D6 NFL NOTEBOOK
Bradford agrees to record deal with Rams
From News Services and Staff Reports
Quarterback Sam Bradford agreed to a record-setting con- tract with the St. Louis Rams, an NFL source said Friday night. Bradford, the top overall selec- tion in the NFL draft in April out of Oklahoma, agreed to a six-year deal with the Rams that includes approximately $50 million guar- anteed, said the source, who spoke on the condition of ano- nymity because the contract had not been signed. Bradford’s deal includes at least$8 million more guaranteed than the $41.7 million in the con- tract that last year’s top overall draft pick, quarterback Matthew Stafford, signed with the Detroit Lions. That was the previous record for an NFL rookie.
According to a source, Brad-
ford’s contract has an overall val- ue of $78 million. The deal can be worth as much as $86 million, the source said, if Bradford reach- es all of his incentives. The Rams’ first full-squad
practice of training camp is scheduled for Saturday. — Mark Maske
Ravens lose CB for year
Baltimore Ravens cornerback Domonique Foxworth will miss the upcoming season with a knee injury, further weakening a sec- ondary already depleted by in- juries. Foxworth, a former Maryland
player, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Thurs- day during an orientation prac- tice.
“I was just running and tried to
change directions, something I’ve done a million times in my career. This time it just didn’t work,” Fox- worth said. “It wasn’t anything odd. It happened on grass, so I can’t even blame it on turf.” Foxworth had four intercep- tions last season. He started all 16 games and both of Baltimore’s playoff games. The Ravens already have two cornerbacks, Lardarius Webb and Fabian Washington, return- ing from knee injuries. Also, safe- ty Ed Reed is coming off hip sur- gery. ... Minnesota Vikings wide re- ceiver Sidney Rice and corner- back Cedric Griffin are starting training camp on the physically unable to perform list. Rice has a lingering hip injury that first sur- faced during the Vikings’ run to the NFC title game in January. Griffin broke his left leg in the NFC title game. . . .
Linemen sign with 49ers
Anthony Davis and Mike Iupa- ti, a pair of first-round draft picks for the San Francisco 49ers, signed five-year contracts a few hours apart, ensuring the highly touted offensive linemen will be in uniform for Sunday’s first training camp practice. . . . The Minnesota Vikings signed second-round pick Toby Gerhart to a four-year deal, meaning all eight of their draft picks will be on time for the start of training camp. Gerhart rushed for 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns at Stan- ford last season. . . . Safety Eric Berry, the fifth over- all pick in last spring’s draft, said on his Twitter account that he’s reached a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs. But A spokesman for the team said nothing was official yet. — Associated Press
JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST Defensive coordinator Jim Haslett with Albert Haynesworth, who still has not passed his conditioning test of two 300-yard shuttle runs. Haynesworth flunks test again redskins from D1
gave Albert the option, ‘Do you want to run this again?’ My sug- gestion was, let’s just wait until the morning. He wanted to run it again, so we ran it again.” Haynesworth had to start the test from scratch and was too tired to pass. On Friday morning, Haynes-
worth finished the first run in 71 seconds. Because he failed, there was no need to attempt the sec- ond repetition. Haynesworth’s teammates did not have to take the test because all had attended at least 50 percent of offseason workouts, according to Wright and Shanahan.
Shanahan said Friday he is
confident Haynesworth will pass the test eventually and join his teammates. “Most people can do this test in their sleep,” he said. “It’s not as big as it may sound.” None of Haynesworth’s team- mates characterized the task
facing Haynesworth in such cas- ual terms. “If he wants to play, obviously he’ll get it done,” full- back Mike Sellers said. “It might take some time. It is a hard test. I will admit, it’s a hard test to take, no matter what.” While Haynesworth looks no- ticeably slimmer than he did at last year’s training camp — team officials say he has dropped 35 pounds — weight loss is not the same as conditioning. “Everybody conditions differ-
ent,” said Sellers. “Maybe the conditioning he did when he was working out . . . was a little bit different, wasn’t geared toward” the test. Haynesworth attended only
one day of the Redskins’ off- season conditioning program, choosing to train on his own. He visited Redskins Park on Wednesday for the first time since March, and that’s when coaches told him a conditioning drill awaited. Haynesworth has met with
Redskins Insider 6Blogging at
washingtonpost.com/redskinsinsider Brown adjusting
to the right side Redskins tackle Jammal Brown, who says he is 100 percent healthy, is adjusting to playing football again, meeting new coaches and teammates, learning a new playbook and trying to figure out his new position.
Brown, who has played in
two Pro Bowls as a left tackle but is lining up on the right side in Washington, said he is pleased with his first couple of days as a Redskin, though he is making a big adjustment. Early in training camp, in fact, Brown walked up to the right side of the line of scrimmage and got down in a left tackle’s stance. “The coach was like, ‘Wrong foot back,’ ” Brown said. “ ‘Oh yeah, this is the right side.’ ” Brown took the field
Thursday for the first time in a year. He suffered a hernia and
hip injury last year while with the New Orleans Saints and missed the entire regular season. The Redskins acquired him in a trade last month and intend to start him opposite rookie Trent Williams. “I’ve got two things to get used to,” Brown said. “I’ve got to get used to playing football again and I’ve got to get used to playing a different position.” Brown hasn’t played right tackle since he broke into the league in 2005 and says the footwork, balance and weight-shifting takes a bit of time. “A lot of people think it’s an easy thing. . . . You’ve got to turn everything the opposite,” he said. “ I feel right now if I was left tackle, I’d be further along.”
Galloway, Williams at top Wide receiver Joey Galloway
is 38 years old. In the last two seasons, he has a total of 20
Shanahan following each of the two failed tests and apparently isn’t thrilled about the process. “I know it’s the best thing for him,” Shanahan said. “He may not know that at this time.” Each shuttle run is broken into 25-yard increments. Haynesworth must run 25 yards, touch his foot on a line and run 25 yards back until he has reached the 300-yard mark. Redskins players say the test
isn’t unusual and most complet- ed it as part of their offseason conditioning program — though not against a clock. Daniels said his concern is that doing the rig- orous runs on consecutive days could tire Haynesworth’s legs. But Wright disputed that idea. “There’s a pace you have to
have, a certain tempo each 25 yards, and I expect him to pass it pretty soon,” Wright said. While Haynesworth sat out both practices Friday, the Red- skins welcomed rookie Trent Williams to the training camp
field for the first time. Williams, who missed the first day of training camp, signed a contract Friday morning that will pay him $60 million over six years, including more than $36.5 mil- lion guaranteed. “I know I’m here to do a cer- tain job, and that’s to protect the blind side," Williams said. “If I go out there thinking about the bucks and not doing my job, I won’t be here long.”
Because no other top-five
draft picks had signed, Williams said he was willing to miss one day of training camp, but want- ed to avoid an extended holdout. Teammates said Williams has shown great progress and will benefit from reporting to camp this early. “For Trent to be in here with us for pretty much the full train- ing camp and preseason, it’s go- ing to be huge and pay off big dividends this season,” center Casey Rabach said.
maeser@washpost.com
S
KLMNO PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL
Redskins sprinting test: Fair or unfair?
Former NFL player calls shuttle run ‘tough’ but ‘standard’
by Mark Maske Former players said Friday
-minute break, complete the second in 73 seconds. Any player who failed to par-
⁄2
that the sprinting test Wash- ington Redskins defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth must pass before he can take the field in practice is a stan- dard, if stringent, measure of conditioning that is used across the NFL. Former Redskins offensive lineman Ross Tucker called the 300-yard shuttle test “the toughest” of those used reg- ularly by coaches to determine whether players are in shape. Redskins Coach Mike Shan- ahan is requiring Haynes- worth — who did not take part in the team’s offseason condi- tioning program — to pass the test before allowing him to participate in practice. The test, according to the Redskins, consists of a pair of 300-yard shuttle runs — 25-yard sprints, out and back, six times. A line- man such as Haynesworth must complete the first in 70 seconds and then, after a 31
ticipate in at least half the off- season conditioning program must pass the test to practice. “That’s pretty standard, ac-
tually. [Coach Bill] Parcells used to do something like that,” Tucker said. “And when I was in Washington one year, they had us run that. We had to do that at least one day a week. I think Dallas, with Parcells, had to run the width of the field, 53 yards, and I want to say they had to do it in a min- ute. This one doesn’t sound un- reasonable to me. “But it’s tougher than the 50- yard [shuttles] because of the number of turns,” said Tucker, who spent time with the Red- skins, Cowboys, Buffalo Bills and New England Patriots. Haynesworth failed the tests
receptions for 205 yards with no touchdowns. Roydell Williams has been out of football the past two seasons. At the outset of Redskins
training camp, however, Galloway and Williams are listed as co-starters at the X-receiver, or split end, position. Former Redskins second-round draft picks Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly are further down the depth chart. Obviously, the Redskins are
only getting started. Kelly, who injured his hamstring before camp, and Thomas will have opportunities to impress in camp and throughout the preseason. But it appears they have a lot of work to do. “What we do is we get a depth
chart at the end of OTAs [organized team activities], and Joey, we had him as the number one guy along with Roydell Williams,” Shanahan said. They were “kind of tied at the
JOHN MCDONNELL / THE WASHINGTON POST
Redskins lineman Jammal Brown missed all of the 2009 season with a hernia injury
X-receiver position.” The coaching staff moved top wideout Santana Moss from the X-spot to the Z, or flanker, during the offseason. It appears that Moss, in his 10th season, has a firm grip on his position, so the battle for playing time will be opposite him. “They will get their chances,” Shanahan said of the third-year players. “This is where we start. It’s a starting point. It’s surely not where we’re going to finish.” — Rick Maese and Jason Reid
on Thursday and Friday. Brian Mitchell, the former running back and kick return- er for the Redskins, Philadel- phia Eagles and New York Gi- ants, said he also had taken the 300-yard shuttle test when he was with the Eagles. “We also had to run 100-yard sprints 16 times. I don’t know what Shanahan normally does, but I have seen people use this one,” Mitchell said. “You have 70 seconds for 300 yards? When I was in Philly, I think the big guys, the linemen, had to run 100 yards in 17 or 18 sec- onds, maybe 20 seconds at the most. I don’t see it as being that difficult. That’s what I’ve been saying all along: Yeah, Al- bert Haynesworth lost weight, but is he in shape?” One former NFL executive said the Redskins have “made it impossible” for Haynes- worth to pass the test, but speculated that Shanahan may be trying to do Haynesworth a favor. “All of his teammates are
mad at the guy,” said the exec- utive, who spoke on the condi- tion of anonymity because he did not want to be seen as pry- ing into the Redskins’ busi- ness. “But now they look at this and think it’s unfair, and there’s some sympathy for him in the locker room.”
maskem@washpost.com
SATURDAY, JULY 31, 2010
TRAINING CAMP TRACKER INJURY REPORT
Injury Update: Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander was limping while jogging between fields on Friday. He said he had a slight ankle sprain but is “fine.” Alexander practiced fully and said he would likely experience soreness but will continue to practice. . . . Wide receiver Malcolm Kelly (hamstring) did not participate in team drills. . . . Nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu practiced fully and said he has recovered from having the stomach flu on Thursday.
Summer stories Ramzee Robin-
son’s professional football career has been a search for relevance. That’s fit- ting,
considering
the Washington Redskins corner- back earned the
dreaded “Mr. Irrelevant” moniker after he was the final pick of the 2007 draft. He has remained in the NFL, enduring a whirlwind three seasons that included a spot on an 0-16 team, and changing uniforms four times. The Redskins claimed Robinson off waivers in June
“You get 31 ⁄2
and he is eager to prove himself and re- main in the game. The Redskins return depth at corner- back, though, and Robinson remains a long shot to make the roster. He’s confi- dent he can carve out a niche on special teams, which is the reason he was able to stay in the NFL as a seventh-round pick. “They didn’t bring me in just to add numbers,” Robinson said. “They brought me in because of the way I play this game.”
Robinson has played in 26 games in his career. His most productive season was 2008, when he recorded 24 tackles and a pass deflection during 13 games of
an 0-16 season with the Detroit Lions. He split time last season between the Phila- delphia Eagles and Cleveland Browns, primarily as a special teams player, be- fore arriving in Washington. Moving around has calloused Rob- inson. He has learned that little is guar- anteed from week to week, much less from one season to the next, for the mar- ginal players on a roster. He learned that lesson on his draft day, when he was the 255th and final name called. “I have to work for everything,” Rob- inson said, “and I’ve earned everything I’ve accomplished in this league thus far.” — Zach Berman
minutes; he was gone close to 10.” — Redskins strength and conditioning coach Ray Wright on how lineman Albert Haynesworth failed his first shuttle test. 43
Days until kickoff The Redskins open the season Sept. 12 against the Dallas Cowboys.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
When: 8:30 a.m. (open to the public); 3 p.m. Where: Redskins Park, Ashburn. Admission, parking: Free. Updates: 703-726-7411
FIRST EXHIBITION
vs. Buffalo Bills Aug. 13, 7:30 p.m. at FedEx Field
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78