1. Will Rex Grossman duplicate his effort? Which part — the first few series or the second half? Grossman’s career suggests he was capable of games such as Sunday, only to be followed by blowups. During a span in 2006, his passer ratings for four consecutive games was: 101.2, 10.2, 137.4, 36.8. So who knows? But Jacksonville’s pass defense is 27th in the NFL. The Jaguars have no rush and their safeties aren’t good. So yes, it is possible.
2. Will Brian Orakpo play? For the defense to first lose safety LaRon Landry and then Orakpo would be a lot to overcome. Both are energetic, emotional playmakers. Hard to find guys like that. But Orakpo’s groin and hamstring are an issue. The Redskins haven’t applied consistent pressure with him lately and it’ll be even harder without him.
3. Can they stop Maurice Jones-Drew? The Jaguars back is one of the best in the NFL, but what helps Washington is that he’s been slowed for the past week by a knee injury. It sidelined him for two practices last week and he was then held to 46 yards on 15 carries by Indianapolis. If he’s healthy, the Redskins will struggle to stop him. Their run defense ranks 31st. Jones-Drew is a powerful runner who averages 4.6 yards per carry in his career.
4. Can they stay focused? The playoffs are shot, they just lost to their biggest rival and they’re playing a day after Christmas. Not to mention the fact that they’re facing a team that desperately needs to win. It will be difficult to focus on practice this week. The Redskins do have strong leaders (London Fletcher) and they do have many players who need to prove themselves (Grossman among them) so that could offset the obvious distractions.
5. Will any more young guys play? Hard to say because they’re playing a lot of young players already. If Rocky McIntosh can’t play, then rookie Perry Riley will get more action. And second-year Kevin Barnes would get time at safety if Reed Doughty is sidelined. It would be nice to see Terrence Austin get a couple catches just to see what he can do in a game.
