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Most exciting mini-camp moment:

LaRon Landry vs. Clinton Portis. Sunday During 11-on-11, Clinton Portis caught a screen pass that looked to be set up perfectly, but it broke down. Portis reversed his course and picked up Jason Campbell across the field as a blocker. LaRon Landry was right with him the whole way though and eventually pushed him out of bounds. Some words were exchanged between Landry and Portis and the trash talk continued into the locker room. At some point in the locker room, they challenged each other to a 40-yard dash and as Fred Smoot noted, "They dont do nothing for free". So there was most likely money on the line. Or maybe a car or two, haha. Anyway, with media and players watching, Portis and Landry came back on the field, set up cones, and lined up. They both jumped out the gate perfectly blazing fast and with a last second charge, it appeared as if Landry won by about a step. The tape had to be slowed down to be able to tell. Both exchanged fist pumps after clearing the finish line. Portis wouldnt declare a winner to the media and told reporters it was the first time he had run a 40 in about 7 years, right after he said that, Landry came over into the crowd of reporters and said, "Be for real, everybody seen it." to which portis responded, "If he wanna feel like he won, he can feel like he won, but we gonna keep runnin until its hands down." Teammates that were polled by the media either said it was a tie or that Laron won. Fellow DB, Smoot, declared Landry the winner and Portis' backfield mate Rock Cartwright said it looked like a tie from where he was. Given Portis' testimony, we should all stay tuned this next week during OTAs for Portis v Landry II!

The rookies:

Kelly, Davis and Thomas flashed their excellent talents. Not all good news though, Kelly's route running is of course still rough. Fred Davis missed sunday's practice because he overslept. According to Zorn, Davis figured someone would wake him up so he didnt even set his alarm. Devin Thomas had a really good mini-camp and missed saturday's practice because of his grandmother's funeral. During 11-on-11 on sunday Thomas made a couple really spectacular plays. The Durant Brooks vs. Derrick Frost showdown will have to wait a little longer, because this weekends mini-camp did not include any team punting drills. Undrafted rookie MAtteral Richardson out of Arkansas picked off a Jason Campbell pass on saturday. Campbell threw it to Richardson's side again on a deep pass to Moss and Moss left him in the dust, but wasnt able to catch up to the pass. Also on sunday, JT Tryon was assigned a blitz from the slot during 11-on-11 and didnt arrive soon enough, Campbell got the pass off and completed it to James Thrash. Colt Brennan isnt practicing and likely wont for a while, still recovering form hip surgery. He is on the field, in uniform, with the team going through "mental reps" and figures to get his first action during OTAs in June. Rookie draft pick S Kareem Moore reported to mini-camp on crutches after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery. Undrafted rookie safety Kevin Mitchell picked off a Sam Hollenbach pass on friday. Undrafted rookie QB Bret Meyer hasn't look too good thus far. He has had problems with footwork, handing the ball off, and fumbling snaps. Looks like Sam and Colt wont have much to worry about as far he goes. Rookie safety Chris Horton from UCLA has made some nice plays. DB Steven Tate from hofstra intercepted a pass during a 9-on-9 friday.

Tight Ends:

Is it possible the Redskins will carry 4 TE's into the regular season? Almost certainly not, but TE's Todd Yoder and Jason Goode had an impressive mini-camp and two other TEs are in attendance for mini-camp. 

Injuries:

Starting OLs Randy Thomas and Jon Jansen look to be back to 95-100% healthy after last season when Jansen spent 15 games on the injured reserve with a broken ankle and Thomas was injured off and on throughout the season. Carlos Rogers and Rocky McIntosh are going through light workouts and light running following knee ligament surgeries last year. All four vets seem to be on their way to starting opening day. Kedrick Golston and Vernon Fox were injured on Saturday. Golston's injury figures to be a minor ankle sprain and Vernon tweaked his knee, had it wrapped up and participated lightly in drills on Sunday.

Notes:

Hall of Fame WR Steve Larent looked over sundays practice, but didnt have much to offer. He mostly stayed in the background and spoke with a Redskins player scout. Steve Largent was of course the target of many passes from current Redskins head coach and ex-Seahawk QB Jim Zorn. 

Lorenzo Alexander, who filled in nicely at OG and OT last season is back running drills with the defensive line in Mini-Camp. The team expects him to work with the OL at some point this offseason.

Jason Fabini and Redd Doughty both missed time in this weekends Mini-Camp. Fabini left in the middle of practice because of a "family event". Doughty missed sundays practice because he had to take his young son to the hospital after he fell ill. Doughty's son recently had a kidney transplant.

As pretty much expected, the defense has dominated the mini-camp. London, Shawn Springs, Landry, Carter, and Smoot are all making plays. A lot of lesser known, younger guys are also showing their skills on defense. THere was one defensive problem though that made news. Springs picked off a Campbell pass and tossed it back to Fred Smoot....the play was then blown dead and Zorn let them hear it, "Don't do that, don't do that. Don't mess around."

ON one promising play, Andre Carter escaped good blocking from Chris Samuels and rushed Jason Campbell. Even better than Carter getting past Pro Bowl tackle Chris Samuels, Campbell out ran Carter and scambled to pick up a few yards. Two big questions coming into this season were the pass rush and our QB play. Looks like we are already beginning to receive answers to those two questions.

Another Mini-Camp face off:

Mike Sellers and Marcus Washington got into it a little bit, trash talking back and forth after one play. Mike Sellers reportedly yelled, "I can do this all day".

Thoughts:

Zorn is letting guys know right away that he's the coach now and things are gonna be a bit different. Zorn is instituting a more fast paced camp with some different methods. Everything I've heard from players seems to indicate that they like his camp and the pace.

How can you not be happy with the early competition and fire from these guys. Mike Sellers and Marcus Washington getting into it. Portis vs. Landry. All good things for the team. Things are intense and competitive, but these guys know when to have fun and when to turn on the heat.

Campbell and Zorn both seem to think Campbell is picking up the offense faster than expected. Campbell described the offense as pretty easy to learn, its just a matter of the little things.

This mini-camp has been a great sign of things to come. Guys are making plays, getting fired up, and the mood is good. THey are up beat and ready to knock some heads and have fun.