Portis, Zorn clear the air

After a team meeting on Wednesday in which he declared he wouldn't let the dustup become a distraction, Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn met with running back Clinton Portis to sort out their differences.

"I saw 'em a while ago shaking [hands] and joking around with each other," quarterback Jason Campbell said before practice. "That's a positive. Sometimes what you think about someone may not be what's true because you never really sat down and had a conversation with each other."
Less than 24 hours earlier, Portis had called out his coach during his weekly paid appeareance on the team-owned radio station, ESPN 980, still angry over what he considered a benching during the team's loss on Sunday to the Baltimore Ravens.

Portis was on the bench for all but two of the Redskins' second-half offensive snaps, replaced after the first series by Ladell Betts and Mike Sellers. The Redskins, meanwhile, have lost two games in a row to fall to 7-6 on the season; one more loss could sink their dwindling playoff hopes.

"We got a genius for a head coach, so I don't know. I'm sure he's got everything figured out," Portis said during Tuesday's episode of "The John Thompson Show." "All I can do is when he calls a play is to go out and execute to the best of my ability."

Portis and Zorn both conducted interview sessions after practice.

"We had an excellent conversation and got things clarified and came out to practice," Zorn said."Hopefully we'll be able to get around to the business at hand, which is preparing for Cincinnati."

Said Portis: "I wasn't hoping to accomplish anything. It was something on my chest that I needed to get off and I did. Now that was yesterday. Today, I'm at work. We're getting ready to play the Cincinnati Bengals."

Linebacker London Fletcher led a players-only meeting before Zorn's gathering, though it had been scheduled before Portis' on-air tirade. Most players agreed that they wouldn't let the situation become a distraction, nor did the players take sides in the squabble.

"[Questioning the calls] is not something you should do as a player," Fletcher said. "Coaches coach and players play. Regardless of whatever the call is, you go out there and execute that play to the best of your abilities. That's the way most of the guys are around here. We'll get the rest to buy into it.

"Clinton's a great teammate," Fletcher added. "I love Clinton, the way he approaches the game. Clinton's not one of those guys. You watch him play and there's no doubt, he's out there fighting, giving his all. He believes in what's going on, what's being called. He's going to go out and do his job and somebody else's. He's not a guy you have to get that message across to at all."

Wide receiver Santana Moss, who also played with Portis at the University of Miami, understands his buddy as well any Redskin.

"[Clinton] will never give us nothing less [than his best]," Moss said. "You can't fault him sometimes for the way he might express himself. He gonna speak his mind. He's still going to go out there, hit somebody in the mouth, take a mean hit when he run the ball, when you catch the ball, he'll be knocking somebody out downfield for you. He never stops playing. He just expresses his feelings a little differently than other guys.

And a number of players, such as 13-year veteran Pete Kendall and former Falcons and Raiders defensive back DeAngelo Hall, said they'd seen much worse and much crazier during their various stops around the league.

"Two of the most competitive guys here, emotional guys, too. It's not hard to figure out how either one's feeling," Kendall said. "If you can't tell by looking at 'em, you just have to ask. Maybe that's a little bit of what happened. I expect it will blow over. I don't think they need to hug in front of the team. We'll be OK."

(washigtontimes.com)