Redskins see what they're doing after adding video to workouts

FAIRFAX, Va. -- The Washington Redskins have added a new element this week in the quest to make their player-run practices look and feel like the real thing.

On Wednesday, a friend hired by quarterback John Beck stood atop a 10-foot metal platform with a camera, videotaping the plays.

"It's tough when you don't have tape to go back and critique," Beck said. "That's really the story of the lockout -- just doing what we can. It would be ideal if we could be at our facility with our coaches, talking with them, watching their tape, but we can't. Even though it's very basic, we can still learn a lot from this."

Beck bemoaned that he couldn't review his footwork and coverage reads after the first two player-run minicamps in April and May. When the players reconvened Tuesday for the first day of a three-day camp, he had his friend standing on the top row of the bleachers. Tight end Chris Cooley suggested using the platform instead to provide a better angle.

The players are reviewing the tape in the evenings at Cooley's house.

"After having two weeks of not watching it and watching it for the first time yesterday, it's nice to be able to go back, spend an hour and see how you're running, see what your routes look like," Cooley said. "I felt like here were adjustments that I was able to make today after just watching some subtle things instead of just coming out and running."

Early during Wednesday's practice, Beck launched a tight spiral but overthrew tight end Logan Paulsen. That's one play certainly worth reviewing.

"We can sit down and look at Logan's route," Beck said. "Did he come out of it well? If he did, now I can take a hair off the ball. He might say, 'I didn't come out of it well. Your ball was on the money.' You can say was it A, B or C, and now can we (fix) that."

Wednesday's workout was attended by 32 players, including former Redskins cornerback Justin Tryon, now with the Indianapolis Colts.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Video will show owners that players have adjusted to hits edict

NEW YORK -- When NFL owners meet in Dallas next week, they will see a video of clean hits in games played since the league's crackdown on flagrant fouls.

NFL executive vice president of football operations Ray Anderson told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the video "clearly shows players making adjustments" and that some former rule-breakers when it came to hitting defenseless players "have gotten the message."

"Frankly, some players who previously have been fined or disciplined have made the adjustments we are looking for to play within the rules," Anderson said. "It is hard to declare any trends this soon; it's premature to do that. But certainly what we are seeing, not just us in this office, but officials and coaches have reported they see players making appropriate adjustments. And particularly where in prior instances there may have been a little more hitting, perhaps some gratuitous shots being meted out, players now refrain.

"We are encouraged players are making the adjustment."

The league announced seven weeks ago that it would fine players heavily and perhaps suspend them for illegal hits after a rash of such tackles Oct. 17. While the amount of fines has increased -- several players have been docked $40,000 or more -- no one has been suspended.

That doesn't mean suspensions won't come for flagrant fouls, Anderson warned.

"There should be no confusion if a suspension is necessary because money is not deterring (illegal) actions," Anderson said. "That is an option that is available for continued violations.

"Everyone doesn't get a free pass, no matter how egregious a hit might be the first time. We don't want anyone thinking that this is my one time to make such a hit, and I can stay on the field. They should not be operating under that false assumption."

The tape compiled by Anderson and his staff eventually will be distributed throughout the league, including to the players. At the end of the season and during the offseason, the NFL routinely sends out videos demonstrating plays that are within the rules.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell expected adaptation to the crackdown on illegal hits wouldn't be immediate.

"Any time you have changes, there's a period of adapting to those changes, and it's happened over the last several decades of football," he said Wednesday. "Any time we've made rule changes or had emphasis on certain areas, there's a period of adjustment from a player standpoint, a coaching standpoint, officiating standpoint. And that's something that we always go through.

"But I think we're getting to the point where people understand what we're looking for, and we'll hopefully get to a point where it's being enforced on a consistent basis and the players understand what we're looking for."

Two moments in last Sunday's Steelers-Ravens game drew attention because they weren't penalized: Baltimore defensive tackle Haloti Ngata breaking quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's nose, and the hit Jameel McClain delivered on Heath Miller that gave the Pittsburgh tight end a concussion. McClain was fined $40,000 on Monday, and Ngata was docked $15,000.

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There were loud cries of favoritism during and after Pittsburgh's victory -- the Steelers have been vocal about feeling picked on by the league, a notion that Anderson vehemently dismissed.

"We don't put any credence into that and would dispute that unequivocally," he said. "I have been hearing that since the first time I understood what competitive football was, and any of us who follows football has been hearing that for decades.

"The integrity of the game is first and foremost. Under this commissioner and leadership of this office, that is not something we would tolerate or condone. If we ever believed any of that was going on, we would come down with a vengeance."

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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NFL's video message to players: 'You are on notice' about hits

The NFL delivered its message about heavier punishment for illegal hits, including suspensions, directly to the 32 teams with a video spelling out what players should avoid.

Ray Anderson, the NFL's executive vice president of football operations, tells players "you are on notice" in the video, stressing the league's commitment to enforcing punishment for aggressive hits to the head and neck area.

La Canfora: NFL can't be senseless

"You must know that player safety is our highest priority," Anderson says in the video, which the league released to all teams Wednesday and required coaches to show their players. "We've said publicly, and we will repeat to all of you, we will not apologize for or be defensive about aggressive enforcement to protect players from illegal and potentially life-altering blows to the head and neck."

The NFL's video, along with a letter from Commissioner Roger Goodell, was sent in the wake of three fines totaling $175,000 to players found to have targeted opponents in the head or neck over the weekend. The video replays examples of "flagrant violations," for which the league says it will begin to suspend players without pay.

Players are warned that even first-time offenders will immediately be subject to suspensions for delivering such flagrant hits to the head and neck area of defenseless players.

In the video, Anderson calls New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather's helmet hit on Baltimore Ravens tight end Todd Heap "inexcusable." Meriweather was fined $50,000 for the hit in which he launched himself headfirst into Heap's helmet.

Also on the video is James Harrison's hit on Cleveland Browns wide receiver Mohamed Massaquoi that brought the Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker a $75,000 fine, and the collision between Atlanta Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson and Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson that gave both players concussions. Robinson was fined $50,000 for that tackle.

Anderson says of Robinson's hit, in which the cornerback launched himself toward Jackson but didn't make contact with his helmet: "It's bang-bang but still illegal. The receiver is defenseless and in the act of attempting to catch a pass."

"These hits can have severe consequences for the player delivering the hit as well as for the player taking the blow," adds Anderson, a member of the NFL's competition committee. "Using the head, forearm or shoulder to deliver the initial hit against a defenseless player will draw significant discipline."

Players had seen the 4-minute video by midafternoon Wednesday and had mixed reactions to it.

"We talked about it today," Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. "We watched the video that the league sent. There was a lot of comments and observations from the defensive guys, and the offensive guys were mostly quiet. That's just how it is.

"It's a tricky thing. From my perspective, I'm trying to protect the guys that I'm throwing the ball to. I'm trying to put them in a situation where they're not going to get hit like that, but that's about it for me."

Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey wasn't particularly impressed by the video.

"It's nothing that we didn't know," he said. "I think it was good for some people who hadn't been in the league for a while to see that and to kind of refresh your memory for the older guys."

Other illegal tackles shown in the video include Carolina Panthers safety Sherrod Martin's hit on New York Giants tight end Kevin Boss in the season opener (Boss suffered a concussion on the play), and Kansas City Chiefs rookie safety Kendrick Lewis' Week 2 shot on Browns tight end Evan Moore, who received a concussion.

The video also demonstrates the proper way to take down an opponent.

Baltimore Ravens star linebacker Ray Lewis is shown using his shoulder to deliver a chest hit in what Anderson terms "a great player making a great play. No launching, no head or neck impact, proper technique that minimizes the risk to the opponent. This is what we are asking."

The crackdown, and subsequent possible suspensions, begins with this weekend's games because the league wanted to give players fair warning. The video explicitly delivers that warning.

"Gentlemen, you must know that player safety is our highest priority," Anderson says. "We have said publicly and we repeat to all of you we will not apologize for or be defensive about aggressive enforcement to protect players from illegal and potentially life-altering blows to the head and neck.

"So please, know the rules and play by the rules. You are on notice, and we will appreciate your compliance."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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