Clinton Portis on the JT Show

Yeah, I can tell you for a fact that the locker room is a bit of a mess right now. But look, this is the first real adversity Zorn has ever had to deal with as an NFL head coach. It would have been ridiculous to think he would never have to face this-a bad losing streak while massaging massive egos-but if we want to be truly committed to him and to buidling success for the long term than he needs to prove he can get through it.

This would've never happened if Gibbs was still around. Boy, I start missing Gibbs v.2.0 more and more every Sunday.

I disagree that it's a bad thing that Portis is airing things out. How many times have we seen the Giants air out their dirty laundry and go kick some ass? I mean, everybody - everybody in NY has been thrown under the bus. This is part of the NFL culture in 2000's. You play through adversity and public criticism. Bottom line, different teams respond to different things.

Dallas has played through it. The Eagles have constantly played through it. Why can't the Redskins take a little public heat from one of their superstars and get shit together? Besides, who balls and plays hurt more than Portis. No one.

It's not like he said Zorn is horrible and needs to be replaced. Now that's out of line. He just called a spade without calling it spade.

And I mean no disrespect here, but if Gibbs no drama rule worked so good, we would have won more.

Did you watch the Zorn presser? He wasn't ripping Portis. He didn't say he was benched because he didn't practice. He said Betts was doing better in the passing game (basically), that they were behind and had to pass, that they were trying to get Portis healthy, etc. I know what Portis is referring to, the part where Zorn said that Portis was helping too much in pass pro and not getting into routes, but it takes a pretty thin skin to take that to the level that Portis did. He is a great player, but super high maintanence as well. Gibbs understood that (or accomodated that) and coddled Portis. Zorn is not. Now Portis is pouting. But it's BS. Zorn might be well advised to follow a more Gibbsian model in his pressers (the reporters hated it, but being tight lipped helps hold a locker room together) but that is not his style and I doubt he will pull back. But go watch the presser and see if you think Zorn's comments warranted a very Owens-like outburst by Clinton Portis.

Having said all that, much of the offensive struggles have to fall to Zorn. If your offense, that you implemented and call plays in, has scored fewer points than Detroit then execution is probably not the only problem. But Portis' comments are still way out of line.


i could not have said it better myself.
nice post

Based on what I've seen on tape, Zorn did the only thing he could do to help this team win. Did it work? No. But he's not wrong for doing that.

This is Portis' problem. He's still the focal point of the offense, and he has a historically short memory so I think he'll be fine. But he agreed to sign here for a bunch of years guarenteed, so it's his job, not Zorn's to make him be a team player. We know how hard the guy is willing to work when he's committed to a cause, but we can't afford to have a lack of production from Portis if he isn't going to work at it.

Zorn has been making some dumb decisions and play calls also. He doens't use the personnel we have wisely too. Why did they log a go route to ARE during the game..Wouldn't that been a better play for Kelly or Devin..Why aren't we using Davis. Why was Portis benched? Why don't we atleast try to go down the field more..Questions..Zorn called plays good when he mixed in the run..But then I think he got obssessed with passing the ball to set up the run instead of vice versa..I am very disappointed..

i dont agree with much from your post, sorry. i was on WP this morning and everything was normal, come back tonight and were bashin zorn. that damn examiner . .

. Further, almost all the players don't like that he's been calling out the players on execution and seemingly taking no blame for the schemes.

Ive noticed that tone from the start in his press conferences. I was concerned about it at first but it kind of slipped to the back burner in my mind. I always kind of took him like he was enjoying the celebrity a bit too much but kept my mouth shut because everyone seemed not to mind... but he does call out players a lot.

oh, and i understand that portis is def. a primadonna, but you expect it from some players... and he's not that bad and will do what he's asked on the field...

zorn has to hold the team together. we'll see how it all pans out.

Who would have guessed when we sat at 6-2 that come the 2nd week of December we'd be discussing Zorn's job security, missing the playoffs, coaches calling out players, players calling out coaches, people suggesting Colt unseat JC as starter....

Unreal. Nothing is EVER easy as a Redskins fan.

Kevin Locket once told me (yeah that's right I'm name dropping) that it's very easy to win as a team. But the true test is when you can lose as a team. Because it's a lot easier to just be individual players when you're losing. And I think it was London Fletcher who made that same point last year when he said (to paraphrase) "Even when we were losing, Coach Gibbs never let us lose sight of the fact that we're a team. And we win and lose together."

This is something Zorn, I'm sure, will fix sooner than later.

Did you watch the Zorn presser? He wasn't ripping Portis. He didn't say he was benched because he didn't practice. He said Betts was doing better in the passing game (basically), that they were behind and had to pass, that they were trying to get Portis healthy, etc. I know what Portis is referring to, the part where Zorn said that Portis was helping too much in pass pro and not getting into routes, but it takes a pretty thin skin to take that to the level that Portis did. He is a great player, but super high maintanence as well. Gibbs understood that (or accomodated that) and coddled Portis. Zorn is not. Now Portis is pouting. But it's BS. Zorn might be well advised to follow a more Gibbsian model in his pressers (the reporters hated it, but being tight lipped helps hold a locker room together) but that is not his style and I doubt he will pull back. But go watch the presser and see if you think Zorn's comments warranted a very Owens-like outburst by Clinton Portis.

Having said all that, much of the offensive struggles have to fall to Zorn. If your offense, that you implemented and call plays in, has scored fewer points than Detroit then execution is probably not the only problem. But Portis' comments are still way out of line.

Unfortunately, no, I did not see the presser as I no longer subscribe to CSN here in the ATL (no thanks to our local economy), nor did I see it anywhere else. But, thanks for enlightening me on Zorn's reasoning. Look, even though I'm completely in the tank for CP, I'm painfully aware of his need to have his ego stroked and that he can be very high maintenance. However, sometimes it's impossible to keep everything pent up inside and you must vent. It's very likely that CP being so emotional is what gives him such great drive and determination. Yet, I do wish that he had not made his feelings known in the media as now it will become just another distraction.