One day this week, shortly before practice, two turkey buzzards perched themselves high on two dying tree limbs overlooking the Washington Redskins' practice fields in Ashburn, Va.
Even Mother Nature knows when the situation is bleak.
Inside the facility, the talk among players was growing bolder, and everyone was a target.
Largent backs former teammate
Hall of Famer Steve Largent told a Seattle radio station that his close friend, Jim Zorn, considered quitting as the Redskins' coach instead of handing over play-calling duties. **More ...**
Wide receiver Antwaan Randle El called the latest front-office move "a little weird." Cornerback DeAngelo Hall disagreed with coach Jim Zorn's halftime quarterback switch -- "I don't think that was the right move" -- and running back Clinton Portis wondered when all the change would stop. For the truly offbeat, linebacker Rocky McIntosh decided this was the week to call the stadium music "ridiculous" on Twitter.
Cornerback Carlos Rogers started the ball rolling last week when he said that all have some culpability for a season that has gone downhill fast, adding that "it starts with the ownership." Quarterback Jason Campbell echoed the sentiment this week, saying essentially that the franchise's problems can't be solved with a lineup change or by a giving an unretired Bingo moderator play-calling duties.
"We've got more issues than you can think of," Campbell said. "They're not going to be solved overnight, and they're not going to get solved in a short period of time."
Many fans apparently agree, and they believe the problem wears a suit and tie. A group near owner Dan Snyder's box chanted "Sell the team" during Sunday's 14-6 loss to the previously winless Kansas City Chiefs. The Redskins fell to 2-4 despite a soft schedule and are averaging just 13.2 points per game.
Other fans wore paper bags on their heads. One brought a photo of Snyder, captioned "Dumb." The person next to him had a photo of front-office chief Vinny Cerrato, captioned "Dumber." One woman had a poster that read "Black Sunday" -- until security confiscated it.
Others have stopped showing up to game. Yes, technically the Redskins have a sellout streak that dates to the 1960s, but there were tons of empty seats Sunday at FedEx Field. Look for the fans wearing midnight green to overrun the place when the Philadelphia Eagles visit Monday night.
"Disappointment and anger, there seems to be a lot of that out there right now," Redskins backup quarterback Todd Collins said. "A lot of it has to do with expectations of what this team was going to do. ... We just have to win. We need one badly right now."
Longtime fans can't remember such high levels or anger and apathy for one of the NFL's most storied franchises. They believe Snyder is paying the price for hiring Zorn, a not-ready-for-prime-time coach who at times has looked overwhelmed. They puzzle over his unwavering loyalty to Cerrato, whose personnel decisions have yet to establish any confidence in his ability to assemble a winning NFL roster. They implore Snyder to hire a strong, autonomous general manager who can stand up to the owner and pragmatically address the team's weaknesses.
Snyder and Cerrato have reacted to the losing by putting the squeeze on Zorn with extraordinary measures that, if anything, have hurt the team's public image even more. First, they coaxed longtime NFL assistant Sherman Lewis out of retirement as a consultant for the offense. Now, they have stripped Zorn of play-calling duties and given them to the new guy, even though he has been with the team for just two weeks.
The changes have overtaken the debates over Zorn's abilities as a head coach and made him into a sympathetic figure. A bye week follows the Eagles game, and few wouldn't be surprised if Zorn is fired and replaced by secondary coach Jerry Gray if Monday night's game turns into a debacle.
"I don't know what a Dan Snyder coach looks like," Zorn's good friend, Hall of Fame wide receiver Steve Largent, told KJR radio in Seattle. "And I don't think Dan Snyder knows what a Dan Snyder coach looks like. That's fairly obvious now as he's been through six head coaches in 10 years."
Largent went on to say that Lewis calling plays was "a joke" and that the front office "went to the point of pulling out (Zorn's) contract and saying 'You've got to do what the owner tells you to do.'" Largent also said Zorn considered quitting.
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Zorn and Largent are very close, and the coach did his best to laugh off his friend's comments in front of the cameras Wednesday: "Friends, they kind of get fired up for friends," he said. "I'm going to have to go bust him."
Evidently, the Redskins already tried. A league source told NFL Network's Jason La Canfora that Cerrato entered Zorn's office after learning of Largent's comments and voiced his displeasure about them. It's just one of several confrontations between management and Zorn in recent weeks.
Gray, meanwhile, is receiving star treatment. He's now the spokesman for the defense instead of coordinator Greg Blache. The public-relations staff didn't cut short his session with reporters Thursday, as is now done regularly with Zorn and nearly every marquee player.
Gray said he's not letting speculation about the head-coaching job affect his focus, the way he believed it did when he was with the Buffalo Bills several years ago.
Still, Gray doesn't to be a head coach.
"If you get a chance to do that, you want to do that," Gray said. "I understand that things do happen, but you've got to make sure you stay focused. I'm not letting this affect us."
Meanwhile, Snyder and his brain trust are in lockdown mode. Neither Snyder nor Cerrato have been willing to publicly discuss the changes or answer for the franchise's overall ills. Lewis has been hushed up as well, ever since he revealed that he had been on his way to call a Bingo game when the Redskins summoned him out of retirement.
With the buzzards watching, the players can only wonder might happen next.
"We've had some changes here lately and they've come fast and furious," Collins said, "so I don't know what's in store."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
