“Everyone feels like they know what the answer is,” running back Clinton Portis said. “‘They should bench you. What do you think, they should bench you?’ At the time, people have the craziest ideas. They think they’re on to something. My reply to them is, ‘How would you feel if you weren’t producing and you was the guy they was going to fire. Just to get the morale up in the building, we’re gonna get you out of here.'”

Portis said no fan has actually told him they think he should be benched. But he has heard other suggestions that make him shake his head.

“They ask stupid questions like that,” Portis said. “‘What do you think if you get a quarterback from the Canadian league and get rid of Jason [Campbell]?'”

Fans will come up to him in restaurants wanting to know what the problem is with the Redskins.

“I’m hungry, that’s the problem,” Portis said, laughing.

Not everybody gets the same reaction. Quarterback Todd Collins said he mostly hears from neighbors and it’s usually of the keep-your-chin-up variety.

“Clinton probably gets out a lot more than me,” Collins said. “I live a boring life.”

Receiver Santana Moss said he helps himself by wearing a hoodie, making him less recognizable.

“I’m like a horse with blinders on,” he said. “I keep it real short, nod and keep going. People that have questions or answers, they tell you and you accept it. You be as kind as you can. Sometimes I want to tell them, ‘Maybe you should come here and tell the head coach.’ But it’s just being funny at times.”

However, one thing he doesn’t want to hear are the boos.

“You have to be a fan through thick and thin,” Moss said. “It’s like a marriage. You have to go through the growing pains. Booing is letting us know you’re not backing us.”

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