The Washington Redskins’ playoff hopes could be snuffed out by the time their game kicks off Sunday afternoon. And when they’re finished battling the Philadelphia Eagles, it could be the final time that several veterans walk off the FedEx Field turf as Redskins.
This wasn’t the scenario the Redskins envisioned when they were 6-2, but it’s their reality after losses in five of their past six games. If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeat the visiting San Diego Chargers on Sunday, the Redskins (7-7) will be eliminated.
“A win means everything,” receiver Santana Moss said. “It would lift a lot of stuff off us. None of our wins have really been like ’Wow. We blew that team out.’ It’s always been tough games. It’s never been easy, so why should we fall apart now because it’s gotten a little tougher?”
While Moss is looking for resilience from the Redskins, whose victories have all come by no more than eight points, Pro Bowl running back Clinton Portis - a question mark because of back spasms that kept him out of Friday’s practice - is looking toward 2009.
“We didn’t feel like our season would end like this, but continue to fight, let’s end on a high note, come back next year,” Portis said. “It’s really building a foundation.”
Offensive tackle Jon Jansen has been a big chunk of the Redskins’ foundation for a decade. Defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin, linebacker Marcus Washington and cornerback Shawn Springs arrived in 2004 as part of former coach Joe Gibbs’ rebuilding. But all four will have missed at least two games with injuries this year. All four will be at least 32 by next Halloween. And all four would be among the dozen highest-paid players on Washington’s 2009 roster.
In other words, each man knows Sunday’s game could be his last at the stadium he has long called home.
“I can’t say I won’t be thinking about it on Sunday, but all my thoughts right now are on beating Philadelphia,” said Griffin, who sat out last week with an abdominal strain. “Washington has been a very special place for me. I would really miss my teammates, but it happens to all of us eventually.”
Springs, who was at odds with the front office the past two offseasons, is less sentimental about his possible exit.
“I’m not going to take a last look around the stadium or anything like that,” said Springs, who has missed seven games with calf and shin injuries. “It would just be another chapter in my life. I know I can play another three years.”
Although he missed virtually all of the 2004 and 2007 seasons following major leg surgeries and was benched at the start of this season, Jansen wants to be one of those rare NFLers to play more than a decade with the same team.
“I really want to finish my career here,” Jansen said. “The Redskins have meant a lot to me, and I think I’ve meant a lot to the Redskins. You can’t really predict what’s going to happen.”
While Jansen will miss this week’s game with a sprained left knee, Washington will return after missing four games with a high ankle sprain.
“I really haven’t thought about it a whole bunch, but I know how things are when you have a big cap number and you’ve missed some time,” Washington said of his future.
Like Griffin, Washington said he will be sad if this is the last home game together for some members of the class of 2004.
“We have a special group,” he said. “We’ve been through a lot together, a lot of really good times and a lot of really bad times. I understand the business side of it, but I hope it’s not over yet.”
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