Washington Redskins (web|news) coach Jim Zorn gathered his team after a practice this week and told them that "the train is leaving the station."

"It's starting to move. You have to be on it," the coach said. "You cannot wait too long or it's down the track."

If that's the case, two of the team's top draft picks, Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly, are still standing on the platform, hoping perhaps to grab on to the caboose as it goes by. If they were to look up, they'd see James Thrash with a prime window seat, having taken the No. 3 receiver spot that surely had been destined for one of the hotshot rookies.

Zorn's message was painfully blunt. Thrash has earned his place because he came into training camp as a well-prepared professional. Thomas and Kelly did not.

"The very first day James Thrash was out there, I knew that it didn't matter what we had with the young rookies - he was going to play," Zorn said. "He was ready. He really took to how we were doing it. He can play all three (receiver) positions. He can play them at a high-speed fashion. Real veteran stuff, you know what I mean?

"And my hope is that the younger guys like Malcolm and Devin will actually hang around and rub up right against him, and all that stuff will just ooze off onto them."

If the NFL had character standings, Thrash could very well be undefeated. No coach questions his work ethic or his dedication. It's virtually impossible to get him to say anything negative, even though he was once derisively referred to as "Trash" during his three seasons in Philadelphia.

His story is still hard to believe after all these years - a no-hope, bottom-of-the-depth-chart receiver from Missouri Southern who wowed his way onto the Redskins roster in 1997 by returning two kickoffs for touchdowns in his first two exhibition games.

Even then, no one could have predicted that he would still be in the league more than a decade later, entering his ninth season with the Redskins.

"There's no way," Thrash said. "I remember not too long ago, I had (jersey) No. 41 on as a receiver trying to make the team. I never would have thought I would play this long."

Except for his three years with the Eagles from 2001-03, Thrash has primarily been a special teams specialist. He caught only 52 passes over the last four seasons under coach Joe Gibbs, but Gibbs' successor has other plans for a receiver who in theory should be past his prime at age 33.

"I wish I could have him on the field every snap," Zorn said. "He's going to catch a lot of balls this year."

Meanwhile, Thomas and Kelly have been publicly chastened. Chosen in the second round of the draft in April, the former Michigan State and Oklahoma standouts were two of only three players to fail the Redskins conditioning test given at the beginning of camp. The lack of preparation took its toll: Both have come down with hamstring injuries, and Kelly's left knee started acting up as well, requiring surgery that will keep him sidelined for at least two more weeks.

"If you can't pass that physical test that we give you, something's not right," Zorn said.

Zorn said both receivers are so far behind that it will be "very difficult" for either to make much of an impact anytime soon.

"When you interview them, it's going to be easy. They're going to walk around: 'This is nothing. I'll get this right away,"' said Zorn, who reinforced the point by doing a pantomime best described as a cool dude coming his hair.

"But once they get out there and they really see what they have to do and how exact they have to be and the speed at which they have to play and the intensity? They'll see. Can we get them in and work them in? Yes. Will they get up to speed? Yes. But this is valuable time that they're missing."

For a rookie coach, Zorn knows his stuff. Sure enough, when Thomas was interviewed later in the day, he had a "I'll get this right away" answer.

"As far as making an impact from the get-go," Thomas said, "I don't think that is going to be a difficult thing to do."

Thomas also seemed a bit stung by the implication that he and Kelly should have arrived at camp in better physical shape.

"I don't think that is a fair thing to say," Thomas said. "We came in prepared enough to do what we could do. We had a lot of other distractions going on as far as becoming a rookie. But as far as being in shape, we were in shape. It was just a tough deal that we both got hurt."

Notes: Gibbs didn't believe in announcing a starting lineup to the fans before kickoff - he wanted his team to emerge from the tunnel as one big unit - but Zorn feels differently. "I want the guys to be introduced," Zorn said, "because it really is about them. It's not about me." ... DT Cornelius Griffin experienced back spasms Wednesday morning and could sit out Saturday's game against Buffalo. ... S Chris Horton was sidelined with a stomach virus. ... As in the Hall of Fame game, the starters won't be on the field very long against Buffalo. "We're going to give a few more starters a few more reps," Zorn said.