RICHMOND, Va. -- It was a nondescript play in an August practice, but one that Washington Redskins cornerback Quinton Dunbar hopes shows his growth. Dunbar still has more to learn about playing corner -- it’s only been a year.
Last season, it was hard for Dunbar to focus on some of the finer aspects of the position. But that’s what he’s trying to do now, which was evident in one red zone situation during practice.
Dunbar, paired against receiver Maurice Harris, was in press man coverage and immediately got on Harris’ inside hip as he sprinted inside. As quarterback Colt McCoy started to scramble, Dunbar and Harris were in the back of the end zone.
So Dunbar did what he’s been taught: shove Harris out of bounds. A small thing, but one that drew praise from coaches and multiple players, including safety David Bruton.
“I know once the quarterback is out of the pocket and scrambling, I can push my man out of bounds,” Dunbar said. “That’s a learning curve I remember. Push him out of bounds; less work for me.”
Early in practice, Dunbar faced a similar situation when McCoy also scrambled. But he tried to bait McCoy into a throw and it ended up backfiring with a reception.
“If I had pushed him out of bounds, it would have taken care of it then and there, so I was learning from my mistake earlier in practice,” Dunbar said.
Other observations from Friday's practice:
Dunbar didn’t fare quite so well against rookie running back Keith Marshall on one run. Marshall ran over him and kept chugging along. Marshall is an intriguing back, but the one thing I learned long ago: Don’t go crazy over running backs until games begin. There are too many times in practice when a back looks as if he had a good run, but because there’s no live tackling it’s hard to know what would have truly happened. Games provide the answer, but Marshall will be worth watching. Make no mistake, though: Matt Jones is the starter and the guy the Redskins are most excited about. Period.
Dunbar’s growth is part of why the Redskins feel so good about cornerback. Another is veteran Greg Toler. He has been solid during the first week of camp and there’s an excellent chance the Redskins will keep six corners. Teams typically keep 10 defensive backs, so that would mean having only four safeties, but the talent in the secondary is deeper at corner. The other four corners would be Josh Norman, Bashaud Breeland, Kendall Fuller and Dashaun Phillips.
Trent Murphy worked some as an outside linebacker Friday with a lot of the starters not doing much in full-team work. Murphy has been switched to end, but the Redskins need more help at outside linebacker without Junior Galette. It’s possible Murphy will have to play it in a pinch, but that’s not ideal considering he weighs 290 pounds. But the Redskins need to find someone there who can help if anything happens to starters Preston Smith and Ryan Kerrigan -- or if they just need a break. Houston Bates and Willie Jefferson have worked with the No. 2 defense.
The highlight of the day: As a lot of the starting defense chanted, “Defense! Defense!” corner Lloyd Carrington intercepted an errant Nate Sudfeld pass. The defenders sprinted to him after he was stopped and swarmed him, celebrating the play. Right before that play, end Chris Baker showed how he likes to keep it loose. He bemoaned a call by the “officials” -- in this case head coach Jay Gruden -- and said loudly, “That’s what happens when you have an offensive coach.” Gruden walked over, said something to Baker, and they both laughed.