a closer look ASHBURN Fred Davis had already paid his airfare to get out of town during the Washington Redskins’ bye week vacation. He had even secured a ticket to see his college team, Southern California, play at Oregon. USC lost that game, by the way 47-20. “Good thing I stayed here,“ Davis said, shaking his head. Davis canceled his travel plans after Chris Cooley broke his right ankle in the loss to Philadelphia in the game before the bye. With Cooley out a month and maybe longer, the 2008 second-round draft pick spent 4½ hours a day working with position coach Scott Wachenheim, preparing for his first game as a No. 1 tight end when the Redskins visit the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

In the past 30 years, the Washington Redskins have seen the best of times—three Super Bowl victories—and the worst of times, one playoff appearance between 1994 and 2004, including a 0-7 start in 1998 and a 0-5 start in 2001. Never did the players or the fans lose hope. The fans were steadfast in their belief things would improve.

The Washington Redskins’ owner made some rare in-season comments about his team yesterday, speaking at an event to celebrate the franchise’s charitable program to renovate football fields at Maryland high schools. He received nothing but cheers from appreciative students and faculty when introduced, a change of pace from the reception he and his team have heard at FedEx Field during a 2-5 start.

Team owner Dan Snyder says his Washington Redskins have “let everyone down.“

ASHBURN—DeAngelo Hall has plenty of positive things to say about his old team, the Atlanta Falcons. His old coach? That’s another matter. The Washington Redskins cornerback made it clear yesterday that he’s still no fan of Bobby Petrino, the coach who quit the Falcons during the 2007 season. The former Virginia Tech star and Petrino got in a shouting match on the sideline that year, leading to a $100,000 fine for the player and no doubt hastening the coach’s abrupt departure for the University of Arkansas.

ASHBURN Having failed to assemble a winning football team, the Washington Redskins now have a split in viewpoint between the front office and the locker room. While executives accent the positive, many players won’t play along. They know what a 2-5 record means. They also remember last year: Add this season’s start to last year’s finish, and the Redskins are a 4-11 team since last Halloween.

On the day after the Washington Redskins’ top receiving weapon was sidelined, their chief personnel executive said he had loaded the 2-5 team with a playoff-caliber roster. Vinny Cerrato, the executive vice president of football operations, also told reporters yesterday that coach Jim Zorn’s job status was undecided in the days after the play-caller switch from Zorn to offensive consultant Sherm Lewis, who made his debut in the role in Monday night’s 27-17 loss to Philadelphia.

LANDOVER, Md.—Sherm Lewis might want to go back to Bingo. Or, better yet, he might want to apply for a job as the Philadelphia Eagles’ play-caller—it’s a much easier job with someone such as DeSean Jackson on your side. Jackson scored on a 67-yard reverse and caught a 57-yard touchdown pass in the first half, and the Eagles converted three turnovers into points last night in a 27-17 win over the Washington Redskins.

LANDOVER, Md.—Over the past decade, the Washington Redskins have employed six coaches. The Philadelphia Eagles have had one. Since 1999, the Redskins have burned through more than a half-dozen so-called No. 1 quarterbacks. None has started more than 42 games. The Eagles have had Donovan McNabb. He’s started 131. Since Jeffrey Lurie bought the Eagles in 1994, the franchise has been one of the most successful in the NFL. Nine playoff appearances. An NFC title. Only five teams have won more games since his first full year of ownership. He’s hired talented people to do the work and let them be.

Surely there’s no way the Philadelphia Eagles will lose to one of the NFL’s most dysfunctional franchises, even if the game is on the road. Oh, wait. They just did that. A week after laying a 13-9 egg against the Oakland Raiders, the Eagles (3-2) have another potential letdown game against the Washington Redskins (2-4). The Monday nighter has prime-time slaughter written all over it, with the Redskins coming off a distraction-filled week following the front office’s decision to strip coach Jim Zorn of the play-calling.

There is no silver lining to news that International Paper will close its plant in Franklin. The mill employed about 1,100 workers. As the company explains, the closure has nothing to do with the quality and dedication of the work force but is a consequence of market conditions. Situations such as this inflict pain wherever they occur; they prove particularly devastating for communities such as Franklin and Isle of Wight. The IP mill forms a cornerstone of the local economy. The lost jobs will not be readily replaced. Businesses that depend on the patronage of International Paper’s employees will suffer.

WASHINGTON—Well, that should quiet things down for a while. The Jim Zorn unemployment watch is over. Jerry Gray, as it turns out, isn’t a coach-in-waiting about to be promoted any day now. Another week of Washington Redskins craziness ended with an actual message of stability yesterday: The front office said Zorn will be the coach for the rest of the season.

Jim Zorn will remain the Washington Redskins coach “for the rest of this season and hopefully into the future,“ a team executive said on a radio talk show this morning.

Almost everyone has an idea on how to fix the Washington Redskins, and many begin with firing Vinny Cerrato and hiring a “real” general manager. That idea misses the point. Cerrato, the executive vice president of football operations, is not the problem. Replacing him with a “real” general manager will not solve anything.

Jason Campbell knows there could be some moments of chaos with Sherm Lewis calling the plays. “There’ll probably be a couple of plays I have in my head,“ the Washington Redskins quarterback said, “just in case if some reason it doesn’t get in on time.“ The Redskins spent yesterday trying to get a feel for their new front office-mandated play-caller. Lewis, who still carries the title of offensive consultant and has been out of retirement for only two weeks, stood before the offense’s morning meeting for the first time and went over the passing game.