The Washington Redskins signed offensive tackle Levi Jones October 20th, after it became clear the injury to Pro Bowl tackle Chris Samuels would see him land on injured reserve. Jones played tackle for Cincinnati seven seasons before being slowed by back and knee injuries. He was released in May after the Bengals drafted Andre Smith.
Now claiming good health status, and with three weeks of study on the Redskins’ playbook, Jones gets his first start for Washington this Sunday when the Redskins face Denver at home.
What are your thoughts on going up against Elvis Dumervil?
I’ve been a left tackle in this league for eight years now. I’ve seen a good fill of the [Dwight] Freeny’s, [Terrel] Suggs, and [James] Harrison. Dumervil is a good solid linebacker. I’ve played him before. I know what he brings. It’s definitely going to be a good match. I mean, it’s the NFL.
Is Dumervil difficult to face because he is smaller and so fast?
He’s definitely difficult for a lot of tackles that can’t get down there and play with him, who can’t bend the knees. You see the people that struggle with him the most are the taller people that he can run underneath of. The guy is five-foot-eleven. He’s good and he’s strong. I mean, he’s light, but he’s still strong like a lot of defensive ends. He’s a challenge for a lot of people.
What kind of technique do you got to focus on with him?
It is basically focusing on technique in general. The technique that [offensive line coach Joe Bugel] is giving us to play with, just make sure you play within that technique and you’re going to be good against 95 percent of the guys in the league. So long as you stay focused and don’t make any mistakes. That’s typically where tackles get beat, when they make a lot of mistakes.
Are you nervous starting your first game this year?
You want to go in the game excited, but as a left tackle, you’ve got to keep your nerve. You’ve got to stay calm and slow everything down for yourself. Me, I’ve never been a real ‘rah rah’ type of guy, because that’s when left tackles get beat.
Do you feel like this is an audition for you for other teams?
Definitely. Anytime you can get on film and show that you can still play, and in my case show that I am healthy now, and I can stay healthy. It’s definitely an audition. We don’t know what Chris [Samuels] is going to do here. I know he wants to play and he’s been good for the Redskins for a long time. Obviously when he comes back and feels he wants to play, it’s going to be his job. All I can do is just stay the course, and do my part.
Do you feel like health-wise you are back to pre-injury levels?
I definitely feel like it, and I haven’t felt this good in a long time. Right now I’m feeling like where I left off before I got injured.
A few teams passed on you, why do you think that is?
It wasn’t a matter of a bunch of teams passing on me. It was a matter of me not seeing the situation being right. Teams, as soon as I got released were trying to bring me in, but it just wasn’t the right type situation.
Why is this the right situation?
Because of everything that was going on with Chris, and how he was feeling, and the information I was getting. It was a good opportunity that I was going to be able to get here, get on the field, and get to play. The main thing was to get on the field and show that I still could play. Just getting out there to practice wasn’t going to get it for the rest of the season in this league.
How is your knowledge of the offense since you signed?
Anytime you get into any situation, and you get more repetitions at it, and you get more of a look at it, and more practice at it, you are going to get more confident. It wasn’t necessarily an issue with me having confidence in myself. It’s a new scheme, all the plays are different, and in this case all the techniques are different. I feel like I’ve got a good grasp on all of that.
When you look at the five sacks last week, did you feel like you wanted to go in, that you could help?
If you look at what we’re doing on the left side, with the left tackle; I was helping all I could, and telling everything I knew about him, because I’ve faced [John] Abraham a lot, but Stephon [Heyer] went in and did a good job. He blocked Abraham. He did something last week that I haven’t seen one tackle do this year in the league, and that was block Abraham and get him frustrated. [The press] was talking a lot about what Stephon did in the past, but now that he did something good, nobody wants to talk about it.
There’s a chance that Samuels will retire. Does this feel like a place where you could be happy?
They’ve definitely got a lot of talent here. If something were to work out, I would feel confident with the talent level that we got here, the leadership that we’ve got here. There’s a lot of things to like about this team. I know we’ve hit a rough patch, and struggling a little bit. But they’ve got a lot of guys that will persevere. I’m someone who perseveres.
