week. I think for the time being, we have kind of covered that aspect of it, but one thing I want to get some comments about today is how much of an impact we expect Jarvis Jenkins to make with regard to this discussion. Since he has yet to play on Sundays, we can't really lay claim to any tangible difference he will make. For those of you X-and-O experts out there, is there any rhyme or reason to which guard is going to spend the most time doubling a monstrous nose tackle? Is is completely dependent on the play called? I am just looking for something to tilt the scales a little bit here. You figure that if Jenkins is going to draw a double-team in the middle at any point in the game, one side of the line is going to left trying to stop either Orakpo or Kerrigan one-on-one. It is possible I already expect too much of Jenkins...
5. You may recall that before we made the move to get in position for RG3, I took a lot of heat for suggesting that drafting Russell Wilson was a great idea. I still think Matt Flynn is the man who will emerge as the starter in Seattle, but look at my boy Russell! He has a real chance to win the job. I bring this up because this is the type of thing where if he wins the starting job, I get to dance a little and tell Parks and Kevin to stick it. If he doesn't win the job, it is likely he will never be the guy I claimed he would and everyone gets to be right except for me. So few starting jobs...so few chances. Even if he elevates to the top of the depth chart during the season, so much time has been lost where he isn't getting reps...tough to overcome (not impossible).
6. So this is my first Sixpack since the Redskins threatened 106.7 The Fan over their potential airing of Robert Griffin III's press conference last Wednesday. I am just desperately trying to understand how that was ultimately in their best interests. For those that missed it, the Redskins threatened to yank the press credentials at 106.7 if they aired the live press conference. Even if there were good reasons for doing this, I think it looks bad. Instead of reading that I think this is nothing more than Washington exercising their prerogative, I was interested in hearing what people think about stuff like this. It is nothing new.