Zorn’s best scramble: Redskins’ poor attitude

ASHBURN, VA. – Given a chance to brag, Jim Zorn was asked whether coaching has something to do with the startling early success of the Washington Redskins.

“Absolutely,” Zorn said.

The room erupted in laughter, but Zorn was actually trying to give a serious answer.

“It’s really true,” he continued. “Coaching has something to do with it, but let me tell you this: In my assistant coaching career, I felt like we were about 30 percent of the success of what was going on on the field. That’s a large percentage, if you think about it, because players are the ones who truly have to win. It’s just their talent, and you get them in the right spot.”

Then his voice trailed off.

“I don’t know about head coaching,” he said.

Zorn, who was quarterbacks coach at the University of Minnesota in 1995 and ’96, apparently hasn’t been a head coach long enough to realize his own impact, but those around him sure do. Maybe the players should get 70 percent of the credit once the ball is snapped, but some who work with him say Zorn deserves a full 100 percent for the attitude adjustment that has the Redskins (4-1) on a four-game winning streak after back-to-back road victories over division rivals Dallas and Philadelphia.

“We’ve rocked and rolled,” defensive coordinator Greg Blache said. “I don’t know how you can question what he’s done on and off the football field. He’s got a team believing in themselves. He’s got an offense that’s moving and doing things well. I think the guy’s done everything that could be asked of a head coach. You wouldn’t ask any more from a veteran head coach, let alone a first-year head coach.”

In instilling a positive, attacking, go-for-it philosophy, Zorn has put the second Joe Gibbs era firmly in the rear view mirror. Gibbs and Zorn are both Christians who don’t swear, but that’s about the only thing their personalities have in common. The Redskins are no longer a team that plays close to the vest.

Give Zorn a second-and-19, and he’ll relish finding a way out of it. Give him a 14-0 first-quarter deficit — as he had against the Eagles — and he won’t flinch. Make him look like an overwhelmed rookie in his first game — as happened in the season-opening loss to the New York Giants — and he won’t retreat into a shell. He’s the kind of man who would spot you love-40 in tennis, just to see if he can win the next five points to take the game.

No wonder receiver Santana Moss summed up the four-game winning streak this way: “We haven’t been playing scared football.”

“For what we went through with Coach Gibbs and knowing that we’re going to miss him, there couldn’t have been no better coach to come in than Coach Z,” Moss said. “He’s been perfect. He’s played the game. He knows the game, and he talks to us as if he knows what we’re going through, and he knows what he wants.”

One of Zorn’s favorite words is “medium” — it’s a takeoff on the familiar “don’t get too high or too low” cliché — but it’s a concept that seems strange coming from a bouncing-up-and-down, heart-on-his-sleeve coach. When asked about the apparent contradiction this week, Zorn essentially explained “medium” comes into play when others might panic.

“It’s second-and-19, but we still have a chance,” Zorn said. “I think that’s the acting medium — because you can’t flinch.”

Of course, there are more tangible reasons for the Redskins’ success, but even those are attributable to Zorn.

His offense doesn’t have a turnover. His relationship with quarterback Jason Campbell — crucial to the team’s success — persevered through the struggles of the preseason and that horrible Giants game. Zorn has found more running room for Clinton Portis, who is off to the best five-game start (514 yards) of his career. Moss already has a pair of 100-yard receiving games, and tight end Chris Cooley has one.

Zorn wasn’t even the first choice for the job. He was first hired as offensive coordinator, but when owner Daniel Snyder found the head coaching candidates unimpressive, he hired Zorn.

Snyder gets credit, though, for spotting Zorn’s potential. When Zorn speaks, he is engaging, upbeat and confident — a surefire combination for winning over a millionaire owner in a job interview.

Etc.
• The NFL suspended Bengals reserve linebacker Darryl Blackstock for the next four games because he used a performance-enhancing substance.

• Saints cornerback Tracy Porter needed surgery on what coach Sean Payton described as a dislocated right wrist, but it was not clear how long the rookie starter would be out. Porter hurt his hand in Monday’s loss to the Vikings.