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News | Washington Commanders - Commanders.com

Offensive Line Already Feeling Offseason Changes

From veteran Kory Lichtensteiger to rookie Brandon Scherff, the offensive line is already feeling the offseason changes, including Bill Callahan's presence.

Long after the rest of their teammates had gone inside Tuesday following the official end to the first OTA session of the 2015 season, offensive line coach Bill Callahan had his players running through extra drills.

A countdown of the Top 10 images of Redskins center Kory Lichtensteiger during the 2014 season.

This extension of one-on-one coaching from actual practice session is indicative of the culture Callahan is trying to set.

Center Kory Lichtensteiger – who is entering his sixth season with the Redskins – said gone are the days of breaks during practice.

Instead, even during the time when special teams takes over the practice fields, Callahan has the offensive line doing something to improve their game.

"We don't sit down and take a knee and watch special teams anymore," Lichtensteiger told reporters Tuesday. "We're working straight through. You see how sweaty I am; it's no joke. He's got a good tempo, and he's a very intense coach. We'll definitely get better if we don't die first."

In his first few weeks in the NFL, first-round pick Brandon Scherff has already experience first-hand what makes Callahan one of the best offensive line coaches in the league.

"He works your butt off and he expects a lot out of you," he said. "So you gotta take and do what he does on the field and take that in the team period and work on it on your own some too."

Lichtensteiger said he worked well with former offensive line coach Chris Foerster, but once he heard Callahan was joining the team, he knew the Redskins were getting someone special.

"First of all, it was a bummer for me to have Foerster leave, he was my coach for five straight years," Lichtensteiger said. "I have a deep trust and respect [for him] and I love that guy. So I wasn't happy to see him go, but I was happy after a while that it was announced that it was Bill coming, and that's somebody's who's got a good pedigree with O-lines. I knew we were going to be successful, I was just hoping that he was a Lichtensteiger fan, and so far it's going good."

Scherff represents the added depth the Redskins took on this offseason along the offensive line, as he is one of several new faces Callahan and head coach Jay Gruden get to work with on an everyday basis.

While Lichtensteiger is expected to start at center once again after doing so during the 2014 season, and Pro Bowler Trent Williams and Scherff are considered the team's top two tackles, the Bowling Green product said it's "hard to know who's going to plug in where" with the added competition.

"We have a lot of capable guys," Lichtensteiger said. "Some guys that are inexperienced, we have a lot of rookies right now, but we have some veterans and free agents that we brought in that are guys that have gotten snaps before. I think everybody's adjusting pretty quickly to the new terminology. I think across the board we have guys that are working really hard to study and work really hard on the field to impress different coaches."

Scherff echoed Lichtensteiger's sentiment, saying that whether you're a starter of a reserve player, everyone will make the unit better.

"We're just going to come out here and work each other's butts off," he said. "You know whether you're going to be a rep man for the guy, or you're going to provide the best look for them, and vice versa. So you just have to come out here each day and try to get better."

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