The Sports Xchange

ASHBURN, Va. — After practicing with the eventual Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots for three days last summer in Richmond, Va., the Washington Redskins will welcome the Houston Texans to their training camp on Aug. 6-8.

“Anytime you get an opportunity to practice against a great organization like Houston — they’re on the upswing, they’ve got some great personnel and a great coach in Coach (Bill) O’Brien — it’s going to be beneficial to all of us,” Washington coach Jay Gruden said.

“It’s game situations. … It’s unscripted plays. It’s red zone. … It’s all the situations you get against an opponent. It’s competitive every day.

Gruden discussed how working with the Patriots helped in 2014.

“You’re trying to evaluate your team and trying to make the final cuts because cuts are looming right around the corner and you’ve got to make a decision on your 53 guys,” he said. “You’re trying to put guys in position where they’re going against other guys fighting for their lives in real situations and that’s great to see. … It was not so much that we were in admiration or trying to figure out how they do things, more so we were trying to find out … how we can do things better.”

Not only does Bill Callahan keep his youngest players on the field working long after the rest of the Redskins have headed to the showers, the veteran offensive line coach has moved people around. Reserve guard Josh LeRibeus worked as a backup center, a role that since-released guard Chris Chester had in recent years. And on Tuesday, last season’s right tackle Tom Compton, who was filling in for the ailing Trent Williams at left tackle this spring, took snaps at right guard for new line coach Callahan.

“You have to be versatile,” Gruden said. “On game day, you play with seven offensive linemen. You have to be able to play right guard, left guard and center. … You have to practice it. That’s why these guys are moving around so much.”

Chester’s replacement, second-year pro Spencer Long, caught a touchdown pass from kicker Kai Forbath on a fake field goal near the end of Tuesday’s practice.

When the special teams are on the field, most starters usually talk and watch from the sidelines. But the Redskins added work for them during those down times under the direction of Taekwondo GrandMaster Joe Kim, a 1990 Pan Am Games bronze medalist and long-time member of the U.S. national team.

The other day, starting inside linebackers Keenan Robinson and Perry Riley spent quite a while trying to dislodge each others’ hands with martial arts moves under Kim’s supervision.

“He’s a pass rush specialist,’ Gruden said of Kim, who previously worked for Cleveland, Dallas, Miami, Green Bay, Denver, Buffalo, the New York Giants, Kansas City and Chicago. “He’s good in the weight room with the guys. A lot of it is about hand placement, and as a defensive lineman, working your hands and your feet at the same time and getting hands off you [is] very, very important. Our running backs can do it, tight ends can do it. Every position can work hand placement and hand usage at all times and he’s one of the best in the business at doing that.”