Quarterback watch
John Beck
If the Redskins keep three quarterbacks — and with Donovan McNabb’s ankle hurting there’s a good chance they will — then Beck likely will get the nod over Richard Bartel. Neither has exactly stood out. This preseason, Beck has completed nine of 18 passes for 103 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions. Against the Jets, he was 7-for-11 for 76 yards. But he missed seeing a wide-open Fred Davis in the end zone on a bootleg. Instead, he threw incomplete elsewhere. Beck lacks a great arm and must deliver passes before the receivers cut.
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Player of note
DL Jeremy Jarmon
If he’s not on the bubble, the former third-round pick is certainly low on the depth chart. He has played only in the fourth quarter of the past two preseason games, never a good sign for someone trying to make the team. However, it’s likely the coaches could look at the fact that he’s coming off a knee injury, he switched positions and he added nearly 35 pounds in the offseason. So it’s really not all about how he looks now; it’s about how much better he’ll look later. That’s what will determine his future.
Redskins notes
» After Friday’s 16-11 win over the New York Jets, defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth joked that he and Mike Shanahan now were close and would be sharing dinner and cigars that night. On Sunday, Shanahan responded: “He made me buy the drinks and cigars.” And he joked about how Haynesworth shouted at him on the sidelines, alerting him to a ball that would have hit him in the head. “He yelled, ‘Look out,’ at the last second,” Shanahan said. “He stood about two feet away from me, and I said, ‘Hey, I didn’t know you cared.’ I actually got him to smile a little bit.”
» In a more serious note about the whole situation with Haynesworth, Shanahan offered his philosophy on dealing with players. “Everybody would like to be liked,” Shanahan said. “That’s part of being a head football coach. But you want to be respected as well. I have a job to do, and Albert has a job to do. He wants to be the best player he can possibly be, and it’s my job to see to it. Albert’s had a couple very good practices. He’s been working hard to get the defensive end position down and the nose tackle position down. It takes time when you miss practice. Hopefully he keeps on improving.”
