And the beat goes on...

I was all ready to have a rant day regarding cornerback Darrelle Revis of the New York Jets. But it looks like that will be resolved either sometime today or by the end of the week. If not...


As my subject heading says, we return to the real competition in Redskin camp, Albert Haynesworth and head coach Mike Shanahan. Big Al feels disrespected because, in spite of only practicing almost two days last week, he only played the second half of last week's game, which he feels is beneath him. This is spite of another veteran who played with the reserves in the second half as well. In addition, he claims to have a condition, rhabdomyolysis, which is a condition marked by breakdown of skeletal muscle. In spite of that, he still managed to get in 19-20 plays of work.

On the coach side, it's really quite simple: players who do not practice will not play, regardless of talent level. Because of the shape (or lack of) that he came to camp in, Haynesworth participated in less than half of the training camp. I can not leave out the fact that this is a piggyback from him not participating in the offseason OTA's that everyone else participated in. The reason that Haynesworth didn't participate was that he wanted to work with his trainer to, wait for it..., get into shape.

There are two levels that I address this on. One is the football level. I totally get that you have to earn your starting spot by practicing and giving a sincere effort. You also earn the respect of your teammates by making plays both in practice and in games. The other level is, as I said in my previous blog (Albert Haynesworth...The Saga - 8/4) the feeling that there is a "Roots" backdrop to this well. Yep, in spite of all of the cash money that's been given to him, I'm still feelin this.

It also may be just a matter of ego and stubbornness. There is a new sheriff in town and he's laying down the law. On the other hand, big Al ain't havin it. He wants to do thing his way and that's it. While the players are saying that they are not affected by this because they are worried about their own jobs, I think it is in the back of their minds. For me, there are 21 million reasons that I can not side with him on this. I mean, hey, he can always give the money back.