Washington Football Team Practice Report - Saturday Aug. 22

The Washington Football Team returned to the practice fields Saturday after a players' day off & now they might need another one.

There were two big stories coming from the Washington Football Team's first practice since Ron Rivera's public disclosure of his cancer diagnosis. 

One was on the field and one was about what happened on the field or what didn't happen. 

The quarterbacks were largely sub par (that might be kind) on Saturday. 

Alex Smith was probably the best and he wasn't great, if we're being honest. I thought he slid a few times in the pocket well to avoid a rush in 9-on-9's. There wasn't anything major but it was still another step in the right direction. 

Smith threw a near interception to Sean Davis, who dropped the ball on what should have been an easy pick. It was an overthrow, the theme for all of the quarterbacks at Saturday's session. 

Smith also overthrew Adrian Peterson in QB & Running Back unit drills. 

It's just one practice and you certainly expect Smith to be rusty from not having played in 21 months. 

Kyle Allen wasn't good at all throwing interceptions right after another to Greg Stroman and Deshazor Everett. 

Allen has shown some mobility and accuracy on very short passes (screens, swings) but has been wild and erratic on just about every practice throw with any level of difficulty in the last four sessions that media has seen. 

Dwayne Haskins was good at times on Saturday. He found Terry McLaurin several times in 9-on-9 situations, once on a deep dig route concept and once on a tight slant in a small window. 

There's no doubt he can rip it and there's also no doubt who his go-to guy is. 

I thought that Haskins did a good a few times of recognizing a blitz coming from one side and adjusting his eyes and where he had to go with the football. On one play, a blitz came screaming off the right edge of the defense and Haskins immediately looked to his right (opposite of the blitz). He couldn't find anything quickly, so he scanned back to the middle and towards the blitz side to complete a pass. 

Then there was the yikes. Kevin Pierre-Louis had an interception along the sidelines but I'm not sure if he was in-bounds because of our angle on a throw from Haskins. 

Early in practice, Jon Bostic nearly picked off Haskins and instead just broke up the pass along the far sideline. The pass was intended for J.D. McKissic. 

Several times (at least seven by my count), Haskins sailed passes very high, which has been a problem in the last week and was an issue last year. 

My notes from Saturday are filled with several hookups with McLaurin (at least five) and several were impressive strikes but every time you thought Haskins was going to get into a rhythm, he would take a step back and sail one or two or three high. 

He overthrew J.D. McKissic in a team period and then misfired leading to what could have been an interception for Troy Apke. He also overthrew a wide open Steven Sims on a crosser. Then he threw a pick to Jimmy Moreland. 

I thought he was slightly better Saturday than he was on Thursday but that was his worst day in my opinion. 

He's still learning the offense and acquiring timing/rhythm with his receivers but for four practices in a row, there hasn't been a whole lot to get positive about. 

The other huge story was Ron Rivera chewing out his team for a solid five minutes after practice. 

He dropped several F-bombs and made an example out of Wes Martin but this is a cumulative frustration on Rivera's part. He's been salty with his offense and young players who aren't working hard in his opinion to prepare. 

It's clear that Rivera's health situation is going to add to his frustration and perhaps short fuse but everything he did on Saturday and throughout this week made sense. 

He's tough, stern but fair. He doesn't want his players losing focus in the late part of the third quarter and the entire fourth quarter once games start and he's right. 

Rivera's frustration throughout the week has been welcomed for those of us that know what he's all about and what this organization has been missing in practice sessions. 

It was much needed and I think his players probably understood it or appreciated it. 

There's not much poker with Rivera. He's a straight shooter, which many appreciate. 

**

Chase Young dressed for practice with shoulder pads and a helmet and then did nothing but stretching. 

***

Jonathan Allen and Chase Roullier spoke to reporters after practice. You can watch those here along with Rivera's post practice press conference. 

Jonathan Allen

Chase Roullier

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Chris Russell is the Publisher of this site, a part of SI.com. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Washington Football Team" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621