For players on bubble, this is the last chance to make an impression
ASHBURN – The trick is to ignore the math, a complicated task when a paycheck depends on those numbers adding up in their favor. Robert Thomas knows this. He also knows this is not the spot he anticipated being in long ago.
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But with one game left in the preseason, he’s like many Redskins. He’s waiting to learn his fate, which will come by early Saturday evening.
“You make yourself miserable wondering,” Thomas said.
However, Thomas is unlike many players in that he entered the NFL as a first-round pick, the 31st overall pick by St. Louis in 2002. He’s started 50 games since then, but his career hasn’t taken hold. He’s been cut three times, though only once out of training camp.
Not that he’s alone: Mike Williams and Renaldo Wynn also are former first-round picks who have been cut before and aren’t starters — or guaranteed spots. Those two, however, appear much safer than Thomas. Still, each player has had to re-invent himself from when he entered the NFL.
“It’s a different situation than I’ve been in,” Thomas said. “It’s definitely tough and eye-opening, but I’m humble and realize where I’m at and just have to keep working hard.”
Even if Thomas plays well — he has worked at all three linebacking spots — the Redskins could opt for youth as they drafted two linebackers (Cody Glenn and Robert Henson) in the middle rounds and like the speed of undrafted Darrel Young.
Williams, the fourth overall pick in 2002 by Buffalo, and Wynn, the 21st choice in 1997 by Jacksonville, are in a better position than Thomas. In the spring, the Redskins privately anticipated Williams winning a starting job at right tackle by the end of camp or at least coming close. Instead, he’s missed two preseason games and much of camp with injuries. He’s not a lock, but his size (6-foot-7, 342 pounds) and the Redskins’ desire to be patient with him because of the three seasons he’s missed and the 100-plus pounds he lost, makes him more likely to remain.
“I want to feel uncomfortable,” Williams said. “I never want to say I’m comfortable and have my spot. That’s not the right attitude.”
Wynn is a favorite of the coaches and would provide insurance for end Phillip Daniels. But they liked him two years ago when he was cut the first time by Washington. A numbers game, they told him. However, Wynn has shed approximately 25 pounds in the past year, hoping to regain his quickness. Also, though rookie Jeremy Jarmon is the future replacement for Daniels, if they don’t think he’s ready to do more than rush the passer, then Wynn, who has started 128 games, will stick around. Plus he can help on special teams.
“After I got released it did something to me where it put a fire under my belly,” Wynn said. “As a player you want to leave on your own terms; you never want to be that guy that leaves because you were forced out before your time. … I’m better than when I left.”
