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Putting a stamp on minicamp

Posted at 6:45 AM, Jun 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-06-14 22:46:38-04

LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. - All together now. And then...apart.

Kirk Cousins at Redskins OTA session

Wednesday, in their final team workout before training camp in late July, the Redskins held a mandatory minicamp at the the team facility in Ashburn with the entire roster on hand.

"I feel like it was a good offseason program, I was happy about it, so we ended it today," Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said Wednesday. "We had a crisp practice today. It was short and sweet. Did some good things."

The minicamp got underway Tuesday, as again - the entire roster reported to Redskins Park. Veterans Trent Williams, Jordan Reed and Matt Jones missed voluntary organized team activies (OTAs) earlier this offseason.

“It’s pretty good," admitted head coach Jay Gruden when asked about having his entire roster on hand. "Jordan had a pretty good day. You just feel good seeing Trent over there at left tackle. We’ve had guys step up without them, but it’s great to see them. It’s great to see the whole group back. Matt Jones had a couple of catches today and did some good things. To get everybody out here working, getting them on the same page, sweating, running, getting some situational work in, getting some good football in before the break was good."

Wednesday's practice wrapped-up the Redskins offseason program, as head coach Jay Gruden opts to give his players Thursday off. The team won't be together again until training camp in late July.

The 'Skins practiced in shorts and helmets Wednesday. Among the storylines: DeAngelo Hall tells reporters he's agreed to take a pay cut in order to increase his chances of making the roster in 2017. Hall, the Chesapeake native (Deep Creek High School) who starred at Virginia Tech, missed the final 13 games of the 2016 season after tearing his ACL.

“I think he was gaining momentum the more he played safety and I was kind of excited to see him play and then he went down with the injury," head coach Jay Gruden said of Hall. "Now it’s just a matter of how well he recovers and I can’t predict that. That’s going to be up to D-Hall and the trainers. If he comes back at full-strength, we’ll see what he can do and where we are at the safety position. We really like what D.J.’s [Swearinger], what Su’a’s [Cravens] done, [Will] Blackmon and [Deshazor] Everett and the other guys have done a good job, [Earl] Wolff’s done a good job, so we’ll see where we are when he becomes healthy and then make a decision.”

Thursday marks one month until the July 15 deadline for the Redskins to reach a long-term contract with quarterback Kirk Cousins. If the two sides don't reach a new deal, Cousins will play on the one-year contract of the franchise tag.

“It’s a part, but it’s really about playing football and winning football games, and as I’ve said all along, if we do that, everything else takes care of itself," Cousins said of his contract situation. "I hired [agent] Mike [McCartney] because I trust him to do the job and I feel like he’s done a very good job all the way along and while things he’s told me I haven’t always liked to hear or they haven’t always been easy to act on, he’s always been right as I look back. So I have great trust in his counsel and his approach and I’ll definitely be leaning on him as we go forward all the way through it.”