Springs hopes to awake from 2006 nightmare

By Darrell Laurant  |   Thursday, August 09, 2007  |  Comments( 16 )

Washington Redskins
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As they say in Vegas, read 'em and weep.

The Washington Redskins defense produced 19 sacks all of last season, six interceptions, and 12 turnovers. Sometimes, it seems as if the Baltimore Ravens do that in one game.

All this ineptitude made the team's nickname cruelly appropriate -- like their namesake, the Native Americans, the Redskins gave up a lot of territory in a hurry. The debate among disgruntled fans soon took on a chicken-or-the-egg tone -- was the secondary so bad because the defensive line was giving opposing quarterbacks too much time to throw, or was the sack total so low because receivers were getting open too quickly?

Shawn Springs suffered through it as stoically as he could. As recently as 2004, the former Ohio State star had finished with six sacks, five interceptions and 80-plus tackles. Those numbers slipped considerably in 2005, however, and 2006 was a nightmare.

Spring missed the first six games with a sports hernia, then tried to tough out a nagging hamstring injury until a broken shoulder blade put him out of his misery.

During the offseason he trained with Walt Harris of the San Francisco 49ers, who had eight interceptions and four forced fumbles and made the Pro Bowl in '06.

"Walt Harris gets on me all the time," Springs told the Associated Press. "He's like, 'Y'all got rid of me and I had 12 myself.' I said, 'Whatever you're doing, I have to start doing.'"

Staying healthy, for one thing.

On paper, the projected starting secondary of Springs and Carlos Rogers at cornerback and Sean Taylor and rookie LaRon Landry at safety (the Redskins didn't draft Landry in the first round to have him sit) is imposing. But except for Landry, those were the guys who established an NFL record for the fewest turnovers in a 16-game season.

Rogers was a prime offender, dropping a host (the Washington Post counted 10) of potential interceptions.

But the addition of active linebacker London Fletcher should help both the D-line and secondary, the acquisition of Fred Smoot and Omar Stoutmire will add depth (if Smoot doesn't beat out Rogers) and Springs is at full speed this season. He's also 32, and the Redskins tried repeatedly to trade him during the offseason.

"There's a time when you have to prove yourself," Springs said. "The time is now."

The same could be said for the entire defense.
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CommentsComments: 16  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Andy		08:26 AM
08/09/2007
Just imagine what last season would have been like if the Skins didn't have the "greatest coaching staff" in the history of the...
No.2
terp		06:11 PM
08/09/2007
yeah..every other team gets to use injuries as an excuse..IE Patriots I guess the Skins should have been expected to put one of...
No.3
Andy		08:44 PM
08/09/2007
The Redskins problems were out there for all to see before last year and during the pre-season. All I heard from the Washington...
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