The media was surprised to learn at practice today that offensive tackle Jon Jansen has lost his starting job.  Jansen will be replaced by Stephon Heyer, who played his college ball at Maryland.   Jim Zorn said the decision was based on Heyer's performace, Jansen's performance and Jansen's foot injury.   Jansen sprained his foot in the Panthers game eight days ago.  Jon said the foot is not a factor. It's not an issue, it's fine.  He's probably right.  This decision was all about performance.  Jon's pass blocking skills have diminished a bit, while Heyer continues to show steady improvement.  Rememeber Heyer went one on one against Michael Strahan last year and held Strahan without a sack.   This is tough news for a class act like Jansen.  When healthy, he's been the Redskins starting right tackle for nine years.   But at 32, he's getting up there, he's had two major injuries over the last fiour years. And the Redskins are trying to get younger at many positions.  Starting Thursday night, we'll see if it's the right decision.  But it's clear that Jim Zorn is not giving players a pass, based on past performance or tenure.  

    With that being said, Zorn had a tough decision to make at punter.  Yes, Derrick Frost did outperform the rookie Durant Brooks during the pre-season.  But it's hard to evaluate Frost on just the pre-season.  You have to look at the last three years.  Frost has been inconsistent.  It's why they drafted Brooks in the first place.   I could see that decision going either way. 

    Jason Taylor didn't practice today, neither did reciever Malcolm Kelly.. It's interesting that the Redskins only have four healthy receivers in a pass-happy offense.. Hopefully the veterans won't get injured, because the team remains thin in that area until Devin Thomas learns what to do and Malcolm gets healthy and starts contributing..  

A few observations; Jason Cambell still takes too long to throw and his footwaork is still not the best. The Offensive line was embarasssing Saturday. The run defense was nonexistant. Not good signs for the season.

The good news is that Jason Taylors MRI showed no serious damage to the structure of the knee. He will miss 10 to 14 days.