RICHMOND—The Redskins gave free agent wide receiver Paul Richardson a five-year contract worth $40 million to leave the Seahawks and come to play for them. Some thought it was a high price to pay who had just over 1,300 career receiving yards in four years in the NFL, over half of which came last year when he had 703 yards.

Through the first days of camp, it was looking like the skeptics may have had a point. It wasn’t that Richardson was making mistakes, but he wasn’t doing much that got the crowd cheering, either. A player who is supposed to provide the Washington offense with big plays had not yet provided any.

That changed on Wednesday. In 11 on 11 work, Alex Smith launched a deep pass down the left sideline for Richardson, who had a step on Josh Norman. The pass was a touch long, so Richardson lunged for it, going parallel to the ground to get to the ball. He made the grab with both hands and held on as he went to the ground. That one got the crowd cheering.

Although the pass was a little long, it was in the right spot. Only Richardson could have caught the ball; it was not going to be intercepted.

Ball placement is not something that just happens. Smith, Richardson, and the other receivers spend a lot of time working on it.

“We watch film every day,” said Richardson. “He’ll tell me where he wants to put the ball. We see things that are open, and we see things how to get open. Today he made an emphasis on where he wants the ball on certain routes and we ran the routes over and over again and he put the ball perfectly.”

Earlier in practice, Richardson was slow to get up after going to the ground a couple of times. On one occasion it appeared that trainers were examining his right leg. He bounced right back.

“I feel good, man. I got the wind knocked out of me a few times today,” he said. “That’s what we have the backup receivers for, in for one snap and I’m back on the field. You know, it’s part of the game, you’re going to get banged up a little bit, but it’s about how you respond.”

He responded well, adding another diving catch of a shorter Smith pass during red zone drills. Richardson was asked about throwing his body around during an August 1 scrimmage when perhaps it would be better to stay healthy and save it for the regular season.

“How can you do it in a game if you’ve never done it before? So I trust myself,” he said. “That’s why we have a training room, that’s why we have treatment, our bodies have to be able to withstand that.”

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Stay up to date on the Redskins. Rich Tandler covers the team 365 days a year. Like his Facebook page, Facebook.com/TandlerNBCS, and follow him on Twitter @TandlerNBCS and on Instagram @RichTandler.