DT practices Saturday after completing test
ASHBURN – The first, and until now the biggest, question was answered in the morning. Albert Haynesworth passed the conditioning test nearly five hours before practice. At least now the Redskins know he’s in shape. But that didn’t answer everything.
And now here comes the follow-up questions. Can his knee hold up? How long will he adapt to the new defense? Will he even like it?
“I’ve never had anything like this,” Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said. “He missed a lot of the offseason; you’re talking about four months of catch-up. But he seems fairly intelligent. He’ll be fine.”
Haynesworth practiced for the first time Saturday during Fan Appreciation Day. But he was still limited to individual drills, hitting the blocking sled and lining up with the second-team defense as a nose tackle on a sprint drill — the sight of which produced cheers from fans near that field. He also lined up at right end in another set. But that was it and he was sidelined when the Redskins went to one-on-one work vs. the offensive line and then the full-team session. He watched those drills with a hat on his head and his left knee wrapped. He’s expected to participate in the full practice Monday.
He’ll start out as the No. 2 nose guard, Haslett said, but he’ll also play a lot of end — and several players said right end might be where he plays the bulk of his snaps.
After signing autographs for the fans for nearly 25 minutes, making small chat with fans, Haynesworth gave a statement to the media.
“The test is over and now it’s back to playing football,” he said. “I want to thank all the fans for coming out, still supporting me, still wearing 92 jerseys and still believing in me.”
The coaches, Haslett in particular, don’t care if Haynesworth likes the defense.
“I can’t say that. It doesn’t make a difference,” he said. “We’re not changing it. He’ll play in the defense. I think he likes it, but that’s hard for me to say.”
And coach Mike Shanahan isn’t worried whether or not he’s on Haynesworth’s list of favorite people. Shanahan wasn’t going to let Haynesworth practice before passing the test.
“He probably doesn’t like me very much right now,” Shanahan said. “But I’m not here to be liked. I’m here to get him to play and hopefully he’ll play at a very high level.”
Saturday was the first time Haynesworth had run the test in full since the second day of training camp. He had attempted it once since then, but failed to even complete the first 300-yard shuttle (at 25-yard intervals). Saturday, Haslett, strength coach Ray Wright and three strength and conditioning assistants watched Haynesworth run; the Redskins said he completed the first 300 yards in 66 seconds and the second 300 in 70.
“[Saturday] is the first time I saw him dig down deep and go get it,” Haslett said. “He was going to get that test one way or another or him and I would have been fighting on the field. I had confidence he would make it. I said [to him Friday], ‘You’re going to run this thing tomorrow and get this thing over with. I’m sick of seeing you at 4 o’clock in the morning.’ I’d wake up and see his face on TV. It never ends.”
