1. RB Clinton Portis (groin) was able to do more in practice today than Ryan Torain (hamstring). Still not sure if that’s a good sign for Portis or a bad one for Torain. Even Mike Shanahan isn’t certain what it means for Monday night. The problem for Portis is that he’s already missed four games and it’s not like he could stay in great shape with a groin injury. That’s what could keep him out another game.
2. PR/KR Brandon Banks (knee) might be able to play Monday, Shanahan said. He was originally expected to miss two to three weeks after his bye week surgery. But his small size (155 pounds) means there’s less pounding on his knee, so that helps. He’s also been running on the treadmill and receiving treatment three to four times a day. Still, it’s hard to imagine him playing so soon after the surgery (it would be nine days).
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3. QB Donovan McNabb’s hamstrings have improved, Shanahan said, but he’s still not at full speed. That’s not good as the Redskins move into the second half of the season. Shanahan said the Redskins did not work on the hurry-up offense Wednesday, but he would like to do so this week. It’s been six weeks since they ran the two-minute offense in practice. Six weeks.
4. LB Brian Orakpo said he spoke with Charles Mann before the Chicago Bears game, then went out and recorded two sacks. Orakpo also said he talked with Bruce Smith recently and picked up a couple things.
“I’m a guy open to always trying to get better,” he said. “All these great guys that have been a part of this game, been a part of this organization to help tweak my game and help me progress as a premier pass rusher.”
The truth is, playing where he does suits him. Orakpo is an explosive player; when he was several yards off the ball in a 4-3, some of that was lost. The key is that Orakpo stays low when he’s in a two-point stance and that enables him to explode into linemen. That’s something Andre Carter struggled to do.
5. Orakpo said he doesn’t want to go back to rushing from a three-point stance. “I love how this defense is, I love how they’re using me,” he said. “It will only get better.”
6. RB James Davis is becoming the most well-known practice squad back. But don’t look for him to be promoted until the last minute. Why do otherwise? However, it’s doubtful Davis would have turned down Carolina if he didn’t think there was a chance he’d stay on the practice squad here.
“The money was about the same,” he said, “but I thought this was the better situation for me. If I’m moved up it will work out great for me in this system. I don’t know if I would have went to Carolina, I probably would never have been activated at all. I would have been on the 53, but would I have been activated? Here, they’re gonna activate me if I go to the 53.”
Davis said he always wanted to play in Denver’s one-cut system when Shanahan was the coach.
7. Dallas native Anthony Armstrong was asked if he’s getting a kick out of seeing the Cowboys struggle. The answer: Yes he does.
“It’s bad because down deep I do kind of giggle,” he said. “I try to stay out of it, but I do kind of giggle down deep….Everyone down there, they switched over from Cowboys fans to Redskins fans.”
8. In the first meeting vs. Philadelphia, the Redskins had success being physical with the wideouts. The secondary expects the Eagles to line their receivers up a little differently, maybe further off the ball
“They can spread guys out there; they had a lot of sets where they were condensed and allowed us to jam them,” safety Reed Doughty said. “They can do all that kind of stuff.”
9. Orakpo said he thinks Vick is playing better than he did in his Atlanta days. While it’s hard for a second-year guy to have that sort of perspective, his head coach agrees with him.
“Without question,” Shanahan said. “He’s doing everything better, just executing the offense better. He seems more relaxed in the pocket and he looks as fast as he did before, which I didn’t think was possible because when I saw him come back the first year I really saw a guy drop off, didn’t look like he had his speed. I wasn’t sure if he could get it back, but you can see very quickly he has his speed back.”
10. A little plug for the Redskins: They’re holding a free health screening for veterans and their families in the locker room at FedEx Field from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. They’ll conduct 15 health screenings (with 70 doctors in attendance).
11. Submit a question for Redskins Mailbag.
