Left tackle Trent Williams significantly bruised his left thigh when left guard Kory Lichtensteiger inadvertently kneed him while pass blocking on the third play of the Redskins’ win over Dallas on Thanksgiving. He wasn’t wearing thigh pads on the play.
Williams plans to change that Monday night against the New York Giants.
“I’m definitely going to have something protecting my thigh this game,” he said.
Williams missed practice Wednesday, as his teammates began preparing for New York. Joining them as soon as possible is a priority.
“I’m the type of player that I feel like I need practice during the week to kind of hit my stride so Monday night I feel comfortable when I head out there on the field,” he said.
Williams said he’ll have to play through some discomfort against the Giants, but he believes that’s no different than what any other player experiences this late in the season.
His focus is on stopping Giants defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and Osi Umenyiora.
“You’ve got to be good on technique,” he said. “You’ve got to be disciplined. It’s going to take a little luck. Hopefully, they don’t guess the snap count too many times. Just try to stay out in front of them and try to stay square. It’s not an easy task, as you can see. They create havoc in the backfield every time they play.”
RG3 trails in Pro Bowl voting
Quarterback Robert Griffin III ranks fourth among NFC quarterbacks in fan voting for the Pro Bowl, the league announced Wednesday. Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers, New Orleans’ Drew Brees and Atlanta’s Matt Ryan are ahead of him.
Rodgers, who leads the NFL with a passer rating of 105.6, is the only NFC quarterback with a better rating than Griffin’s 104.6. Griffin ranks fourth in the NFL behind Rodgers, New England’s Tom Brady (105.0) and Denver’s Peyton Manning (104.8) — some elite company, to be sure.
The NFL determines its annual all-star teams using a combination of votes from fans, coaches and players. No Redskins lead at their positions.
Trent Williams isn’t even in the top five among NFC tackles. Rookie running back Alfred Morris ranks fifth in the conference. The league accepts fans’ votes on its website.
Brown won’t return this year
The Redskins ended right tackle Jammal Brown’s season by leaving him on the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list at Tuesday’s deadline to activate him.
“He was unable to play,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “His hip was sore, both his right and left hip. He tried to give everything he had. He just didn’t have the ability to work through it.”
The move was expected after Brown, 31, suffered a setback in his return from left hip ligament surgery. He returned to practice Nov. 12 but lasted only two days.Brown has never been fully healthy since tearing the labrum in his left hip in 2009. Now, his future with the Redskins is in major doubt.
He signed a five-year, $27.5 million contract before the 2011 season. $3.3 million in bonus money still impacts the Redskins salary cap.
All of that would count against Washington’s 2013 salary cap if they released him before June 1, 2013. If the Redskins waited until after that, only $1.1 million would count against the penalty-reduced 2013 cap, and $2.2 would be deferred until 2014.
Shanahan wouldn’t say anything definitive about Brown’s future.
“I will let some time go by first,” he said. “It’s hard to say right now, but obviously it’s not a good sign when he is working pretty hard and all of a sudden it acts up. So we will give it some time sand probably won’t let you know for a while.”
Extra points
• Linebacker London Fletcher (sprained left ankle) did not practice Wednesday, but he is expected to play Monday night. Receiver Pierre Garcon (sprained right foot) participated in all of practice, but he isn’t fully healthy.
• The Redskins put in a waiver claim on defensive end Jason Babin, a source confirmed. Babin, however, was awarded to Jacksonville. Philadelphia released Babin on Tuesday. He had 5.5 sacks for the Eagles this season. Jacksonville must pay the remaining $1.69 million owed him this season.
• Washington claimed inside linebacker Bryan Kehl off waivers from Kansas City. He was one of the Redskins’ most active defensive reserves during the preseason but did not make the team.
• The Redskins’ victory over Dallas on Thanksgiving Day was watched by an average of 28.7 million viewers, which the NFL said ranks as the most-watched show of the fall TV season.
• Rich Campbell can be reached at rcampbell@washingtontimes.com.
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