What should have been a routine ending to Jim Zorn’s first minicamp as head coach of the Washington Redskins had a few down notes to it.

First, Reed Doughty, the starting strong safety, was not at practice because of a family issue. Doughty’s young son recently had a kidney transplant. His son developed a fever and had to be taken to the hospital. In these circumstances, a fever is a serious concern, and Doughty had bigger issues than a minicamp practice.

Zorn addressed the team before practice and told them about Doughty’s concerns.

"I told the players that if they are praying men, pray for Reed and his family,” Zorn said. “The baby is not just sick. He’s had surgery.

"Fortunately, this is not a critical part of the season, and even if it was, he’d be with his family. I’m not going to say football is more important. Football is NOT more important than what’s going on with his family or anybody’s family when it comes to your kids.”

The second issue Zorn had to face concerned the unexcused absence from practice of rookie tight end Fred Davis.

"He didn’t show up for a meeting this morning, so we started looking for him,” Zorn said. “Nobody had heard from him. It’s one of two scenarios: either there was some real trouble or he screwed up. We do know that he’s in no danger, and he’s definitely safe. I haven’t talked to him, but I believe it’s more in the category of ‘I screwed up.’

"It’s very disappointing. I just want to talk to him to make sure he and I are on the same page. If there is fault there, I’ll find out.”

On a much lighter note, running back Clinton Portis and LaRon Landry engaged in a 40-yard race after practice. Portis jumped out to an early lead, but Landry closed at the end. The consensus among those watching was that Landry won by the narrowest of margins. Portis insisted they tied.

Apparently the race came about, in part, because of a play from the morning practice session. Portis caught a pass in the left flat. There was no place to run, so he reversed field and came back to the right, picking up quarterback Jason Campbell as a “blocker”. Landry had an angle on Portis, ran him down from behind and tagged him (there’s no tackling during off-season workouts).

Zorn said Portis was so disappointed that he jumped into the huddle, even though he was supposed to be out, and asked about the next play. When he saw it would not be called for him, Portis left the huddle.