As you know, earlier this week the Redskins demoted Antwaan Randle El on punt returns and made CB DeAngelo Hall the man. We approved of this move, though not the timing of it:

I think I speak for many Redskins fans when I ask: Why didn’t this happen sooner? Sure, Randle El has only recently begun fumbling, but it has been obvious since before Thanksgiving of LAST YEAR that the offense was in a major funk that it will not might not come out of as long as Dan Snyder, Vinny Cerrato and Jim Zorn are making the decisions on this team for a long time. The offense has needed a boost from the special teams for some time, but nothing was done about it until now. As is often the case with this franchise, the obvious decision is made only after it could make a real difference.

But that was then and this is now. Randle El is back in and Hall is back out.

Coach Jim Zorn today contradicted comments he made the previous two days about the team’s punt return situation, saying after practice “nothing has changed” and Antwaan Randle El would remain the team’s primary returner.

“Antwaan, I guess he got asked a couple of questions, and he came into my office to talk about it,” Zorn said. “I said, ‘Well, there’s really nothing to talk about. Nothing has changed.’ That’s how I would bill it. There’s no difference.”

…
On his radio show Tuesday, Zorn said he wasn’t certain who’d return the first punt Sunday against the Falcons. Asked the same question after practice Wednesday, Zorn said Randle El would return the first punt.

Asked to explain his comments about Randle El on his radio show, Zorn said he never made an official statement regarding the situation. “Remember, I was asked that on every single thing I did yesterday,” Zorn said. “I did four or five interviews yesterday. That was the No. 1 question. And I guess what I’m doing is saying there’s not as much to it as whatever’s been reported.”

Things being what they are at Redskins Park, we have no idea if Zorn just changed his mind, was talking out of his ass [repeatedly] or if he made a decision and had that decision reversed by Vinny Cerrato or Dan Snyder or Sherman Lewis or Danny Smith or Snagglepuss.

Look, it’s not like this is a huge deal. The Redskins are bad this year and have been bad for most of the last 10 years for reasons totally unconnected to the identity and production of the team’s #1 punt returner. This is just indicative of the fact that the powers-that-be at Redskins Park are confused, contradicting each other and themselves and generally not organized the way a team two months into the regular season ought to be.

Greg Blache actually spoke to the media today — to deny that Dan Snyder is the black-hearted villian John Riggins says he is.

“This morning when I came in, and I turned my computer on and I was looking at Pro Football Talk, and I saw comments that John Riggins made about Mr. Snyder. And it really bothered me, the more I sat there at my desk. There’s been a lot of criticism of him over the last few weeks. And this is a man I’ve known for six years, since I’ve been here. And in the six years, I’ve never seen John Riggins here. I met him once at Beach Blitz down in Virginia Beach. Never seen him in the building.

“To hear such a vicious criticism of somebody I consider not just my employer, but a good friend, bothered me. And as much as I hadn’t been talking to you, I felt like this is something I needed to do. Somebody needed to stand up and set this record straight. This person, the comment that was made, a ‘dark heart,’ that’s totally, totally untrue. The problem is the fans don’t get to know Mr. Snyder like we do, so they get an impression of things that are written and things people say. I’ll tell you something from a person who’s been here for six years who’s gone to him for things that I’ve needed in my family, there’s times that he’s come to me when he’s heard about issues in my family, and offered his assistance. It’s unsurpassed. He’s one of the most generous, kind individuals you’ll ever meet. My wife and I are involved in hospice, and there’s been countless times he’s come and helped us with issues with hospice. So to see that and get the feeling that that’s what everybody on the outside gets to hear about this person, I just felt like it was time for somebody to stand up and set the record straight. I decided that I was going to do it, I was going to do it today because it’s enough. I mean, it really is. We’ve had criticism from other people outside the building, saying what Dan Snyder is and what he isn’t. You don’t know Dan Snyder, and that’s the problem.

“Do I agree with everything that Dan Snyder does? No, trust me. Because he and I, we work together. And I’m not going to tell you that this is a utopia. There’s no utopias in football, there’s no utopias in life. At the same time, enough’s enough. Every story, there’s one person’s side, there’s another person’s side and behind it all, there’s a third side and it’s the truth. I just thought it was time for somebody to come and just throw a little truth out there. We keep hearing these other sides, these other factions, and to be quite candid, the third side – the truth – this person, all he wants to do is win. That’s all he wants to do. He’ll spend his money, he’ll spend his time. He wants to win. He’s here for the people, for the fans, for the Washington Redskins. There’s nobody who’s pained more when we’re not successful than Dan Snyder. There’s nobody that cares more about the fans than Dan Snyder, there’s nobody who wants to win here more than Dan Snyder.

“I just think it’s time to be put out there, it’s time that you guys understand that everything that’s wrong with this organization is not Dan Snyder. It’s so easy for the people who held… a microphone every day to point fingers and shuffle it off somewhere else. But at the same time, I’m in a ton of those meetings when decisions are made. And so a lot of the things that wrong, you can’t go back and somehow it was so-and-so’s fault because that’s how those comments were made. So just to set the record straight, I think it was wrong. I wish the best for Mr. Riggins and all his endeavors or whatever he does. But for me, that was enough. And I just felt like for me to wash my face in the morning and to feel like a man or to talk to my kids about doing the right thing, I needed to come here and make that comment today.

“I’ve got no other interest in it. I have a contract for next year, so it’s not like I’m trying to make something up. If they send me home, the way coaches’ contracts are written, they have to pay me anyway. So quite honestly, this is unsolicited. But from the heart, just something I just felt I needed to do. Thank you.”

Hmmm. Do you really think this is unsolicited? Blache clams up for weeks and now he speaks up…and on behalf of the man who signs his checks. Methinks Blache got a phone call from above instructing him to defend his boss. And let’s face it, as far as the vast majority of Redskins fans are concerned: John Riggins >>> Greg Blache.

We’ve crunched the latest 2010 NFL mock drafts and right now it looks like QB Sam Bradford might be headed to Washington. Have a look.

Both Santana Moss and Jason Campbell say WR Devin Thomas is maturing and becoming a better player. Hmmm again. Haven’t we heard this before. Ah, yes, all through August when he allegedly had the inside track to be the starting wideout opposite Moss. Which he lost to Malcolm Kelly, who subsequently lost his starting job to Thomas because Kelly was so unproductive. Look: Enough with talking these guys up! Enough, already! Stop talking about them. Either they will produce or they won’t. So far, they haven’t been produced and look to all the world like 2nd round busts. They can change our minds, but they won’t do it with talk. Let’s see actual results on the field. First results, then talk. Until then, shut up about these under-achievers. Read it.

Clinton Portis says it is not that this season has been horrible, it’s that previous seasons were just so great that this one looks bad by comparison. Whatever. Read it. Portis also denies being a Snyder ass-kisser. Double whatever. Read it.

TE Chris Cooley intends to come back as soon as he’s healthy enough to play, regardless of the team’s record. Dude is pre-historic school. We love him. Read it.

The Redskins are preparing themselves for tougher opponents these next five games, ones with a combined record of 26-9. So we should all be preparing for more losses. Probably five of them. Probably by large margins. Read it.