Redskins linebacker London Fletcher said defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth erred by voicing his displeasure about the coaching staff to the media. While other teammates played it down the middle when it came to Haynesworth, Fletcher took the stance of a team leader.
Haynesworth first sounded off after the Giants game last week on how he was being used in his first season with Washington. After being sent home early from practice Friday, he went further in an interview with the Washington Post.
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“Obviously I’m not really happy with it,” Fletcher said. “I think everything doesn’t need to be voiced in the media. There’s a way to handle everything. It’s a team game. Coaches are put in a position to coach and players play. Obviously it’s out of frustration what he said, but you don’t want that to take place like that. It doesn’t serve anybody any good. It creates a situation that doesn’t need to be created.”
Fletcher said he spoke with Haynesworth, he of the $41 million guaranteed contract, about what he said.
“He respects me and the conversation is between he and I,” Fletcher said.
Haynesworth didn’t back off his comments, but said they stemmed from the frustration of a 4-11 season, calling himself a competitor who just wants to win at anything he does. He said he spoke to Blache Saturday. Haynesworth was fined by the team for what happened, but he still started.
“We’re all great, everything’s fine,” Haynesworth said. “We’re grown men. We can disagree. We don’t hate each other. There’s no hate, no love lost between us. We’re still the same.”
He said he had spoken to Blache about his frustration earlier this season. Blache has avoided speaking with the media most of the season; secondary coach Jerry Gray, the defensive spokesman, declined to talk to the press after Sunday’s 17-0 loss to Dallas.
“Monday night was frustrasting,” Haynesworth said. “I’m sick of lsoing. I’m not a loser. This team isn’t losers. We’re a good team and we have a lot of talent and we need to put it together.”
As for whether or not the team will have a new head coach and defensive coordinator, he said, “I don’t know wht those components are. I’m just a football player.”
He also said having a big contract did not make him a leader, something he said last week that the team needed.
“A contract don’t make you as far as leadership,” he said. ‘I’ve never been a guy that wants to talk or get in front of the team and say whatever. It’s not me. I just like to go play the game and do that. I’m not a guy that will try to hype up people. I don’t even want to be a captain and go out in the middle of the coin toss. I consider the other team the enemy and don’t want to shake their hands until after the game.”
Finally, he was asked once again if he was sorry he signed with Washington.
“I’m not sorry I came,” he said. “It was between here and Tampa so you tell me.”
