As a member of the Washington Redskins’ practice squad for the first 11 weeks of the season, rookie running back Evan Royster took part in all of the usual team activities during the week, but never could dress for games and couldn’t travel to road games.

There was one exception – the Redskins’ game against Buffalo in Toronto – where Royster received permission to travel, but he remained on the practice squad and could only watch in street clothes.

“It was tough standing on the sideline for the Buffalo game,” said Royster, whom Washington drafted in the sixth round out of Penn State. “Because you’re there and you want to get out there and play be able to help give your team an opportunity to win.”

Everything changed for Royster this past Tuesday when he finally received his promotion to the 53-man roster. On Friday, he enthusiastically gathered his things in the locker room in preparation for traveling with the team and facing a realistic opportunity of playing.

“The fact that I get to do that this week, I’m excited. I’m going into it knowing that I have a very good chance of playing in this game. I’m amped up for it, I’m excited and I can’t wait,” Royster said.

The Redskins still could opt to make Royster inactive for Sunday’s game, but given the struggles of the run game — where Ryan Torain in the last six games has mustered just 57 yards on 36 carries, and where the team often utilizes Roy Helu as a third-down back — Royster likes his chances.

“I finally get to live out my dream,” he said. “It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I was five years old. The fact that it’s finally going to happen, I’m kind of in awe, but I still understand that I’ve got to go out and get the job done.”

As the Washington Redskins begin the second half of the season, Kyle Shanahan’s unit very much remains a work in progress, and the offensive coordinator admittedly still is experimenting with how to best tailor the system to the strengths of quarterback John Beck.

Although the offense has managed only a total of 31 points in the three games that Beck has started, Shanahan described himself as happy with the improvements he sees in the fifth-year pro, who hadn’t played since his rookie year.

Beck at times has held onto the ball too long, which has led to sacks and other missed opportunities. At other times, he has settled for check-down passes too quickly, which cost his team a chance to strike on downfield plays. But Shanahan chalks those miscues up to growing pains.

“When quarterbacks don’t play a lot, you know they’re going to miss some stuff,” Shanahan said. “I’ve been happy with John. He has learned from his mistakes – stuff he’s struggled with each week. He’s done a good job of eliminating those the next week. Yeah, there definitely are some times that he missed some reads in the game. I think he’ll get better with that.”

Four weeks ago, Beck looked sharp as he took Rex Grossman’s place for the fourth quarter of Washington’s loss to Philadelphia and led his team on a scoring drive. He had an overall solid game the following week against Carolina – throwing for a touchdown and rushing for another – but then looked tentative and struggled mightily the next game against Buffalo. Last week against the 49ers, Beck made a concerted effort to try to move his offense by using short, quick passes, and was sacked only once, which Shanahan said indicates improvement, although points remain hard to come by.

As Beck becomes more comfortable with executing the system in game conditions, Shanahan’s trust and understanding of the quarterback gradually improves as well.

“I’m learning about him a lot,” Shanahan said. “I thought he played his best when he came in versus Philly. I thought he played his best at Carolina. I thought it was his worst at Buffalo and I thought he played better versus San Francisco than he did at Buffalo, but still not good enough. He’s been a little different in each game. There’s been some growing pains. But I think he can get better. He’s shown he can improve in areas, and I know John is a tough guy. The physicality of the game doesn’t bother him. He’ll hang in there. He can throw it, too. I know he’s smart enough to read the defenses. I think just give him some time and allow him to develop and I expect him to get better each week.”

But a degree of experimentation remains as Shanahan still hasn’t figured out a way to completely tailor the offense to Beck.

“I can’t just say that in a total absolute,” the play-caller said. “Each game has been totally different. He’s done one thing in one game really good and the next game he’s struggled in that area. So I’m still trying to figure out exactly who he is and I think he is, too. It takes time with a quarterback. They’ve got to find their niche.”

Shanahan hopes that Beck can begin delivering with some big plays – an element that the offense has lacked since Grossman was benched. Against Buffalo, Beck overthrew receivers on deep routes. And last week he rarely looked deep because the 49ers played a soft zone defense, which kept the safeties farther downfield so the Redskins would have to settle for passes underneath. Shanahan said San Francisco forced Washington to attempt to methodically move its way down the field because the offense was missing go-to pass-catchers like Santana Moss and Chris Cooley, and also was lacking a consistent rushing attack.

“Unless you can make some unbelievable plays [with check-down passes], you want to throw touchdowns every play and you hope that they can get aggressive enough that there can be some holes in the defense and attack them,” said Shanahan, whose offense last Sunday had only one play for longer than 16 yards (and that was a 17-yard gain that came after Roy Helu caught a batted ball and ran with it). “When they’re playing soft, you’ve got to be able to hit the backs. Not just the backs, but underneath routes to try to pull people up to open up holes deep.

“It’s really important,” Shanahan said of producing some big plays. “It’s been something that I’ve always believed in and something that I feel like I’ve always gotten. We haven’t been getting them the last few weeks. [We’ve] struggled to get it a lot all year. It really helps out your offense and it takes the pressure off. It’s tough to get 12-play drives together. When you can get a big play, it really changes the game.”

Read More: John Beck (QB – WAS), Fred Davis (TE – WAS), Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers

Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis, listed as questionable throughout the week for his team’s home tilt against the San Francisco 49ers, will start Sunday, according to a report from the NFL Network’s Jason LaCanfora:

Davis was seen in a walking boot as recently as Monday, and was limited in practice on Friday, but it appears the ankle injury he suffered in the brutal loss to the Buffalo Bills last week will not keep him from starting Sunday afternoon. It’s a good thing too, because Redskins quarterback John Beck will need all the help he can get against San Francisco’s top-ranked defense.

For more on the Washington Redskins, check out SB Nation’s Washington Redskins blog Hogs Haven. For more on the Redskins vs. 49ers showdown, visit this StoryStream. For more on the 49ers, visit SB Nation’s 49ers blog Niners Nation and SB Nation Bay Area.

By Mike Prada

– Senior Editor

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Nov 4, 2011 – The Washington Redskins will square off against the red-hot San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, and there’s plenty of heat on everyone coming into the game. In particular, there’s a lot of people who are not happy with the play-calling of offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan. To discuss that issue and more, SB Nation D.C.’s Daniel Shiferaw joined John Aaron on CSN Washington’s “Lunchbox Live.”

Aaron and Shiferaw discussed Kyle Shanahan’s future, the 10 sacks that John Beck took in the 23-0 loss to the Buffalo Bills last Sunday and which people are to blame for the Redskins’ woes. Video of the complete six-minute show is embeded right here.

For more on the Washington Redskins, visit CSN Washington’s Redskins page and check out SB Nation’s Washington Redskins blog Hogs Haven. For more on the Redskins vs. 49ers showdown, visit this StoryStream. For more on the 49ers, visit SB Nation’s 49ers blog Niners Nation and SB Nation Bay Area.

Read More: John Beck (QB – WAS), Buffalo Bills, Washington Redskins, San Francisco 49ers

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Monday is a pretty rough day to be Mike Shanahan. He got shut out for the first time as an NFL head coach when his Washington Redskins fell, 23-0, to the Buffalo Bills, and now many people are writing that he should be fired.

People like … Jason Reid of the Washington Post, who kind of threw it out there:

In their second year under Shanahan, the Redskins shouldn’t be in such a mess. Something needs to change. Shanahan must prove he’s capable of fixing this — or step aside for someone who can.

Or … like Rick Snider of the Washington Examiner, who did more that kind of throwing it out there.

At this point, an intervention by owner Dan Snyder might be welcome.

The once meddlesome boss has behaved since he hired coach Mike Shanahan and general manager Bruce Allen last year. He hasn’t overstepped like he has in the past largely because the 2010 fan revolt forced him into exile.

But Snyder needs to have a candid conversation with Shanahan. The topic is simple: What in the world is Shanahan doing?

But perhaps nobody was harder on Shanahan than CSN Washington analyst Brian Mitchell. Mitchell has long been a critic of the Shanahan regime, and Sunday’s 23-0 loss gave him the perfect opportunity to strike.

“You look at this game today, who was outcoached? The Redskins or the Bills? The Redskins were outcoached,” he said. “We can begin to try to find out the problems on the field, this player or that player, [but] it comes down to whether they are prepared.”

“We’re in Week 7 of the season, and I’m hearing the coach saying, ‘We’re trying to see what guys can do,’” he said earlier. “Didn’t you go through preseason and training camp [for that]? You chose the 53 best people for this team. You shouldn’t still be seeing what guys can do. You should know what guys can do.”

“Did Mike Shanahan make the right decisions on the guys he kept,” he concluded. “That question needs to start popping up.”

Trust me, Brian, that question’s been popping up plenty.