At home in the Redskins’ lineup

Jon Jansen couldn’t get the picture out of his head. The longtime rock of Clawson (Mich.) High School, the University of Michigan and the Washington Redskins had been benched by new coach Jim Zorn. And the game back home in Detroit was less than two months away.

“It was in my mind that all my friends and family were going to come and watch me stand on the sideline,” Jansen said. “That idea upset me.”

So did the one-time ironman right tackle’s sudden drop to backup status. Jansen’s father, Larry, a retired middle school teacher, will be at Ford Field for Sunday’s Redskins-Lions game along with dozens of friends and family members from metro Detroit and the tackle’s new home four hours north in Petoskey.

“We didn’t talk about it for a few days,” Larry Jansen said. “The injuries could be explained. This couldn’t be.”

Game preview: Redskins Gameday

The best explanation from the Redskins was that second-year man Stephon Heyer, who finished 2007 as the starter while Jansen was sidelined with a broken leg and dislocated ankle, was the better pass blocker. And since Zorn, a longtime quarterback and quarterbacks coach, was a pass-first guy, he chose Heyer. Run-loving offensive line coach Joe Bugel, who had been extolling Jansen for years, seemed almost embarrassed to discuss the situation.

So the 32-year-old Jansen did what any proud, flannel-wearing, beer-drinking son of the Midwest would do. He set out to prove the Redskins had made a mistake. Jansen wasn’t alone in that belief. Center Casey Rabach was stunned when Jansen called with the news.

“None of us saw it coming even though Stephon played well for us last year,” said Rabach, Jansen’s best friend on the Redskins. “It was hard to see Jon in that situation. The good thing is that Jon kept fighting, putting himself in the right position to be ready.”

Jansen began taking practice snaps at guard, where Rabach termed him “a fish out of water.” Jansen, a starter when healthy from the moment he was drafted in the second round in 1999, effectively appeared to be finished in Washington after 10 years, the longest tenure of any current Redskins player. Backup tackles aren’t worth $7.7 million.

“My wife and I were talking [and wondering], is this how I’m going to end in the game after being here 10 years and all of the things that have happened, all the storms we’ve weathered?” said Jansen, who has started 120 games for five Redskins coaches and played through three broken thumbs in 2005 and a torn calf muscle in 2006.

But this storm lasted less than a month. Heyer sprained his right shoulder in the Sept. 21 victory over Arizona. Jansen stepped in and hasn’t come out. Heyer has healed, but with Clinton Portis averaging 142 yards a game to take the NFL rushing lead since the switch at right tackle, Zorn said Monday the job is Jansen’s again.

“When you’re injured, there’s nothing you can do about it,” Jansen said. “But when you’re healthy and you’re told not to go on the field, it’s much harder to take. All I wanted was the opportunity to prove that I’m the same player I was, and fortunately I’ve had that. I’m playing as well as I ever have. I’m in a good rhythm. I feel real comfortable with my run blocking. My pass blocking, I’ve felt very comfortable the last couple of weeks. I really feel I’ve been able to help, and I hope can continue to help.”

Jansen’s help has been as clear as the chill in the air. Portis had averaged just 83 yards in Heyer’s three starts. His yards a carry has zoomed from 3.8 with Heyer at right tackle to 5.8 with Jansen.

“Jon came back into the starting lineup with the idea that he wasn’t going to be removed again,” Portis said. “It’s easy to run behind Jon - whoever is in front of him most of the time is getting mauled.”

Rabach was just as delicate in describing his 6-foot-6, 297-pound buddy’s style.

“Jon’s a brawler,” Rabach said. “He’s not a finesse guy, not a really athletic guy. The running game is Jon’s strong suit. When he came back, it just seemed to click.”

Sunday’s start will be Jansen’s fifth straight, equaling his total from the previous 23 months, a period during which his wife, Martha, his children and his parents experienced his rare frustrations with the game he loves. A work ethic that began when he was allowed to start lifting weights in junior high has developed into a two-decade quest for excellence.

Jansen became the first Michigan player to start 50 games. He started 82 straight games at the beginning of his Redskins career before a ruptured Achilles in the Hall of Fame ended his 2004 season before it began. Jansen started 31 in a row after he returned, but his 2007 season ended in the second quarter of the opener.

Yet after all of the physical and mental anguish of the past 14 months, Jansen gets a chance Sunday to start and win at home for the first time since he left Ann Arbor. The Redskins lost at the Silverdome in 1999 and 2000, and he was out with the Achilles in 2004.

“When I was rehabbing last year, I was thinking about this game,” Jansen said. “I’ve never won in Detroit. That will make this game special. I couldn’t be more excited.”