ASHBURN, Va. -- When the Washington Redskins navigated the difficult process of replacing Robert Griffin III with Kirk Cousins as their starting quarterback a year ago, Matt Cavanaugh was the man in the middle of it.Griffin, Cousins and veteran Colt McCoy all wanted to start. Only one could, so Cavanaugh had heart-to-heart conversations about the situation.Cousins threw for 4,166 yards and 26 touchdowns and led the Redskins to the NFC East title. Afterward, McCoy called Cavanaugh the team MVP for his stability and oversight.His ability to be the voice in our room, to take away the distractions, the things that went on and all that and for him to help Kirk the way that he did and silence a lot of things that couldve got out or went wrong, Cav did a great job, McCoy said. Cav really deserves a lot of credit for the way Kirk played and the way that our room was handled throughout the year.Cavanaugh played 13 seasons in the NFL and has coached at the pro and college levels for more than two decades. After helping Cousins establish himself, Cavanaugh goes into his second season as Redskins quarterbacks coach with a very different challenge.In Cousins the unquestioned starter, McCoy the entrenched backup and rookie Nate Sudfeld the long-term project, Cavanaugh must tailor his message to three very different quarterbacks. Thats pretty much a wheelhouse for Cavanaugh, who has made a career of being a quarterback whisperer.He played with Hall of Famers, played in multiple organizations, won Super Bowls, Cousins said. Hes coached Pro Bowlers, hes coached Hall of Famers and he knows what it looks like.Cavanaugh was offensive coordinator for the Super Bowl-winning Baltimore Ravens in 2000 with Trent Dilfer, and he coached Steve Young with the San Francisco 49ers in 1996. Dealing with the Griffin-Cousins-McCoy quarterback triangle was just another chapter.Ive been in those positions personally, so for me it wasnt a huge deal, Cavanaugh said. Maybe they relied on me at times because they know that I did play and that I probably experienced what theyre going through and it was easier to relate some situations that I had.Its that same experience that makes Cavanaugh qualified to help Cousins prove he deserves a long-term deal, keep McCoy prepared on a moments notice and coach up Sudfeld for the years ahead. Cavanaugh can pull from his time as a New England Patriots rookie and young starter and as Joe Montanas backup.Cousins developed into a leader as the franchise quarterback at 28, and his ascent with a career year is thanks in part to Cavanaughs tutelage.Hes helped simplify the game for me coaching me through my reads and trying to reduce the amount of clutter in my head as I read a defense, Cousins said.McCoy didnt start until a meaningless Week 17 game at Dallas last season, but he said Cavanaugh pushed him to stay sharp. Without practice snaps, McCoy leaned on Cavanaugh for details and philosophy.Thats what coach Jay Gruden and prodigious offensive coordinator Sean McVay count on Cavanaugh for.I cant say enough about him, what a great job hes done as far as leading that room, giving those guys a plan, helping develop the fundamentals and the mechanics of what were trying to get done at that position, McVay said.Already, Cavanaugh has devoted a lot of his time to Sudfeld, a sixth-round pick out of Indiana who has prototypical size but is raw at age 22. Sudfeld glowed about Cavanaugh months ago at rookie minicamp and has picked up a tremendous appreciation for the 59-year-old journeyman coach.He was very successful as a player so he automatically has that credibility and he can really relate to us, Sudfeld said. Theres some things where hes like, `I know how its difficult, youve just got to work through it on a certain read or a throw. Its really good to have that insight.Cavanaugh has been coaching since joining his alma mater, Pittsburgh, in 1992, yet he still feels like a developmental prospect. On a quarterback-friendly staff, the Youngstown, Ohio, native considers himself a student.I dont care how long youve been doing it, Ive been doing it for a while -- you come in and you feel a little behind, Cavanaugh said. Youre not quite sure of how everythings supposed to sound and youre trying to visualize a play when its called and in a split-second have an answer for the quarterback when he makes a decision. So Im feeling more comfortable with that and Ive got two great teachers in Jay and Sean, who know this system extremely well. Im here to learn, too.---AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Cheap Air Jordan 3 Sale . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Air Jordan 3 Canada . Vokoun departed practice on Saturday morning after discovering swelling in his thigh. He was taken to a local hospital where the clot was revealed. The club announced the surgery following a 5-3 exhibition loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. http://www.cheapairjordan3canada.com/ . 4 Villanova with a 96-68 drubbing on Monday. Wragge hit 9-of-14 from behind the arc, matching Kyle Korvers school record for 3-pointers in a game set in 2003, as Creighton (16-3, 6-1 Big East broke a conference record with 21 treys in the rout. Air Jordan 3 Canada Online . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Wholesale Air Jordan 3 . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. City finals have begun, and Jessie Graff continues to dominate on this season of American Ninja Warrior.Graff made history (herstory?) once again, punching her own ticket to the Las Vegas finals for the second consecutive season by getting to the ninth obstacle in Los Angeles. (Only one ninja, Josh Levin, finished the course.) Whats more impressive is that Graff finished second in the entire region, breaking her own record for the highest finish by a woman in a city competition. (She finished sixth in the Venice finals last year.)Graff finished better than elite ninjas Kevin Bull, Flip Rodriguez and Grant McCartney. She is crushing her competition, men and women.The test of the night became the Wedge, the courses eighth obstacle, which took out many elite ninjas.Before my run, I honestly didnt think I could do the Wedge, Graff said via email.? Based on how pumped my forearms were after the Ring Jump and I-Beam Crossing during qualifiers, I figured that my grip would be drained by the time I got there. I just knew that, to even stand a chance at getting through the Wedge, I would have to do everything faster and more efficiently than at qualifiers.I never let my own perception of whats possible or impossible stop me from attacking the course with everything I have. By staying grounded in the reality of how difficult this challenge is, I am able to come up with the best possible strategy for success, and maintain maximum focus and alertness throughout the duration.After she got through the Wedge, however, Graff was pumped out, as the ninjas say; she had taxed her grip strength from the jerky movements of the Ring Jump, I-Beam Crossing and then the Wedge. As her grip slipped from the Helix Hang, she tried one last move to make a dismount possible, but her grip gave out.Graff has been training her grip strength through rock climbing for only a couple of years. Ive known from the beginning that it would take years to build the grip strength of an elite rock climber, Graff said. Im not there yet, but Im really proud of how far Ive come in such a short period of time.On a night with only one finisher, second place is a pretty sweet way to end the qualifying portion of the season. Graff is heading back to Vegas with an extra confidence boost knowing she can definitively beat the boys.The impact of being first or making history never really hits me until after the show airs and I start seeing how its impacted the audience, Graff said. I push my limits, and try to keep up with people who are stronger than me every day. Most of the timme, Im humbled with reminders of how much more work I have to do, and some days, I surprise myself.dddddddddddd Deep down, I think Ive always felt like I should be able to beat the boys, if I just worked hard enough and smart enough. Its an amazing feeling to see it actually happen.Los Angeles city finals specs:Finishers: 1Female finishers: 0Women moving on: 1New or modified obstacles on second half of course: 1 out of 4The course:Were into city finals episodes, where the first six obstacles remain the same as in each city of qualifying (except for a couple of tweaks). In Los Angeles, a grip was added to the I-Beam Crossing to make the obstacle just a bit easier, while the steps were loosened on The Elevator to make it a bit harder. In city finals, the course builders added four obstacles on the second portion of the course (which well review below), bringing the total number of obstacles to 10.?The first obstacle on the second part of each city finals course will be the Salmon Ladder unless theres a huge surprise. Ninjas hang from a bar and must propel jump their upward to jump the bar up the rungs and reach for the next bar.The eighth obstacle is most certainly a ninja killer. The Wedge took out many great competitors all night because of how tricky it was. Ninjas grip a bar thats placed between two Plexiglas walls and must hop it to the other side of the obstacle. One wrong move, and youre toast.We got only two looks at the Helix Hang, as only Graff and Levin reached the ninth obstacle, but its a brutal test of grip and upper-body strength. Ninjas hold on to spikes attached to a horizontal pole. Trick is, the momentum of pulling on each spike will spin them, and not all of them rotate the same way. Using only their upper body, competitors must move across these rotating spikes to the other side. Watch Graff on the Helix Hang, starting at 4:30:The Invisible Ladder returned as the 10th obstacle. This will remain the same on each city finals course. Ninjas grab rings suspended from a hole in a platform and pull. When their movement stops, the ring catches their weight so that it looks like they are pulling themselves up a ladder, through the hole at the top of the finishing platform.Looking forward:Next week, we head back to Atlanta for the second city finals course. No women qualified for the finals in that region, but ninja great Drew Drechsel will be running, which is always exciting to watch. ' ' '