Posted by ESPN.com's Mike Sando
One thing that struck me about Jim Zorn's initial comments as Redskins head coach: He offered high praise for Clinton Portis during an in-house interview.
Zorn seemed practically giddy to have a running back he could leave on the field and trust in pass protection. He noted, without mentioning Shaun Alexander by name, that Seattle had to scheme around its running back:
"To watch Clinton Portis and the strain for the extra yard, it can fire you right up. That is what a running back is made for in this game. Being smart. I think he has excellent vision and he seems to be disciplined moving in the hole. He is probably the idea of an every-down back. We did not do that in Seattle. We did not have that every-down back in Seattle. We had to piece and put and kind of makeshift situations with plays. Clinton Portis is the kind of guy that you can have in and pass protect, can have in and run the ball. We can be more elusive in what we want to do with him." -- Zorn, speaking during a Redskins.com interview
Zorn has not slipped into head-coach-speak, for lack of a better term. He's still answering questions the way he has always answered questions: directly. His comments about Portis use Alexander as a reference point. Alexander came off the field on third down. He shared first- and second-down reps with Maurice Morris. Portis gives Zorn more versatility in setting up the offense.
