ASHBURN, Va. (AP) -Malcolm Kelly stood with his left hand on his hip, his right hand propped up against his locker, and a bright, confident smile on his face.
Forget, for a moment, how comfortable he looks on the field this year. The Washington Redskins receiver finally looks at home just standing in an NFL locker room.
“It’s a totally different ballgame,” Kelly said. “Last year, getting ready to go into Week 1, I knew I wasn’t going to play, so my mind really wasn’t in it. I was just looking at film today. Last year when we played the Giants the second time, I didn’t even look like myself. … I was miserable last year, man. I can’t even explain it.”
can’t help but be better.
“We’ll be able to move the ball with either one of us in there,” Kelly said. “So I don’t go home and think about it. As soon as I leave Redskin Park and I go home, I’m not laying up in my bed, ‘Am I going to be the No. 2 receiver?”’
Zorn said Monday he wasn’t sure who the starter would be. Early in training camp, he said Thomas was ahead, but Kelly came on strong in the latter days of August. They finished the preseason with virtually identical statistics, but Kelly seems to have the momentum.
“He looks great on the field. He’s my breakout player of the year this year,” said defensive end Phillip Daniels, who spent time rehabbing with Kelly when both were injured in 2008. “I think people don’t know him. That’s the best thing about it. He can sneak up on some people and do his thing.”
The scene inside the locker room Monday was like the first day of school. It was the initial gathering of the 53-man roster after Saturday’s cuts, as well as the first day of regular practice. Pro Bowl tight end Chris Cooley proclaimed playfully with outstretched arms: “I made the team – yes!” Running back Marcus Mason, whose entire NFL life consisted of three practice squads over two seasons, recalled the nervous moments before he learned he had finally made a team.
the room instead of one of the nice ones along the wall. Quarterback Andre’ Woodson, signed to the practice squad after getting cut by the Giants, laughed when he said he “unfortunately” wasn’t able to sneak out a New York playbook to help his new team beat his old one.
Amid those minor bits of mayhem, Kelly looked as poised as a seasoned vet, even though he caught only three passes last year while battling a knee injury. His competition, Thomas, was healthy in 2008 but struggled to master the offense and had just 15 receptions. The incumbent No. 2 receiver, Antwaan Randle El, is considered better suited for the slot in three-receiver sets.
Kelly loves being a long-ball threat, but he now considers himself a well-rounded receiver. That, along with his 6-foot-4 frame, could be the tipping point in deciding who gets more playing time come Sunday.
“Deep stuff – that’s all I’ve ever run, high school, college,” said Kelly, a second-round draft pick from Oklahoma. “It’s crazy now with this offense. I’m starting to run other routes, so I’m becoming a complete receiver. A lot of the small stuff I’m enjoying because I’ve never run it in my life.”
NOTES: The Redskins elected their 2009 captains: QB Jason Campbell and LT Chris Samuels on offense, LB London Fletcher and DT Cornelius Griffin on defense, and KR Rock Cartwright and FB Mike Sellers on special teams. All were captains in 2008 except for Sellers, who replaces departed LB Khary Campbell. … QB Colt Brennan said doctors think it’s a genetic condition that has caused him to require a second hip surgery in two years. The right hip was done last year and is fine; now he’s on injured reserve waiting for the left one to be done. A torn labrum in the hip caused him hamstring problems during preseason. “I lost that explosion,” he said. “You could see it on film, you could see me getting sacked, when early on I was getting away from stuff.” … Along with Woodson, the Redskins also signed WR Onrea Jones and LB Darrel Young to the practice squad.
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