Running back Clinton Portis is entering his second season in Washington after rushing for 1,315 yards on 343 carries last season. He chatted with Redskins.com following n OTA session at Redskins Park:
Q: It's early, but what are your thoughts on the team right now?
A: "I think it is going to be real exciting this year. Last year, we endured a 6-10 season--that was my first losing season ever. It was rough but you have to be down to come back up. I think last year we had enough close games where we could have easily been 13-3 or 12-4, but it didn't go our way. A lot of things did not go our way."
Q: How much did injuries play a part in last season?
A: "We were missing key guys. We were missing LaVar (Arrington). Everybody is coming back this year and it's a new year. Everyone is zero and zero and there are no Super Bowl champs right now. We all have the same opportunity and I think that we have enough talent to win and enough guys that are capable of getting us into the NFC championship game and hopefully the Super Bowl. We have to take it one game at a time."
Q: Do you expect to see more stretch running plays in the ground game this year?
A: "You know, coach just made a point where we averaged five yards a carry on a stretch play last year. If I had known that, that would have been the only call we would have been making in the games. I think we are changing a lot of things up. We are going to get this right. We are tweaking things."
Q: When you look at the offense during practice at OTAs, which players stand out to you?
A: "I think (Chris) Cooley is going to be a big part of this game plan. You have Santana Moss and David Patten. You have Robert Royal coming on strong. You have a lot of weapons. Hopefully, Taylor Jacobs is going to explode onto the scene like everyone knows he can and become the player that they thought he was when they drafted him. We have a lot of weapons that people have not seen and we are waiting to show them."
Q: Do you think the team will be better with all of the additions?
A: "It is not just the addition of guys like Santana Moss and David Patten and Casey Rabach. Last year, I think you had a whole team trying to learn a new system. Week in and week out, we were changing our system and we didn't know what to expect. This year we have more guys comfortable with the system and more guys who know the system. Last year, we had a lot of penalties. We had a lot of off-sides that could have been prevented. They were more of thinking penalties. This year, we will be able to go out and just play, which will make us a better team."
