Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.sports From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Gibbs finds perceptions of him are different Date: Tue, 17 Nov 92 15:07:56 EST Message-ID: \SE D;SPORTS;PRO FOOTBALL;REDSKINS NOTES \HD Gibbs finds perceptions of him are different \BY Thom Loverro \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES An offense that has scored only three touchdowns in its past five games will cause a coach to do some soul-searching, and Washington Redskins coach Joe Gibbs has been doing just that recently. "In the past couple of weeks, one thing I've learned is the players' perception of me isn't always what I think it is," Gibbs said yesterday at Redskin Park. "I've had some conversations with guys, and I've learned some things about the ways the players would expect to be treated if they made a mistake." When pressed, Gibbs, who is in his 12th season as Redskins coach, said, "Sometimes as a coach, maybe you've been around a long time . . . and you think they have a certain feeling about you," but he would not elaborate. Gibbs said he changed some things in practice. However, he wouldn't be specific about those changes, either. "I changed a few things I did in practice," he said. "After talking with one of the players, I figured there was some things I was doing with [special] teams and defense that I wasn't doing with the offense, because I was so close to the offense. "Sometimes I get so caught up in the X's and O's that sometimes I miss some of the other things. I went back to the Giants game and got the film out and looked at the whole thing again just with that idea. And the people that had come to me and talked to me, I said, 'Hey, you're right. There's some things that are missing out there, kind of internal things.' " He also talked about one of the few benefits of coaching during tough times. "There's the excitement of how to deal with this," Gibbs said. "You know most of the times before you solved it, and it is going to be interesting how you solve it this time. I think most of the time it's solving problems, and trying to reach out to players and be the best coach you can be." It's a different challenge from last year's streamrolling Super Bowl team, but not necessarily a more enjoyable one. "I liked last year," he said, laughing. "Sometimes your job is hard, but rewarding. I think you need a reward at the end. If there's no reward, I'm not going to like it." NEAR MISSES Both Gibbs and quarterback Mark Rypien say there has been a fine line between success and failure for the Redskins this season. They believe that it is often the inability to connect on one or two plays during a game that has frustrated the offense. "We're about a yard away from making some very big plays," Gibbs said. "In the passing game, we were just missing by fingertips and things like that." Rypien said he sees how close the Redskins are to breaking out when he watches the game films. "It's a play here and a play there," he said. That's what it boils down to. And it's frustrating. Last year those things were like second nature. For whatever reason, we're not getting that type of play this year." BIG FOOT If it wasn't for Chip Lohmiller's foot recently, the Redskins easily could be mistaken for the woeful Seattle Seahawks, who have scored only 59 points this season. Of the 70 points the Redskins have scored in their past five games, 46 have come from Lohmiller, who now leads the NFL in scoring with 79 points and has hit on 11 of his past 13 field goals. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM