The Redskins have seen enough of QB John Beck to give him a contract extension which results in him being under contract for the next three years for $3.35 million according to Adam Schefter at ESPN.com.  An interesting development considering that Rex Grossman is signed for just this season.  This means the end of Richard Bartel after tomorrow night assuming no injuries. 

OL Edwin Williams was one four Skins released today.  The others were LS James Dearth, S Lendy Holmes, and TE Hall Davis.  Malcolm Kelly was put on season-ending IR.  Williams' release is a surprise to some.  He was thought to be the back-up center and a guy who could be a solid back-up at guard.  When he didn't play on Friday night against the Jets I started to wonder.  Obviously, at least in his case, not playing against the Jets was telling.  Devin Thomas didn't play against the Jets too.  I wonder how close he is to the cut line?  Maybe Kelly's IR trip helps him but don't be shocked if Thomas is released when they cut down to 53 on Saturday.  

I thought the Redskins were impressive in many areas last night, fewer areas not as much.  

I was impressed with...

1.  Pass Protection-- the Redskins game-planned for the Jets and had backs and tight ends assisting the o-line against the blitz-heavy Jets.  It worked and they were still able to get 3+ receivers out in deep pass patterns.  This is a great sign for a team who hasn't had any success protecting its quarterback.  If you can protect against the Jets, you've got a chance to do it against a lot of teams.

2.  Rex Grossman-- Obviously comfortable in the offense, Grossman knew exactly where to go with the ball and he got it there quickly. 

3.  Albert Haynesworth-- Forget the stats, last night's performance made it clear to me.  They are much better up front defensively with an in-shape and motivated Big Al than without him.  They may be better up front with him even if he's not in-shape and motivated.  He was the only d-lineman that got push against a very good Jet offensive line.  If you've been a Haynesworth basher you've been justified.  But don't kid yourself either...he's by far and away the most talented defensive lineman they have and it's not even close.

4.  Brian Orakpo--  He's going to be a handful for most NFL left tackles.  He's fast, strong, and relentless in passing situations.  He and a motivated Haynesworth will give the Redskins a chance to be good on defense.

5.  Wide Receivers--  There isn't a great wide out on this team but you saw last night that Galloway, Moss, and Armstrong can get open.  The passing scheme looks more like Norv Turner's than anything else we've seen in awhile with much deeper routes.  The Moss drop was unfortuneate but we've seen that over the years with him.  Still, he got open a lot as did others.

6.  Corners--  I thought D-Hall, C-Rogers, and P. Buchanon played well again.  I loved the hustle play by Buchanon to force the fumble in the 2nd quarter and Hall continues to be a guy that makes plays.  I still don't think they have great cover corners but they've competed with regular-season urgency in all 3 preseason games.

7.  Graham Gano--  3 for 3 on Field Goals was a nice comeback for him after missing badly from 47 last week. 

8.  Takeaways--  The Redskins got 4 turnovers....preseason or not, a good thing.

I wasn't impressed with:

1.  Run-stopping defense--  It's hard to win in the NFL if you can't stop the run and the Redskins have struggled at times doing it in the preseason.  Last night included getting pushed off the line of scrimmage early on runs by Shonn Greene with no Haynesworth in the game.  LT had his first long run with Haynesworth in the game, some of LT's other runs came against backups.  The starting front 3 of Golsten, Carriker, and Kemoeatu got moved whereever the Jet o-line wanted them moved.  This is an area they must figure out because teams that can't stop the run rarely win the time-of-possession battle and that often means trouble.

2.  Running game--  I'm not that worked-up over a lack of running game in these preseason games but the Skins haven't shown anything here.  Keep in mind, the Jets were the best last year at stopping the run and last week's opponent the Ravens were top 3. 

3. Punter-- Bidwell has been average at best.  It wouldn't surprise me if they bring in someone else before the opener.

Other Notes:

1.  Where was Devin Thomas?  Is he in danger of getting cut?  He didn't play at all on offense...that can't be a good sign.  His special teams play may save him but there are no guarantees. 

2.  Rex Grossman's 2nd quarter fumble which was ruled a recovery by Jamall Brown was a terrible call.  The Jet player clearly recovered it.

3.  Perry Riley's fumble recovery on the Phillip Buchanon 2nd qtr fumble force was a tremendous athletic play.  He's been productive throughout the preseason.

4.  LaDanian Tomlinson is still pretty good.

5.  Joe Theismann's comment early in the game that "Santana Moss has the best hands of any small receiver he's ever seen" was a bit of a stretch to say the least.  Moss has dropped balls often during his career in Washington and dropped what would have been a big one last night.

6.  Mike Shanahan looked and sounded irritated during his post-game press conference.  He appears to find answering questions from the media as a waste of his time.  I'm glad he feels that way.  Too often over the last few years, the head coaches here seemed more concerned with how they handled the media than how they handled running their football team.  Shanahan couldn't care less what the media thinks.  He shouldn't care.

Here it is in a nutshell.  If Albert Haynesworth is in shape and motivated, then he should be on the final roster before the Dallas game.  If he's not, then cut him loose.  I would give this another two weeks and then fish or cut bait.  Work with him, communicate with him, attempt to motivate and coach him over the next two weeks.  If he doesn't take to it, unload him via waivers or trade.  By giving this two more weeks, you also don't give up on the possible increase in interested trade partners as teams incur more injuries and become more desperate.  But enough is enough.  If he doesn't want to be here, then you're never going to get his best.  Anything less than that is detrimental to the team.  If you can coach him into wanting to be here, then you've got the impact player you paid for.   

I hope we see more hints tonight that the Redskins are much better along the offensive line than the last few years.  Last week against the Bills, the pass protection was pretty damn solid especially when compared to what we've seen in recent seasons.  Trent Williams looks like a star in the making and the addition of Artis Hicks may turn out to be the most underrated of all their offseason moves.  Depth is still a concern for sure but better talent combined with better coaching may make this area the most improved before all is said and done.  Before I get carried away, let's see it againts a Ravens' defense that is much better and more aggressive than the Buffalo defense.

Richie Petitbon should be in the Redskins Ring of Fame. There are 44 players, coaches, and team officials in the Ring and Petitbon is more deserving than most and as deserving as the rest. The Redskins have been to five Super Bowls in its history and Richie Petitbon was a part of all five. He kicked off his Redskin career by picking off three passes against St. Louis in his Redskin debut as a starting safety on George Allen's first team in DC and from that moment foward, he was as meaningful to the Skins' glory days as anyone else. He was a player on the 1972 NFC Championship team that lost to Miami in Super Bowl VII. He was Joe Gibbs' Defensive Coordinator from 1981-1992, a run that included four Super Bowl trips and three Super Bowl wins. Gibbs is in the Hall of Fame and should be. Gibbs is in the Redskins Ring of Fame and of course, should be. But how much success would Gibbs and the Redskins have had without Petitbon?

Petitbon was arguably the best d-coordinator of his era.  The Redskins were consistently the smartest and most prepared team in the NFL. No coaching staff of that era got more out of less than the Skins' staff did. No team and no defensive coordinator of that era made in-game adjustments better than Richie Petitbon. He was the best at sizing up what an opponent was doing and adjusting on the fly to counteract it. During the 80's and early 90's, trailing at halftime was a near-blessing if you were a Skins' fan. You just knew that the second half would be better and somehow, someway, Petitbon and Gibbs would scheme up something to make the difference.  Remember this from Super Bowl 26 in Minneapolis? Trailing 17-zip at halftime, the Bills got the ball first in the 2nd half. Any hope they had of getting back into the game got snuffed out on the first play of the 3rd quarter. At halftime, Petitbon told middle linebacker Kurt Gouveia that if he went to a certain spot in the middle of the field, Jim Kelly would throw it right to him. Sure enough, on the first play of the 2nd half, Gouveia went to that spot and Kelly threw it right to him. Gouveia returned it 23 yards to the Bills 2 and on the the next play, touchdown, game over. It's hard to imagine the Super Bowl success without Petitbon.

I can still see him with that Redskins burgandy jacket on his back and his playsheet hanging off his belt buckle. His defense was prepared for everything. Even the best gimmick offenses of the day had no prayer against the Redskins. Remember the run-and-shoot offenses of that era? Richie shut em all down. Remember the biggest games of that era? Richie's defense stopped the run and then went after quarterbacks. The 14-2 '86 Bears with Doug Flutie at quarterback had no chance in the playoffs against Petitbon's wit. In a rematch the next year at Soldier Field, Jim McMahon and Walter Payton suffered the same frustrating fate.  How about the high-flying Falcons in the '91 playoff game.  Richie held em to 7 points.  Denver's quick start in Super Bowl 22 looked promising but after a quarter Petitbon had it figured out.  No points the rest of the way.  Skins' opponents never thought it would be hard but it was always harder. Their opponents often had equal talent but they never had equal intellect. And that was always the bottom line. The Redskins were always smarter than everyone else. Petitbon was arguably the sharpest of the bunch. Here's hoping the Redskins do the smart thing and induct Richie Petitbon into the Redskins Ring of Fame.  It's long overdue.