ASHBURN, Val. — Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson slid on his jacket and hat well after midnight at FedEx Field on Monday morning before leaving the locker room for the hour drive back to his home in the Virginia suburbs. It was exactly 87 hours until the next kickoff.
The NFL didn’t do the Redskins any favors this week. After playing the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football, Washington has the fastest possible turnaround: A Thanksgiving Day game at Dallas on Thursday afternoon.
“I don’t think it’s really fair, no, but we have to deal with it,” Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said. “We knew this was coming.”
Washington’s coaching staff spent part of its bye week earlier this month working on a game plan for the Cowboys. Players came in for medical treatment only on Monday before a brief walk-through on Tuesday and another scheduled for Wednesday. Then comes an afternoon flight to Dallas and the game 24 hours later. It’s not ideal.
“It is what it is. We’ve got a short amount of time to get ready. So do the Cowboys,” quarterback Kirk Cousins said. “It’s simple. We’ve just got to be on our preparation, be asking questions, making sure we’re all on the same page and maximize the reps we do get here before we fly out.”
For its part, Dallas had an afternoon game at home against Baltimore on Sunday giving it roughly an eight-hour head start on Washington, which hosted Green Bay that night. The Cowboys haven’t avoided this fate themselves. In 2014 they played a Sunday night game on the road against the New York Giants before hosting a Thanksgiving Day game four days later against the Philadelphia Eagles. Dallas lost 33-10.
The Denver Broncos are the only other team to play on Sunday night and then Thanksgiving Day since the NFL went to three holiday games in 2005. The Broncos lost at Kansas City 19-10.
It is a critical game for the Redskins (6-3-1), who have done well to shake off an 0-2 start to the season. But they maintain a tenuous hold on the final NFC playoff spot and even with a win Thursday would still be longshots to catch the Cowboys (9-1) in the NFC East title chase.
“There ain’t time to rest. You can rest after the Dallas game,” defensive end Ricky Jean Francois said. “No need to rest. Go home, take care of yourself right now. We’re going to live in the training room and the film room. We’re going to need it against this team.”
–Redskins cornerback Josh Norman has five forced fumbles in the last two seasons. It happened again in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s 42-24 win over Green Bay. It happened in a 27-23 loss to Dallas on Sept. 18 when he knocked the ball loose from running back Ezekiel Elliott.
Norman refined the technique last year with the Carolina Panthers when he played opposite cornerback Charles “Peanut” Tillman, who had 44 forced fumbles in his long career. It was Tillman’s only year with the Panthers and he retired after they won the NFC title and went to the Super Bowl. But he still forced two fumbles in just 12 games by punching at the ball when making tackles.
Norman had three forced fumbles last season with Carolina and he’s continued that with Washington this season. Norman is still angry officials didn’t rule a fumble when he took the ball away from Packers running back James Starks on Sunday. Instead, the play was down by contact. But it shows Norman doesn’t have to rely just on interceptions to be dangerous to opposing receivers.
“It’s the kind of thing I’ve picked up over the years,” Norman said. “(Carolina secondary coach) Steve Wilks said ‘Get that ball! Get that ball!’ It just resonated with me. Finally Peanut got there and we got to see somebody really do it, then it was like, gosh, I want to be better at it than him. It’s just putting another arsenal in my tool belt.”