Star of the day: QB Kirk Cousins, the other rookie quarterback in camp. He has looked inconsistent this summer. But Wednesday he made some nice throws and wasn’t intercepted. (He has been intercepted at least four or five times in camp.) He threw a deep touchdown pass down the left sidelines to Pierre Garcon, who beat rookie corner Richard Crawford. And Cousins showed his arm strength when he ran a bootleg to the left and threw back to a deep corner on the other side of the field to wide open receiver Aldrick Robinson.
Day of rest: Linebacker London Fletcher, linebacker Ryan Kerrigan and defensive end Stephen Bowen all were told to take the practice off Wednesday. Bowen (knee) is the only one coming off an injury from last season. Kerrigan didn’t take a single snap off in the 2011 season, and Fletcher has played in 224 consecutive games. Call it a day off for good behavior.
Absentee: Defensive end Kentwan Balmer had an unexcused absence from practice Wednesday afternoon. Coach Mike Shanahan had not talked to Balmer, who attended the morning walk-through, before addressing the media after practice. Balmer skipped training camp practices while in San Francisco in 2010, leading to a trade. Balmer has an uphill battle to win a roster spot in Washington, especially with backup end/nose tackle Chris Baker playing well.
RG3 is human: Quarterback Robert Griffin III got through nearly a week of camp without throwing an interception. But that streak ended Wednesday when he threw two. In both cases Griffin hurt himself with bad decisions and bad mechanics. He threw one pass directly at linebacker Lorenzo Alexander for one pick and then threw to the left flat of the end zone off his backfoot while backpedaling. DeAngelo Hall made a diving grab of the floated pass intended for Pierre Garcon.
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