Bill Williamson

You can see on the faces of the people left behind.

Death weighs heavy.

The worst part of coping with tragedy is to wake up every morning and simply do it. It hovers. It never leaves. Yes, it softens slowly in time, but grief is a memory served easily and coldly.

That’s the worst part. It can’t be shaken. Going on with life is so, so hard.

You can see on the faces.

You saw it on the faces of the Redskins, especially on the face of the franchise, Joe Gibbs. You saw it all week as the coping period following the murder of star player Sean Taylor began. You saw it on the sideline against Buffalo on Sunday in the Redskins noble, one-point loss. You saw it again Monday at the funeral. You’ll see it Thursday as the Redskins try to somehow play again against the Bears.

You hate to compare grief, or rank it. Gibbs is grieving at Redskins Park just like the secretaries and maintenance people are. But Gibbs is the leader in Washington. He is paid to plow on, even in the most difficult situations.

The most difficult situations are a snap compared to this, by the way.

Gibbs’ biggest challenge, for however long he coaches the Redskins, will ultimately be to take care of Gibbs. A humble, wonderful, faithful man, Gibbs has to make sure this doesn’t wear him down.

Video   'Goodbye to a friend, father, hero' Dec. 3: Thousands of family, friends, teammates, coaches attend Sean Taylor's funeral in Miami. NBC Sports

There have been rumors of Gibbs retiring soon. He had the Redskins going well and those ideas seemed premature. Lost in the Taylor tragedy is the fact that the Redskins are slipping out of the NFC playoff race.

It really doesn’t matter, of course. But it is a fact. Still, Gibbs doesn’t really have to worry about wins and losses right now. He has to keep his people and himself together.

It is his toughest challenge of his career. It won’t be easy. It hasn’t been easy. You see it on his face.

Use Russell now
Lane Kiffin is very proud of himself. He said he has a grand plan on how to throw JaMarcus Russell into the fire. It’s a very calculated program, young Lane says. Here’s another idea to ponder, coach:

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Put the guy in and let it rip. Russell is going to have to play on a full-time basis some time and if the Raiders think he is good and prepared enough to get spot duty at this point, he should be good enough to go full bore.

But that doesn’t seem to be Kiffin’s plan. The gigantic quarterback from LSU made his NFL debut against Denver on Sunday. Russell, who held out into September and thus missed quality preseason snaps, played two series and was decent as he completed four of seven passes for 56 yards. He also had the normal maiden voyage quarterback mistakes with a couple head scratching passes and a couple bobbled snaps.

But there were some signs of the cannon arm that made Russell the No. 1 overall choice in April. The mere fact that Russell was on the field for even two NFL series shows that the coaching staff in Oakland feels he is making strides. So go full bore with the future.

Let’s hope Kiffin isn’t being conservative because he thinks he has a chance to make the playoffs, or that he wants to stack wins to make it look good. Despite the fact that Oakland is on a two-game winnings streak (which in Oakland does indeed qualify as a hot streak) this is still a bad team. The Raiders are going nowhere.

You can understand Kiffin if he’s a little skittish about his job security. He’s the coach of the Raiders under Al Davis. He should be worried. But the best way to secure a future is with a franchise quarterback. Not saying Russell is a sure thing but he’s Kiffin’s best chance and that’s why he was drafted.

Scrap the plan, Lane and go with the kid.

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