Department of Bad News: Mike Williams

Done

The Redskins placed their twelfth and hopefully final player on injured reserve yesterday, right tackle former 400 pound man Mike Williams tore foot muscles near his toe in the first half of the game fifteen loss versus the Cowboys, Mike was placed on the season ending list at the same time as teammate safety Reed Doughty, who suffered a high ankle sprain in the same game. To take Mike's and Reed's roster spots the team signed a tailback and a cornerback.

In a wide ranging and at times downright baffling April pre draft radio interview on ESPravda 980 with owner Dan Snyder, then shadow general manager Vinny Cerrato and head coach Jim Zorn, the Redskins announced they had signed a player but were unable to announce who the player actually was. We were told it was a right tackle, which would become more germane a month later when the Redskins released ten year Redskin right tackle Jon Jansen.

The right tackle teased in the radio interview turned out to be then still 400 pound Mike Williams, a former 2002 fourth overall pick selected by the Bills out of the University of Texas. Mike made thirteen or more starts his first three seasons in Buffalo, was a part time player his fourth year in Buffalo and was released after the 2005 season. He signed with Jacksonville before the 2006 season but was placed on injured reserve with a back injury in August, before the season had even started.

Mike spent the next two years away from football, he stayed close with his former college teammate and boomerang Redskin left guard Derrick Dockery, a series of personal commitments to healthy living and life events like having children conspired to put Mike on former shadow general manager Vinny Cerrato's radar, the team brought him in for a tryout and signed him to a contract on a hunch.

Mike worked his ass off in camp, literally, losing 68 pounds through the end of July and 111 total through the end of August. Mike suffered a few lingering injuries in camp, which is not surprising what he put his body through to lose the weight while playing football in the Virginia summer, and had problems in pass protection, he made final cuts, if only barely.

He got what he wanted, and that was a chance to play football. When right guard Randy Thomas went down for the season with a torn triceps in game two versus the Rams and left tackle Chris Samuels suffered what would become a season and likely career ending neck stinger in game five at the Panthers, it set off a chain reaction of offensive line shuffling, when it was all said and done Mike Williams had made five starts at right guard and three at right tackle.

Not bad considering Mike missed three games in the middle of the season with a ligament tear in his ankle and will be ineligible for the season finale at San Diego, not bad for a guy that was not penciled in at starter at either position and barely made the team.

Mike's toe injury is not expected to be serious and Mike should make a full recovery, go heal up Mike, you will be back to compete for your job in 2010, with a full season to knock the rust off perhaps you can elevate your game, we need starters and depth players.



Mike Williams: Getty Images from here.

Department of Bad News: Reed Doughty

Done

Safety Reed Doughty yesterday became the eleventh Redskins player to be placed on injured reserve in this injury plagued 2009 season, Sunday in the second quarter of the game fifteen loss versus the Cowboys Reed leaped for a tipped Tony Romo pass, he came down with the interception and returned it twelve yards, he was hit at the sideline and rolled his leg, suffering a high ankle sprain.

Reed said he had never had this type of injury before and said to start the week he was going to try and play through it, by Tuesday there was no chance and yesterday the team went ahead and put Reed on injured reserve, Reed will miss the final game of the season.

Reed was a sixth round draft pick in 2006, despite the flameout of Adam Archuleta that season Reed saw little playing time. The 2007 offseason saw the Redskins draft safety LaRon Landry with their first round pick, Reed was again relegated to the bench, until Sean Taylor was shot and killed, as the team regrouped LaRon moved into Sean Taylor's free safety position and Reed moved into the strong safety position, in six starts Reed was credited with 53 tackles, 32 solo.

Heading into 2008 the Redskins drafted safeties Kareem Moore in the sixth round and Chris Horton in the seventh round, Reed still easily earned the starting strong safety spot, before game two of the 2008 season versus New Orleans, Reed became ill with a stomach bug, Chris Horton got the last second start and made the best of it with a fumble recovery two interceptions in the Redskins win, Chris was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance.

Reed regained his starting job the next week and was gracious in praise of Chris, saying that he would do anything he could to help Chris or any other player, even those that might beat him out for playing time because it was about the team, not him. Reed did not start the next game at the Cowboys and although he does not appear in the injury report for that game, and he came back for one more start that season at the Eagles, my recollection is by this point Reed seemed to be slow and constantly behind the play, after Chris' early performance my cohort of Redskins fans was ready to see Chris Horton back in the game.

Reed's back was bothering him and he did not play in the next game versus the Rams, best known as the PETE KENDALL SHOULD NEVER PICK UP A FUMBLE AND TRY TO RUN WITH IT GAME, the day after that game the team announced Reed had nerve problems in his back causing numbness in his legs and feet, a week later Reed was placed on injured reserve, Reed seemed to complain about the decision, perhaps hinting the team was too ready to move on to Chris Horton and to make a roster spot for tailback Shaun Alexander, a former player for head coach Jim Zorn's in Seattle.

Reed had back surgery and was hopeful to return to the team. In the 2009 offseason the team made Reed less than the tender offer, making him an unrestricted free agent, by March Reed was back with the team.

Heading into the 2009 season Chris Horton won the starting strong safety spot, three games in after a number of defensive miscues by Chris, defensive coordinator Greg Blache benched Chris and reinserted Reed into the starting lineup, through those three games and after recovering the starting spot there is simply no question Reed was back in football form and better than ever, his hitting and ability to move side to side near the line were much improved from 2007 and 2008 and it looked like the Redskins were going to have two good strong safeties all season.

Which they did as Chris and Reed flip flopped all season in the starting jobs, both are outstanding and both are now on injured reserve.

With only one game left in the season this was by no means a necessary move, the team could have simply placed Reed on the inactive list. New actual general manager Bruce Allen and the team though wanted to take the time to see some other players strictly for evaluation purposes, with former 400 pound man Mike Williams also heading to injured reserve the team signed tailback PJ Hill and cornerback Marcus McCauley.

This is not by any means a serious injury and Reed will be back and ready to go for the 2010 season.



Reed Doughty: Getty Images from here.

Department of Bad News: Clinton Portis

Done

The Redskins have finally placed injured tailback Clinton Portis on the season ending injured reserve list, since suffering a massive concussion on his fifth carry of game eight at the Atlanta Falcons exactly one month ago on 8 November 2009 Clinton has not played, missing four games, now he will miss the final four games of the season.

While disappointing so some, the move was not entirely unexpected, the team had hoped Clinton would come back, his recovery has been slow and with the team mired in a 1-3 streak since Clinton went down the team just decided to shut him down. Clinton had been cleared to play by his local doctor on Tuesday 1 December, he and the team waited until his examination by a brain trauma specialist in Pittsburgh yesterday. That medical team did not clear him to play (op. cit.) and the team decided it had to move on.

As with teammate and now fellow injured reserve player tight end Chris Cooley, the initial optimism that Clinton could be back quickly and better than evar steadily gave way to the reality that his injury was worse than expected, despite the hopeful tones struck by the Redskins organization, over here at Curly R and in and amongst some Redskins fan circles, no one ever bought the happy talk, as far back as 22 November and again here and here, we predicted 2009 was over for Clinton. This does not make me smart, it simply means I read what the team wasn't saying as much as what it was.

Clinton has a ginormous contract, he renegotiated his deal in March of 2008 and if the team were to cut him before 1 June 2010 it would face a salary cap hit of nearly fifteen million dollars. With running backs more fungible than ever these days it would seem tough decisions are ahead for the Redskins. I just hope Clinton gets better and takes care of himself.

Clinton Portis becomes the tenth Redskins player to hit injured reserve, joining quarterback Colt Brennan, right guard Randy Thomas, left tackle Chris Samuels, safety Chris Horton, tailback Ladell Betts, tight end Chris Cooley, defensive end Jeremy Jarmon, right guard Chad Rinehart and fullback Eddie Williams. When it rains it pours.



A trainer attending to Clinton Portis in game eight on 8 November 2009: AP Photo from here.

Portis Gets OK to Play, But Return Will Wait (until some point after he gets off injured reserve)

The Department of Bad News is not yet closed for the year

Cynical I know, it is still my opinion.

I predict we will be without the services of Clinton Portis for the rest of this miserable season.



Clinton Portis: AP Photo from here.

Department of Bad News: Chris Cooley

Done

The inevitable became evitable yesterday as the Redskins placed injured Pro Bowl tight end Chris Cooley on the season ending injured reserve list, his broken ankle did not heal as fast as had been hoped and Chris is now guaranteed to miss the team's final five games of the season. He joins the parade of what is now nine players on injured reserve so far in the 2009 season.

Chris injured his ankle in a crossing pattern in the second quarter of game seven, the home Monday Night Football loss against the Eagles on 26 October 2009, the instant reporting on the injury predicted Chris was lost for the season, after seeing a specialist talk got happy about Chris' return, the post surgery prediction was a month out, meaning that with the bye the following week Chris would have been back as soon as... this past Sunday, the game eleven loss to the Eagles in Philadelphia.

Recovery was not as quick or as easy as the delayed reporting back in October, a week ago on 24 November 2009 Chris even admitted that he was probably done for the season, openly questioning whether there was any purpose in the team insisting he come back in 2009.

Many Redskins fans were not buying that initial sunshine anyway, with the team tanking, the season lost and Chris still a vital part of this offense for the forseeable future, the decision was made to shut him down for the year.

Before the injury, Chris was Jason Campbell's favorite target, through six full games this season Jason had connected with Chris Cooley 23 times, compared to Santana Moss with 21 catches through six games and eighteen catches through six for Antwaan Randle El. Replacement tight end Fred Davis had seven catches in the first six games, and has had 20 in the following five.

These nine games are the first nine games Chris will have missed in his professional career. Get it well, get it back, see you in 2010.



Chris Cooley on the field after his ankle injury in October: AP Photo from here.

Department of Bad News: Jeremy Jarmon

Done

Sunday in game eleven at Philadelphia, second quarter on the Redskins kickoff following the Santana Moss four yard touchdown catch from quarterback Jason Campbell, rookie defensive end Jeremy Jarmon, in kickoff coverage, fell awkwardly and tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, he has been placed on injured reserve and will miss the final five games of the season.

As previously described in Ladell Betts' injury piece, the ACL's job, like all knee ligaments, is to connect bone to bone and stabilize the knee, the ACL's specific duty is to keep the the lower leg moving forward and backward in line and to prevent rotation of the upper leg relative to the lower leg.

Jeremy was the Redskins first ever pick in July's supplemental draft, giving up a 2010 third round pick to acquire him. Jeremy has had no starts though he has looked promising on the field, he is projected as a left defensive end, against a right handed quarterback generally the NFL position responsible for sealing the line against the running game to give the strongside linebacker and strong safety a read, this position is currently held down admirably by 36 year old Phillip Daniels.

Jeremy will undergo surgery and rehabilitation and should be ready to go for 2010 training camp, Jeremy joins quarterback Colt Brennan, right guard Randy Thomas, left tackle Chris Samuels, strong safety Chris Horton, tailback Ladell Betts, right guard Chad Rinehart, fullback Eddie Williams, and tight end Chris Cooley, that makes nine players out with five games to go.



Jeremy Jarmon after sacking Chris Simms: Getty Images from here.

Department of Bad News: Chad Rinehart

Done

Ladell Betts was not the only Redskin to be lost for the season two weeks ago in game ten against Dallas, Redskins second year right guard Chad Rinehart suffered a broken right fibula early in the third quarter, he too was placed on the injured reserve list on Monday 23 November 2009 and will miss the final six games of the season, he was rolled in the pile after a play.

The fibula, or calf bone, is there mainly to serve as an attachment for musculature and does not support weight. As such it is considerably more fragile than its partner, the tibia or shin bone.

After 33 year old right guard Randy Thomas tore a triceps in game two against the St. Louis Rams, Chad, a third round draft pick in 2008, stepped in and started two games, a bad loss at the Lions and a meager win against the Buccaneers, former 400 pound man Mike Williams then started one game, a loss against the Panthers, thereafter head coach Jim Zorn opened up a competition between Chad and fifth year free agent Will Montgomery, Will ultimately won and Chad was demoted to the inactive list by all accounts Chad took the demotion very hard, an anonymous NFL talent evaluator even going so far as to call Chad quote just a guy unquote.

Will started three games, all losses, before offensive line coach Joe Bugel lobbied the coaching staff to give Chad another chance, Chad got the start at right guard against Denver and helped to propel promoted tailback Ladell Betts to 114 yards.

All of Redskinsland was united in joy, even if a limited type of joy, that the same five offensive linemen would be starting the next game at Dallas, and in that game Chad was injured.

The surgery to repair this injury is routine and Chad should be back and ready to go for the 2010 season.

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Rookie reserve fullback Eddie Williams was also moved to injured reserve Monday (op. cit.), he broke a fibula Friday in practice, Eddie was a practice squad player and was promoted to the roster to provide blocking and pass catching support in the absence of tight end Chris Cooley, he was never active in a game.



Chad Rinehart: AP Photo from here.

Department of Bad News: Ladell Betts

Done

Eighth year Redskins tailback Ladell Betts suffered serious knee injuries two weeks ago in game ten against the Dallas Cowboys, Ladell was injured in the first quarter of that game, his second start in place of primary back Clinton Portis who is still out after suffering a concussion in game eight against the Falcons, in the cutback on a left side run Ladell was tackled by Dallas linebacker Bradie James and tore both the anterior cruciate ligament and the medial collateral ligament in his left knee, Ladell was placed on injured reserve on Monday 23 November 2009 and will miss the final six games of the season.

Like all ligaments, the ACL and MCL connect bone to bone, as opposed to tendons, which connect bone to muscle. While both ligaments' jobs are to stabilize the knee, the ACL's primary function is to hold the tibia, or lower leg bone, in line and limit rotation of the knee joint. The MCL is on the inside of the knee and its primary function is to prevent the lower leg bone from swinging out, or quote opening up unquote.

These are serious knee injuries, the same injuries suffered by teammates Rocky McIntosh and Carlos Rogers in 2007 and will require surgery and months of rehabilitation.

Despite assuming a nominal role this season as third down back, Ladell's numbers in 2009 through seven games were not much different from his 2008 or 2007 numbers, with Clinton Portis healthy the past two seasons the touches simply are not there. After Clinton went down against the Falcons, Ladell ramped up quickly as the feature back, with numbers to match, 70 yards on fifteen carries, a 4.7 yards per carry average in Atlanta and 114 yards on 26 carries, a 4.4 yards per carry average at home against Denver.

Ladell has experience as the starter, in 2006 Clinton Portis suffered a separated shoulder on the first possession of the first preseason game and was never himself on the field, Ladell managed to rack up over 1100 yards on only nine starts that season, including a remarkable stretch in November and December of five games with one hundred yards or more rushing, in that stretch he became the only running back in Redskins history to post back to back rushing games of 150 yards or more. Despite Clinton's woes that season and the general malaise afflicting the team, the running game was a huge bright spot in 2006.

Ladell has spent his entire eight year NFL career in Washington, signing a five year contract extension toward the end of that 2006 season, he then reworked his contract before the 2008 season to give the team some additional salary cap room and him some more cash.

I am not alone among Redskins fans hoping Ladell makes a full recovery and returns to the sideline for the 2010 season.



Ladell Betts: AP Photo from here.

Department of Bad News: Chris Horton

Done

Second year safety Chris Horton suffered ligament damage in his toe late in game eight against the Falcons, on Wednesday 11 November Chris had surgery and went onto season ending injured reserve, his roster spot was assumed by rookie free agent safety Lendy Holmes.

After a stellar and surprising 2008 rookie season that saw Chris pull in three interceptions and be named NFC Defensive Player of the Week for week two and NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September, Chris was the incumbent strong safety coming into the 2009 season, he was benched from the starting spot after a few early season struggles, notably a missed tackle on Rams tailback Stephen Jackson in game two against St. Louis and a late pass interference penalty against the Lions in game three that set up the decisive score, in that latter play head coach Jim Zorn went berzerk defending Chris (ibid.), making it all the much stranger that he would then be benched.

I thought the benching was more window dressing than statement on talent (op. cit.) though it is unassailable that fourth year safety Reed Doughty is back and much improved from back surgery, and there are still those out there that believe Chris has lots of room for improvement (op. cit.).

After his benching he got caught permitting a fan to publish a blog post critical of the team and its decision to give his job to Reed Doughty, the post was quickly taken down and marked only the latest example of a Redskins player flubbing fan outreach in 2009.

Hopefully he will make a full recovery and come back to prowl the line for 2010. Chris Horton is a Curly R favorite.



Chris Horton: Washington Post photo from here.

Department of Bad News: Chris Samuels

Done. Probably for good.

Redskins fans got some expected bad news back on Halloween, long time left tackle Chris Samuels was placed on injured reserve, the neck stinger he took in game five of this season back on 11 October against the Panthers caused Chris some extended numbness, in short order we learned that Chris had been diagnosed with spinal stenosis, a condition characterized by the narrowing of the spine in the neck, thereby making it more vulnerable to injury.

In the nearly three weeks since that game Chris has consulted with specialists and weighed his options, and there was really no question, with the risk of paralysis looming and a solid NFL career under his belt, Chris decided to shut it down, likely calling it a career.

It was in part due to the stenosis that Chris wore the big neck brace rising from his shoulder pads all this time. This condition was diagnosed while Chris was still in high school and was manageable, Chris eventually became an All-American and Outland Trophy winner at the University of Alabama before becoming the number three overall selection to the Redskins in the 2000 NFL draft, the Redskins having given up two first round picks in that draft, their own and the one acquired from Carolina in the 1998 trade of defensive end Sean Gilbert to the Panthers (thank you Sean).

Chris became the Redskins starting left tackle immediately, replacing Tre' Johnson and has been the team's anchor at the second most important position on the field for a decade. In ten seasons Chris started 146 of a possible 165 games, including playoffs and those he will not be eligible to start this season.

Chris was amazingly durable during his career, at six feet five and better than 310 pounds he continually tangled with the opponents' best pass rushers. He was selected to six Pro Bowls in his ten seasons, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 when the team was 5-11 but propelled backup tailback Ladell Betts to 1100 yards on nine starts, 2007 when Chris and Pro Bowl teammates tight end Chris Cooley and long snapper Ethan Albright all wore jersey number 21 in honor of fallen teammate safety Sean Taylor and last season in 2008 when he ended the season on injured reserve with a torn triceps.

Redskins success in the 2009 season was to be largely premised on aging veterans Chris Samuels and right guard Randy Thomas staying healthy, and now both are on injured reserve. Right now Redskins fans are stuck in the void loop of this season, forced to watch it play out slowly and painfully.

We will not fully realize what it means for this team to be without Chris Samuels ever again until the offseason when as expected he announces his retirement and then the team faces a serious rebuilding.

Thank you Chris, you were a hell of a left tackle and did your part to keep quarterback jerseys clean all these years, and Redskins fans will never forget it.


Curly R's Department of Bad News previous announcements on Chris Samuels: 2008



Chris Samuels: AP photo from here.

Department of Bad News: Randy Thomas

Done

Redskins Right guard Randy Thomas tore his right triceps in the second quarter of the home game against the Rams on Sunday, he has had surgery and was placed on injured reserve, he is lost for the season.

The Redskins went into the 2009 season paper thin along the offensive line, now the team will play the next fourteen games without a stalwart starter, albeit one with accumulating surgeries.

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Randy Thomas came to the Redskins as a free agent from the New York Jets in the 2003 offseason, playing alongside Jon Jansen at right tackle he solidified the right side of the offensive line, in 2002 the Redskins had thrown a patchwork of right guards at the problem, starting Tre Johnson three times, Wilbert Brown eight times and Brendan Stai five times.

Randy was durable, playing all sixteen games in 2003, fifteen in 2004, fourteen in 2005 and all sixteen in 2006 as Ladell Betts ran for more than eleven hundred yards in place of an injured Clinton Portis.

For his solid performance and durability Randy was granted a contract extension in the 2007 offseason with ten million dollars guaranteed and keeping him under contract until 2011. In January of 2008 the team, as they regularly do with high priced veterans, renegotiated Randy's contract to add two years the deal (op. cit.), Randy is currently under contract to the Redskins until 2013.

In the second game of 2007 Randy tore his left triceps and missed ten games, he returned for game thirteen of 2007 only to injure his elbow and be placed on injured reserve for the remainder of the season.

In 2008 Randy played all sixteen games, though had a subpar season, later we learned Randy had a bulging disc in his neck, a condition that was not only career threatening, if it had not been treated correctly it may have left Randy paralyzed. Randy had that surgery on his neck in February of this year, then had arthroscopic surgery to remove floating objects from his knee in June, the soreness in his knees from this second offseason surgery affected Randy's 2009 training camp, offensive line coach Joe Bugel expressed concerns that Randy might not be able to go sixteen games this season, though in retrospect Joe's concern was ultimately unrelated to Randy's current injury.

Randy now heads out for his third surgery of the year and ends the season on injured reserve for the second time in three seasons. Randy will be 34 when 2010 training camp starts and have a salary cap number, assuming there is a salary cap, of 5.6 million dollars.

Good luck Randy, get in there, get it done and get back, I believe you can come back and continue to play football for this team.

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Randy was replaced by third year tackle Will Montgomery against the Rams, second year tackle Chad Rinehart was the depth chart backup to Randy however Chad was inactive for the game, as he was the week before.

Chad and Will competed this week for the job, Chad is a 2008 draftee and was poorly evaluated by the coaches last season, his play has been rated as improved by the team.

It was a close race, the starting right guard position ultimately went to Chad, principally according to head coach Jim Zorn because Will is needed as both backup center and tackle, therefore if something were to happen to Will at right guard the team would also lose its backup center.

Interestingly a name that came up in team internal discussions this week was Pete Kendall, the Redskins left guard the past two seasons and currently a free agent at age 36. In commemorating Pete's birthday in July I wondered right here at Curly R whether Pete may could come back as a backup, he received no offers to compete for a starting job and may yet be able to extend his career by a few seasons if he were willing to take a backup role. A month later Jason Reid at the Washington Post wondered the same thing. Pete's knees are apparently bad and he would have a hard time practicing and so far there has been no contact between Pete and the team. It should be noted Pete did not miss a game, maybe not even a snap over his two seasons with the Redskins.

Away we go into game three with a new right guard.



Randy Thomas in the Rams game: AP photo from here.