Now that Albert Haynesworth has passed his conditioning test—and appeared on the practice field in a limited role today, according to the Washington Post—what’s next for the high priced defensive lineman? From a player’s perspective, if I am in that huddle, I am anxious to see what he can do on the practice field and once he gets into the preseason games.
Show me that you are worth all of the drama that has taken place this entire offseason and throughout the beginning of camp—because the rest of the team has been practicing and working in Jim Haslett’s new 3-4 scheme. Come in, work hard, buy into the defense and let’s go to work.
ICONHaynesworth is back on the field.
That’s it. No more drama and no more talk. Because when it comes to players they want to see results. That is how they judge talent. Talk is cheap—very cheap—in the NFL. The only way to earn the respect of your teammates in this league is simple: practice hard and make some plays.
Because once Haynesworth does that, this story is dead. He just becomes another player on that defense as far as the Redskins’ locker room is concerned.
It will take some time. Haynesworth is the equivalent of a holdout player when we talk about the amount of practice time on the field in pads he has missed. Sure, he passed the conditioning test for Mike Shanahan, but his actual football conditioning (that you can only get during camp) is behind. He will need extra time on the field—after practice—with the coaching staff to work on the footwork, the technique and the basic fundamentals that are taught under Haslett. And, he should expect some extra meeting time as well to learn from the tape.
Shanahan, Haslett and that entire defense will expect to see effort out of Haynesworth and they will have no problem spending the extra time to get him ready to go for the regular season—because at the end of the day the talent is there. We can spin this multiple ways when it comes to our opinion on Haynesworth, but the bottom line is that he is back and on the field with a ton to prove.
And once he starts making plays in this scheme, no one in that building will remember the offseason, the conditioning test or the lack of dedication to this organization after he got paid.
It is all about football now--and everyone will be watching.
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