ASHBURN, Va. (AP) -Clinton Portis started the season with a 34-yard run. He hasn’t done much since.
He’s not getting a lot of carries because the Washington Redskins aren’t running the ball much. He’s been bothered by bone spurs in both ankles, and he couldn’t practice Wednesday because he got kicked in the calf in the second half of the loss to the Detroit Lions. On fourth-and-goal at the 1 on the opening drive of the game, he had no path to the end zone. His team had zero – nada, zilch – yards rushing at halftime.
If the Redskins are going to pull out of their early season doldrums, they need to get Portis going. Or at least get some sort of running game going. That means readjusting a pass-run scale that, three games into the season, is tilted heavily (109 plays to 68) toward the pass.
“We feel we’re a run team, but it doesn’t matter what we feel,” fullback Mike Sellers said. “We’ve got to run the plays that are called.”
) aren’t getting a whole lot of plays to start with. The defense is last in the league in getting off the field on third downs. Against the Lions, the offense had only 19 snaps in the first half.
That said, only five were runs.
“I’ve been frustrated by our run game from not being able to call enough runs,” Zorn said. “I wish I had called more in the first half, or had more plays to call.”
Portis is one of the most unpredictable players around, so it never easy to gauge how he’ll react when things aren’t going well. He has only 183 yards on 47 carries – a spinning-in-mud 3.9 yards per carry – but his message of the week was aimed primarily at his teammates: Chill out; it’s early.
“We’ve got 20 people walking around the locker room with ‘hoo-rah’ talk, pumping guys up,” Portis said. “It’s Week 3. I don’t think it takes a ‘hoo-rah’ talk. I don’t think it takes pumping up a guy. We’ve just got to go out and make plays.
“I don’t think this is a time of panic,” he added. “Some people are saying, ‘Let’s not panic; we’re going to be all right.’ But they’re walking around, ‘C’mon baby, we need you, we need you.’ I would hate for a guy to come to me: ‘C’mon CP, stick with us.’ I’m sticking with you. I’m going to give you everything I’ve got. It’s only a matter of time before I have a 150-yard game.”
ver the first two weeks of the season, making it too painful for him to set himself in his usual pass blocking position. He said a new treatment plan has the ankles pain-free, but the bruised calf kept him sidelined in a gray hooded sweat shirt during Wednesday’s practice. He should be fine for Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Portis also needs more help from his blockers. The right side of the offensive line is especially dicey with guard Randy Thomas out for the season. In Thomas’ place is an inexperienced guard – second-year player Chad Rinehart – playing next to third-year right tackle Stephon Heyer, whose performance so far this season is uneven at best.
“He has to rise up because he had a veteran guard next to him, and there was some comfort level there,” Zorn said. “And now he is he veteran.”
Nevertheless, Zorn seems determined to run the ball more against Tampa Bay.
“We’re not going to become ‘Ground Chuck,’ or ‘Ground Jim,”’ Zorn said. “But we are going to run the ball and mix it up.”
NOTES: Thomas spoke to reporters for the first time since the surgery to repair his torn right triceps. The 33-year-old lineman said he isn’t contemplating retirement. “I never had that thought in my mind,” Thomas said. “Mentally, in my mind, I’m never giving up.” … Questions about Zorn’s job security are becoming a regular occurrence. “Why would I worry about my job security?” the coach answered Wednesday. “We’re three games into the season, and we’re working to win.”
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