By Joseph White
ASHBURN
Shawn Springs thought he would have a little fun after intercepting a pass, so he lateraled the ball to Fred Smoot. Smoot tipped the ball around like a volleyball before it fell to the ground.
That's when the Redskins' rookie head coach made his presence known.
"Don't do that!" Jim Zorn yelled. "Don't mess around like that!
"You get the ball, you keep it!"
Running his first practices Friday as Washington opened a three-day minicamp, Zorn was different than his larger-
than-life predecessors. He wasn't a straw hat-wearing field general like Marty Schottenheimer. Not a comedy act who hangs out mainly with the quarterbacks like Steve Spurrier.
Not an untouchable Hall of Fame overlord surveying the landscape like Joe Gibbs.
Zorn was hands-on and enthusiastic, making him look younger than someone about to turn 55. Yet he left no doubt he was in charge.
"Coaches, back 15!" he yelled, sending longtime NFL assistant Joe Bugel scurrying backward. Bugel was on the verge of violating one of Zorn's rules: All coaches must stand 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
"It gives the players a sense that they're actually out on the field by themselves. And it gives the coaches a full view of the whole play. And it's also a safety issue," said Zorn, who recalled how he knocked over a coach while scrambling out of the pocket in his playing days as a quarterback with Seattle.
Zorn was barely noticeable during the first 20 minutes of the morning session, blending into the background in a burgundy shirt and gray pants. He switched to a white shirt for the afternoon session but left it untucked. He could have passed for a casual observer as assistant Danny Smith barked out orders during special teams drills.
But, after Springs' lateral, it was Zorn doing the barking.
"We have that right to have the ball with a great interception - a great moment really," Zorn said. "And then to kind of throw it away? Yeah, then I get upset about that."
His first speech to the team included a mini-bio. He also emphasized teamwork, unselfishness and the importance of upholding the traditions of the history-rich franchise. Zorn is also the first Redskins coach since Jack Pardee to have the rookies don blank helmets; they have to make the team at the end of training camp to earn the right to wear the Indian-head logo.
The first practice went smoothly, especially considering that Zorn and his staff were scrambling in the past few days to complete a playbook that would get them through the five sessions of the three-day minicamp. The second practice was more ragged as new plays were installed.
"It was cleaner and faster, but it was more up-tempo," running back Clinton Portis said. "You are going to get your work done; it's just (that) you're going to get it done at a faster pace."
Notes: Zorn said sixth-round draft pick Kareem Moore, a safety from Nicholls State, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery this week and will likely miss part of training camp.... QB Colt Brennan, the sixth-round selection from Hawaii, didn't take part in any drills as he continues to recover from hip surgery.... Three other players were unable to participate. CB Carlos Rogers and LB Rocky McIntosh are recovering from major knee surgery; TE Tyler Ecker has a pulled groin.