Haynesworth fiasco is getting old for players
ASHBURN – They don’t want to get dragged into the mess. They also know it’s tough for them to avoid. So, once again, something Albert Haynesworth said, or did, became the dominant topic for the Redskins.
And it’s getting old for everybody.
“I’m staying out of that,” defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said. “That will end here soon. … He has to get going, that’s all. It’s time to stop all this and let’s go.”
“If you want to talk about football, we’ll talk about football,” said coach Mike Shanahan, who met with Haynesworth but wouldn’t say when and kept the discussions private. “To keep on talking about things outside of football is completely ridiculous.”
But that’s difficult to do when it comes to Haynesworth. He’s potentially the Redskins most dominant defensive player. He’s also only practiced now six times since training camp started July 29. And he didn’t play with the starters at all in Saturday’s 23-3 preseason loss to Baltimore.
That’s when the new round of fun began. Haynesworth popped off after the game, complaining about playing in the third quarter of a preseason game; saying he’s not going to participate in the offseason workouts next spring and saying the Redskins were trying to make them look bad. And he was upset about how Shanahan portrayed the reasons for his absence in practices last week. It came out later that he had rhabdomyolysis, which included vomiting, nausea and muscle swelling.
“I was surprised last week after [Haynesworth] was saying he liked the 3-4,” Redskins end Phillip Daniels said. “And this week you get a whole different story. It’s just crazy. We all need to move forward. … Coaches coach and players play; once he realizes that he’ll be better.”
Daniels also laughed about Haynesworth complaining about playing in the second half of a preseason game. Daniels, entering his 15th year, was on the field with him.
“It’s no big deal with me and really it shouldn’t have been a big deal with him at all,” Daniels said.
Haynesworth practiced with the second unit Monday, working both at nose tackle and end. Before he missed nearly three days last week, he also would spend time with the starting nickel defense. But his play hasn’t been the topic.
“Albert has been doing a good job until this,” linebacker Lorenzo Alexander said. “This is a bad judgment call on his part. You can’t go back and forth in the media with this type of thing. All that’s going to cause distractions … Frankly I’m tired of talking about it. We’ve talked about it all offseason and we continue to talk about it.”
Or, as receiver Devin Thomas said, “It’s Drama City around here sometimes.”
Linebacker London Fletcher spoke with Haynesworth Monday morning and termed it a “great” conversation. Fletcher came away convinced that any issues Haynesworth has with Shanahan, they won’t affect his performance.
“I feel good about where he’s at,” Fletcher said. “He’s come in since the beginning of training camp and really bought into the defensive scheme. He’s being attentive in meetings. He’s doing all the things you’d want a football player to do to be successful.”
Still, Haslett said Haynesworth has a “ways to go.”
When asked about Haynesworth’s medical condition, Haslett said, “I’m not a friggin doctor so I don’t know. One day he’s at practice, one day he’s not out there. I coach guys on the field.”
