This is the chance Rock Cartwright lobbied for, waited for and tried to seize. And now he’s back to an old role: that of a frustrated running back.
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The Redskins will start Quinton Ganther at running back Sunday, making Cartwright the No. 2 back. He had started the past two games, filling in for injured Ladell Betts, who had replaced the injured Clinton Portis.
“Anybody is disappointed when you get benched when it’s the opportunity you’ve been waiting for your entire career,” Cartwright said. “But when you run the ball in spurts, you can’t get hot like that. Anybody knows that. … But what can I do about it? I’m not going to lose no sleep over it. I’ve still got a job.”
Cartwright gained 154 yards on 41 carries in the past three games — Betts hurt his knee early in the game three weeks ago vs. Dallas.
“When you’re doing running back by committee, you’ve kind of got to go off of feel, who’s playing better,” Cartwright said. “When you get somebody five carries in the first half and they don’t play no more until the second half, you can’t expect somebody to go out and be fresh right then.”
He had been the primary kick returner the past three seasons, but once he started at running back that job was given to Devin Thomas. It’s uncertain if Cartwright would return to that role; Monday, coach Jim Zorn said he anticipated Thomas breaking a long return soon, showing confidence in his explosiveness as a returner.
“I’m going to go back to being the No. 1 guy on kickoff returns, hopefully,” Cartwright said. “I’m looking forward to that opportunity … I’m just going to do my part on special teams.”
Ganther, meanwhile, has impressed the Redskins with his ability to make defenders miss at the line. In the past two games, Ganther has carried a combined 13 times for 78 yards. He cuts sharply and is usually moving forward as he makes a move.
“He does a nice job of, as he runs the ball, of pressing the hole and bursting through it,” Zorn said. “It’s not hard to see that burst.”
Ganther said, “I can’t be one of those guys that thrives on multiple carries because you don’t get them like that. With the two or three carries that I get, I’ll have to make the most of them.”
But, as a starter, he could get as many as 20 if things go well.
“This is an opportunity that every player wants,” said Ganther, who signed with Washington last month.
Portis suffered a concussion in the Nov. 8 game in Atlanta. He was placed on injured reserve Tuesday after a concussion specialist in Pittsburgh failed to clear him. Zorn said doctors told Portis he would need to wait another five weeks before they would see him again.
The running game has not provided a lot of huge runs lately, minus Portis and Betts. In the past three weeks, all games the Redskins led into the fourth quarter, Washington has not cracked 100 yards for the game. Nor have the Redskins averaged more than 3.9 yards per run for a game in that span.
Still, Zorn said he’s giving Portis some benefit.
“We won’t know [what he could have done] because he was hurt in game eight,” Zorn said. “But our running backs have all seized the opportunity.
