By the end of Thursday’s practice, the Washington Redskins were minus the NFL’s rushing leader, their starting cornerbacks, their five-time Pro Bowl left tackle, the active sacks leader and the NFL’s defensive rookie of the month for September.
Those aren’t prime conditions for a team coming off a loss to the previously winless St. Louis Rams and that’s about to play the Cleveland Browns, who whipped the defending-champion New York Giants in Week 6. But that’s the price for having the earliest start of training camp (July 20) and the latest bye (Nov. 10).
As if having running back Clinton Portis (hip), offensive tackle Chris Samuels (knee, ankle), cornerback Carlos Rogers (calf), defensive end Jason Taylor (calf) and safety Chris Horton (ankle) all watching Thursday wasn’t bad enough, cornerback Shawn Springs aggravated his calf injury late in practice.
“I worry about it,” coach Jim Zorn said. “[But] every team is like that right now. Some teams are worse off than we are. Ours are nagging things. Portis might even need one more day. It’s pretty bad with his hip flexor. But I fully expect our guys to push through.”
Compounding the injuries of Rogers and Springs is the ailing groin of third cornerback Fred Smoot, who took limited work Thursday. Zorn considers Smoot the least likely to play Sunday. The pass defense also would suffer if Taylor, who missed two games following emergency calf surgery before returning last week, can’t play because of swelling in the calf. Demetric Evans would start a fourth straight game in Taylor’s place.
“It’s still sore from the game, and I tweaked it [during Wednesday’s practice],” Taylor said. “As much as I want to be in practice, it’s about being ready for the game.”
The situation is less clear at safety, where defensive coordinator Greg Blache doesn’t want to start little-used rookie Kareem Moore, who froze on the climactic play against the Rams, or Springs. And Blache hopes he doesn’t have to activate Mike Green, who just signed Tuesday and hasn’t played since the 2007 playoffs.
Zorn said Jon Jansen will start a fourth straight game at right tackle against Cleveland even though Stephon Heyer has returned to practice after missing nearly three weeks with a sprained shoulder.
A positive return
It was lost in the fuss over the loss to the Rams, but strongside linebacker Marcus Washington returned to the lineup after missing the Eagles game with an ailing hamstring and had his best game of the season. Washington made eight tackles and forced his first fumble since Week 5 of last season.
“I felt good,” Washington said. “I had some opportunities to make plays. I was playing pain-free for the first time since I hurt the hamstring in the first game. With a hamstring, you really have to shut it down for a while. The difference [from when he returned in Week 3] was I didn’t practice until Friday last week, so I had been off my leg for almost two weeks. Hopefully, I can be full-speed every week from now on and have as much as fun as I did on Sunday and we win.”
Washington is a big coffee drinker, which helps explain his perky demeanor. But Washington was even bubblier against the Rams.
“Marcus played well,” Blache said. “It was definitely his best game of the season. He was healthy. He was playing with some pizzazz. That’s the old Marcus. I accuse him of drinking too much coffee. He’s always bouncy and sparkly. He was having fun, and it showed in his play.”
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