The money placed a target on him, giving Andre Carter something else to deal with aside from burly left tackles. When Carter signed, he was hailed as a possible answer to the Redskins pass-rushing woes. That soon changed to this: Carter was pegged as the reason for their pass-rushing woes; their problems stopping the run.
“I never had that [bullseye] before,” he said. “I just tried to disregard it and play my game.”
But that didn’t always soften the blows. When asked if he was successful disregarding it, he laughed, paused andsaid, “No comment on that.”
But Carter is coming off his best game in Washington, having recorded a career-high 14 tackles — nine solo — and a sack in Sunday’s loss at Atlanta. He was not facing a top left tackle in Wayne Gandy; he did, however, do what he should and outplayed him.
In the past four games, Carter has recorded 27 tackles — he had 28 in the first eight games.
If Carter finishes strong, he can at least make the Redskins feel decent about his signing. Actually, even privately the coaches say nothing bad about him. And they say his play has improved.
“It’s more of him just getting comfortable to what we want done here,” Redskins assistant head coach/defense Gregg Williams said. “For the first time, he’s in a real groove. He made some real good impact plays last week. Had we [won], he would have been up for any of the honors in the league.”
Carter, who signed a six-year, $30-million contract last offseason, hasn’t made many impact plays this season. He only has three sacks.
“I know people will look at the numbers and say, ‘He had low sacks this year,’ ” Carter said. “But you have to take into consideration how the game is played. … Before the bye week we were blitzing more than anything. [After that], Gregg told us, ‘We’ll let you guys go.’ So we’ve been more successful.”
And, for whatever reason, teams have picked on his side of the line in the run game this season.
“I was playing the run strong,” Carter said. “I didn’t let anything bounce out at me. I probably had one or two missed tackles at most. I’ve been very solid stopping the run.”
And, though he struggled with the money aspect, he didn’t lose confidence.
“It either comes at you right away or you have to be constantly patient,” Carter said. “I was patient. I didn’t show any frustration. That’s a testament to what I believe in.”
Week 14 Notes
» Receiver Santana Moss has a hard time believing the Redskins are a 4-8 team, mainly because he knows what that record means: they’re bad.
“When you see us, you can’t say we’re a bad team,” he said. “We’ve beaten some of the best, played great against some of the best. It’s just been one of them years. Every team goes through it. I hope this is the last time we go through it. … We’re not just out there stinking up the joint. But until you finish games like you start them, then you can only say that you’re better than what your record says you are.”
» Safety Troy Vincent (hamstring) practiced again and is listed as probable. But assistant head coach/defense Gregg Williams said he would ease Vincent back into the lineup, if he even plays.
“I’m inclined to work in all those guys slowly,” Williams said. “I don’t want to be in the middle of the game and have someone who goes down because of overuse. We’ll see how that goes.”
» Linebacker Khary Campbell (hamstring) was upgraded to probable and is expected to play after missing Sunday’s loss to Atlanta.
“I’ve got to be with the team,” he said. “I’ll take that risk.”
Nickel corner Kenny Wright (knee) also was upgraded to probable. Right tackle Jon Jansen (calf) and tight end Todd Yoder (shin) both did not practice. Both are listed as probable. Jansen was walking with less of a limp as the week progressed.
