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Redskins Date published: 11/3/2009
BY RICH CAMPBELL ASHBURN-- Malcolm Kelly spent the Washington Redskins' bye week at his childhood home in Texas, eating his mother's home-cooked fried chicken and waffles, savoring the country air and, in his words, "just chillin.'"Rock Cartwright returned home to Texas to visit his daughter and witness his brother commemorate his 10th wedding anniversary by renewing his vows. And then there was Fred Davis, whose bye week wasn't a vacation at all. Oh, it was supposed to be. Davis booked his flight back to the West coast and even had a ticket to attend Saturday night's game between Southern Cal, his alma mater, and Oregon. He scrapped those plans, though, after tight end Chris Cooley broke his ankle in a loss to Philadelphia on Oct. 26. Cooley's absence means that Davis will be the Redskins' first-string tight end for at least the next month, and he is determined to be a worthy replacement. So while Davis' teammates left town to get away from this nightmarish season for a few days, he stayed here to work with tight ends coach Scott Wachenheim. From Wednesday through Friday for 21/2 hours each morning, Wachenheim put Davis through a variety of drills designed to fortify his pass blocking and minimize any drop-off from Cooley, one of Washington's most valuable players. "I knew I had a responsibility to stand in for my teammates and, hopefully, get better as a blocker, too," Davis said yesterday. The Redskins returned to practice yesterday missing another valuable piece of their offense. Cooley leads the team with 29 catches and two touchdowns. And beyond his pass-catching abilities, he is a serviceable blocker. Davis, on the other hand, hasn't proven that he is capable of consistently blocking effectively. He thrived as a receiver after replacing Cooley against Philadelphia (eight catches, 78 yards and a touchdown), but he also surrendered two sacks.
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