Running back to face former team Sunday ASHBURN — Arizona didn’t want him anymore and didn’t view him the same way Tim Hightower viewed himself. He considered himself a starting running back. The Cardinals, meanwhile, did not. So they drafted a running back in the first round after his rookie season. Then they drafted another in the second round after his third year.
And, eventually, they ran out of carries for Hightower. So the Redskins happily grabbed him, for a conditional late-round pick and an aging defensive end in Vonnie Holliday.
“I always have something to prove to myself and to people,” Hightower said. “That’s the mentality I play with. The chip on my shoulder is not necessarily from them.”
His goal is not to prove the Cardinals made a mistake. At least that’s what he says publicly.
“I want to win,” he said. “I don’t care if I rush for 400 yards and we lose, I’m gonna be upset.”
The Cardinals drafted Beanie Wells in the first round three years ago and Ryan Williams in the second round in April. Also, Hightower is in the last year of his contract. The Cardinals saw him as a backup.
“Tim did a number of great things for us,” Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt said. “He’s a good player. It wasn’t an easy decision to trade him, but I wanted to be fair to Tim and give him an opportunity to be a starter. … I know he wanted to be the guy.”
There’s no doubt he is the guy here. In the opener, Hightower received 25 of the 26 carries, though he only gained 72 yards. Still, he is viewed as an every-down back and only missed two snaps.
“I like what I’ve seen,” Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said. “You don’t know for sure if a running back is a three-down back or if he can handle the blitz, if he can run the ball. What I’ve seen since he’s been here is he can do all three.”
But the running game didn’t produce Sunday the way anyone wanted. Blocks were missed, but Hightower also blamed himself. One reason: Hightower said he missed holes and was too antsy at times, perhaps because he was playing his first game for his hometown team.
“I didn’t sleep well the night before,” said the Episcopal High School alum. “I felt like a kid in a candy store. You dream about something for so long and when you finally get an opportunity it’s like you can’t wait. Sometimes you have to calm those nerves.”
Hightower said he wasn’t going to talk to any of his former teammates this week.
“When I’m playing against you, you’re not a friend of mine until after the game,” he said.
But he did take lessons he learned from Arizona to Washington, particularly from receiver Larry Fitzgerald. Hightower watched how he worked with the coaches and teammates, seeking clues to improve his game.
“We go to practice and [Hightower will] say, I need to do this better, how are you going to block him here? What do you think your approach will be?” Redskins fullback Darrel Young said. “He’s picking my brain, the offensive line. He meets with everyone. He likes the feedback. … Anytime you have a back like that who prepares like that you’re going to win.”
