News And Notes From Redskins Park

By Mark Solway | August 4th, 2011

A couple of familiar faces are coming back to Redskins Park – Rocky McIntosh, Reed Doughty and Kedric Golston all re-signed on Wednesday.

The signing of McIntosh is likely due in part to the fact that Perry Riley may not quite be ‘there’ yet at inside middle linebacker, and Rocky gives the Redskins a known entity. Though McIntosh struggled in the 3-4 last year, he has been a very consistent performer in the past, and will hopefully benefit from the year in the system. The depth chart certainly looks a lot better with Rocky in it, than without. He and Riley will likely be pushed by Lorenzo Alexander and Robert Henson, in the only linebacking battle that isn’t sewn up. One of them will hopefully compliment a very solid linebacking stable that now contains Brian Orakpo, London Fletcher, and first round draft pick Ryan Kerrigan.

Golston returns to the Redskins for his 6th season. He signed a one year deal, and rumors are that he turned down a deal with Dallas to come back to Washington. Always quiet and unassuming, he will provide solid depth at defensive end, behind an impressively re-vamped unit of Barry Cofield, Stephen Bowen, Adam Carriker, and Jarvis Jenkins. Golston made a career high 13 starts last year, and again gives the Redskins defensive staff a known quantity to work with.

The third return, Reed Doughty, has not been officially announced by the team, but he did tweet that he was returning, “On my way to the airport. Back to the B&G. Excited to be back”. Not only does Doughty provide excellent depth at safety, he’s a great special teams player, arguably the team’s best in 2010.

Though the re-signings are not as flashy as some of the recent free agent acquisitions, they fill some holes that definitely needed to be filled. With the lockout shortened offseason, there is every reason to believe that there could be more injuries in 2011, than in any season in recent history. Depth will be an important factor for all 32 NFL teams, and getting guys back that have been in the system will only help the newcomers as well.

In other news from the Park on Wednesday, a couple of players were banged up at practice. The most notable injury was to RB Ryan Torain who will have to see a specialist about his hand/wrist, and could be on the shelf for a week or two. John Beck also had a little bit of arm fatigue after carrying the lion’s share of the passing load the last few days, but that should change now that Rex Grossman will be back at camp. Grossman signed a one year deal late yesterday, as did Horatio (H.B.) Blades.