Part of this business is flexibility, and I couldn’t share with you everything I wanted to about DeAngelo Hall in this morning’s paper because, well, there was more important news. A Clinton Portis injury will overshadow just about everything, and it certainly will for the rest of the week. But a few final things on Taylor.
—He’s got a loud personality, and hasn’t always meshed with his teammates. He’s also 24 years old (and will turn 25 next week), so when he chalks his mistakes up to youth, well, he’s got a point. London Fletcher said the defense would welcome him.
“I think we’ve got a great locker room. Guys love coming to work and playing with each other. Everybody has their own individual personality, you’ve got to accept that—and at the same time he’ll have to fit into what we’re doing,“ Fletcher said. “He’s been thrust into the middle of the season. We’ve just got to reach out, embrace him and make him feel comfortable as much as possible.“
—He won’t start as punt returner, but he could see some special teams action this week—filling in for the duties that released player Leigh Torrence had. Torrence, by the way, was claimed off of waivers by the New Orleans Saints.
—Shawn Springs could move to safety, but both secondary coach Jerry Gray and Jim Zorn were noncommittal on the possibility. It’s a lot to ask of a guy who’s just now getting healthy and back into the swing of things. Let him play a game at full speed before discussing anything else.
Michael Phillips
November 10, 2008 4:10 PM
Whoa, here’s a Monday afternoon shock…Clinton Portis, who thought the bye week would help heal his knee sprain, is now downgraded to questionable for Sunday’s Redskins-Cowboys game. At this point it’s a 50-50 proposition—he sat out practice today.
If he didn’t play, the team would count on Shaun Alexander and Rock Cartwright, though they may have the injured Ladell Betts back—that’s uncertain as well at this point.
Without Portis, the team loses the best running back in the NFL by yardage, and a weapon they would have deployed early and often against the Dallas Cowboys. We’ve explored the overuse of Portis before (in an article that didn’t get posted to the web…sorry.), but this could become a major issue in the season’s final weeks.
We’ll be back tomorrow with more on this situation.
Darryl Slater
November 10, 2008 4:01 PM
No, not that kind of Wild Turkey
Michael Phillips
November 10, 2008 3:55 PM
Comments from Tech grad DeAngelo Hall’s introductory press conference:
—“I’m settling in pretty good. This is home, and it’s always nice to go back home.“
—“I was so eager to get out of Atlanta I really didn’t take my time. If I did, I probably would have been here from the jump. But I was so eager to make it happen and get out, I ended up going to a situation that probably wasn’t the best for me.“
—“It’s not so much that it didn’t work out (in Oakland). Al Davis told me that we’re not as good as I thought we’d be as a team, so we need to free up some room. He’s very honest, straightforward, to the point. I was the last to come in, so I was the first to go. He’s a stand-up guy and he’s very true to his players.“
—“This is the NFL. The business side of things never ceases to amaze anybody. I’ve seen people cut first-rounders.“
—“Every team in the league wanted me as far as coming in and playing. But for me it came down to what team do I have a future with. I don’t want to necessarily have to go through the free-agent thing again when the season is over. I just felt in my gut that this was the place for me.“
Andy Thompson
November 10, 2008 3:41 PM
Scenic Virginia, a non-profit organization dedicated “to the preservation, protection and enhancement of Virginia’s scenic beauty and community character,“ recently held its first ever statewide photo competition.
Jeff White
November 10, 2008 3:04 PM
Paul Woody
November 10, 2008 2:13 PM
The Ford family hasn’t contacted me to ask how to turn their team, the Detroit Lions, around, which is not all that surprising. Disappointing, to me anyway, but not surprising.
Anyway, here is what I would consider doing if the Lions want my opinion.
I’d hire Marty Schottenheimer to be the head coach. Whether he can get a team past the first round of the playoffs is a major issue with Schottenheimer.
But that is not the major issue for the Lions. Getting competitive if the major issue for the Lions. Schottenheimer can get a team competitive. He did it in Washington with a castoff quarterback, Tony Banks and a 0-5 start. The question is whether Schottenheimer wants to get back in the NFL. His last two jobs did not end so well. He’s got plenty of money. Maybe he doesn’t want to go through all the long hours and turmoil again.
Read more…
Paul Woody
November 10, 2008 1:57 PM
The AFC wild-card race is even tighter than the one in the NFC.
Look at the AFC East. All four teams have winning records. Any of the four could win the division, although you have to like the Patriots. They’ve been there before. The game against the Jets Thursday night is a bit major.
Read more…
Paul Woody
November 10, 2008 1:30 PM
Let’s talk wild-card playoff berths for a moment. We can eliminate any team from the NFC West as a wild card. The division champion, it looks like Arizona, is going to the playoffs. San Francisco, Seattle, and St. Louis will do well to break even. And even that is a longshot.
A couple of weeks ago, it looked as if both wild-card spots would go to NFC East teams. Now, the Giants have opened up considerable space between the other three teams—Washington, Dallas and Philadelphia. That’s far from certain now. The NFC South is strong enough that it could grab both wild-card spots.
Washington has all three NFC East teams at home in its final seven games. At the moment, the Redskins have the edge on Dallas and Philadelphia in all the tiebreakers: head-to-head, division record and conference record. All that can change if the Redskins falter at home against the Giants, Cowboys and Eagles.
The Redskins have the Sunday night game against Dallas this week. That’s a big game for the Cowboys since they are 1-2 in the division and 3-4 in the conference. The Eagles are in trouble since they are 0-3 in the division. If the Redskins can take care of business, they’ll be in good shape to get one of the wild-card spots.
Read more…
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