“It’s totally different from what I thought,” he said. “I looked at the film and thought it would be somewhat the same. They needed someone like me to go in there on the rush and open it up and get double teams and stuff, which we’re doing. But if they let us loose it would be a whole lot better.”

The Redskins sacked Eli Manning twice Monday, but rarely pressured him otherwise. But they’re coming off an eight-sack performance vs. Oakland. Still, Haynesworth wishes it were a little different.

He wants more freedom.

“I do,” he said. “That’s what I did at Tennessee and I was successful at it. I just rushed. They let me go and I was winning a bunch of games. We were up there in the top two or three in sacks and defense and defensive line. We did well. You see [Jim] Schwartz got a head coaching job from it. Maybe we need to try that here.

“It’s very frustrating, coming from Tennessee, going 10-0. We had a disappointing season losing in the second round of the playoffs, but the freedom to rush and get up the field and pressure the quarterback and do some of the things we did there … It’s a whole lot different here.”

When asked if he’s glad he signed here this past offseason, Haynesworth paused for nearly three seconds and said, “Yeah, I like the guys here. Dan [Snyder has] been great and everything. But being in this season makes it hard to say I really appreciate being here. I know this is a great organization. We can always bounce back.”

Haynesworth also said, “We’re all going in different directions. We need someone to lead us in the right direction.”

Secondary coach Jerry Gray, the defensive spokesman, had no comment when asked about Haynesworth’s comments regarding the line play.

On the fourth-quarter scuffle that started with DeAngelo Hall and Brandon Jacobs and ended with Haynesworth throwing punches, he said, “I saw D Hall getting thrown down or something like that. I ran over there and pushed players off him. If they want to give me a penalty or a fine, whatever. I’ll stick up for my teammates.”