After a rough and expensive Friday night, I decided to take it easy Saturday night and re-watch the Steelers at Redskins game (along with GB at CLE and SF at New Orleans). As expected with pre-sesaon games, there was good and bad. Instead of just dumping my notes, I thought I'd give out Shanny Awards to key categories. Whichever Redskin accumulates the most Shannys by the end of the season wins a Ken Meringolo autographed toilet seat.

BEST SPECIAL TEAMER: Brandon Banks (other nominees: Graham Gano, Darrel Young)

Brandon Banks has a je ne c'est quoi. His kick returning skills have reached the fluidity and ease that Dante Hall once had. Whenever Banks fields a kick, he's able to stay patiently smooth and find that lane where normal returners are diving forward for an extra yard after being surrounded by opponents. Graham Gano had a solid game 3-3 on kicks. Did you see Darrel Young's fantastic Special Teams' block pn Banks' 20-yard punt return? As for Aldrick Robinson muffing two punts, let's remember that Brandon Banks muffed 3 kicks during the 2010 pre-season.

BEST TECHNIQUE: Barry Cofield (other nominees: Gano, Moss)

Nose Tackles usually are considered to be big, fat guys that simply clog the middle, which is why Redskins fans have been bearish on how a 300 pound Cofield can handle Nose. Cofield was consistently in the Steelers backfield using a side-step swim technique that worked over and over and over. On one third and short, Cofield swam right by the Center and made the stop. The former Giant is a smart player and it's showing. Stephen Bowen registered a sack from the NT position on a great technique move too. Santana Moss gets an honorable mention because his 5-star route running significantly makes Rex Grossman's job easier.

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Warren Sapp, now an analyst for NFL Live, shows some damning evidence of Haynesworth exerting less than optimal effort on some key plays last season. In other words, he flat out sucked. Keep this in mind: This game film is from a home game, versus the Cowboys, on Monday Night Football:

Sapp: Let's see what Shanahan is looking at. The first play against the Cowboys...(Hayensworth falls down)...oop! We call that an OG. Own Ground. The second play of the game. A bubble screen...(Haynesworth isn't hustling)...come on Albert! Show me some effort. It's the second play of the game. It's Monday Night Football. This is Cowboys and Indians. Come on! He's still on the ground? JOP. That's what we call...Jump on pile.

4th play of the game...(pass up field)...Ball is still alive Albert! That's called a change of speed my friend. When you have a change of speed four plays into the game, he's out of the game now.

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Rick Snider has covered the Redskins since 1983. He's a columnist with the Washington Examiner. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com.

Topic: Given McNabb's injury history, Rex's ineffectiveness history, and a patchwork (in the works) o-line that could still resemble an ongoing Oklahoma drill for the quarterbacks, it's as if this team is doomed to carry 3 QB's. I'd love to think that that extra spot can go towards keeping Torain on the roster or more depth on the D-line, but is that really possible or even smart?

Snider: Shanahan said he'll only keep two quarterbacks, which was a surprise. The Redskins have done it before, partly by stashing a rookie on the practice squad. I think that's what they'll do again this year and use the extra roster slot for an offensive lineman or receiver. Personally, I'd only keep two quarterbacks if you keep the third on the practice squad.

Kevin: If Rex and McNabb are the two QBs on the roster, you can't expect John Beck to sit on the practice squad and NOT get signed by another team. Shanny said he'd keep 2 QBs ONLY IF the third one doesn't warrant the spot. That was obviously the case with Bartel and Colt, but Beck changes things. He was a high 2nd round pick, who Kyle Shanahan coincidentally coveted out of BYU. I am more nervous about the depth on DLine than WR or OLine. Ma'ake and Haynesworth are already hurt. 

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John Keim has covered the Washington Redskins since 1994. Follow his work at WashingtonExaminer.com.

Here's our latest Q&A with Redskins beat writer, John Keim. We discuss the progress of Dennis Morris, Chris Horton, and Chad Rinehart...and how the backup Nose Tackles are competing since one of them will likely be out starter.

Hogs Haven: How has Dennis Morris looked? (is he getting a lot of time as FB/H-Back/TE?). What team is he primarily playing with?

Can't say that I've seen him do a whole lot. Tried to focus on him a couple times and only saw him blocking from an H-back spot. He was OK, but I really need to see more. They plan to use him in various spots.

Hogs Haven: With Ma'ake only be 60%, it's clear we can't count on him to be the starter all year (he was over 380 lbs at one point last year). Who is emering as the better NT starter: Antonio Bryant or Howard Green? (ie: pushing back the OL, stuffing the middle, who's bigger in size?)

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Shanahan made a comment after practice today that the first week of camp is "chaotic", so read into these updates as you want. I really could care less about Haynesworth because let's be honest, he's not making it through this season healthy. Haynesworth ran three 25-yard shuttles this morning before he had to stop due to knee irritations.

From what it looks like, Rex has a comfortable lead over Colt Brennan as the #2 QB, and in which case Shanny will only carry 2 QBs, which makes sense. Why use an extra roster spot on a below average QB?

Shanahan still confident Haynesworth will pass and get in "football shape." Noted how he posted good time on his first sprint last Thurs @RickMaese 

Shanahan on whether this Haynesworth conditioning thing could eventually just be bagged: "Possibly." @Rich_Campbell

Shanahan very impressed by Portis and Rex so far. Says Larry & Willie came in great shape. @Russellmania09

Landry and Rogers blitzed from.different sides on an 11-on-11 third down play. It helped force an incompletion. @Rich_Campbell

Kevin Barnes pulls down Larry Johnson on a run to the left. Impressive tackle by Barnes on a big RB. @RedskinsDotCom

Grossman underthrows another deep ball, this one intercepted by Tryon. Grossman has had a good camp so far, but the arm strength isn't there @Rich_Campbell

Shanahan on if Portis can still break long runs; I sure hope so;if not he won't be our RB. @john_keim

Shanahan says Portis is weighing about 218 pounds. He's looked good. Portis said earlier he's pleased with line in front of him  @RickMaese

OL coach Chris Foerster on the state of the unit: "It's a process." @Rich_Campbell

It's nice that we no longer have a QB controversy, so I guess we can make one for the RBs. So many of us, myself included, have said "Portis is done." It might just be possible that it was Gibbs' mistake to beef him up as a Riggins' type of RB, which failed further in Zorn's WCO and Cerrato's negligence to build the Oline. Just like we say for most of our players each year, "this is their last year to make or break."

Hi guys.  My name is Mike Prada, and I'm the senior editor of SB Nation D.C. and the webmaster of our Wizards blog Bullets Forever.  Kevin asked me to share some observations from training camp, since I've been able to cover the first two days (not today, I'm heading out of town) with a press credential.  Here are a couple quick thoughts:

• Albert Haynesworth: Obviously, this whole thing has been beaten to death, but in case it wasn't clear, Haynesworth's "test" isn't exactly the kind of standardized exercise that everyone takes.  It's actually a conditioning drill turned into a "test" specifically for Haynesworth.  Strength and Conditioning Coach Ray Wright explained the whole thing yesterday.  Basically, the test is a variation of a drill the players often do during their OTAs, and anyone who didn't attend more than 50 percent of the OTA sessions had to do it as a "test" before training camp.  Haynesworth was the only one who didn't pass that threshold (though Andre Carter and Rocky McIntosh were close), so he had to take the drill-turned-test.
• Mike Shanahan said he thinks anyone on the team could pass the test "in their sleep," but that's somewhat debatable.  It's a bit unclear whether the players were timed when doing the drill in OTAs, and it's less clear whether the defensive linemen had to do it in 70 seconds, then 73 seconds.  Some players, like Phillip Daniels, said they could pass the test easily.  Others, like DeAngelo Hall, said he's not sure players on the team could pass it even at 100 percent.  Ultimately, the best way to classify the "test" is that's it's standard, but probably not as easy as Shanahan thinks.
• One thing that was interesting is that Daniels said he thinks the test gets harder every day because of the wear and tear on your body.  However, Wright disagreed with that statement, saying it gets easier because you learn how to find the right pace to run when you fail it.  Pretty much everyone I talked to, from Hall to Daniels, also said you needed to train for the test to pass it well.

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We'll do our best to keep an open thread kind of approach to the beginning of camp. We will add news items to each entry but we encourage all our readers to use the comments section here to kick around anything late-breaking or otherwise interesting.

Haynesworth #1****First on the docket is news from Jay Glazer that Albert Haynesworth did NOT pass his conditioning tests today. According to Glazer, Haynesworth passed the 1st part but not the 2nd part. This story will be monitored closely, but as of right now it appears that the Haynesworth Show is already full of drama and intrigue and we are merely hours into this thing.

****Can we all kind of discuss what is less surprising: Haynesworth failing his physical or Malcolm Kelly missing the beginning of camp with a hamstring injury? How is Kelly going to convince Shanahan to trust him if he can't be on the field? So frustrating...

Haynesworth UPDATE****Jason Reid is reporting that Haynesworth did in fact pass his conditioning (as reported below by CaptChaos). My understanding is that there is a lot of confusion over the scores he received in both the swimsuit competition and the evening gown competition.

2:00 PM****Looks like the consensus is FAIL.

2:30 PM****In what is becoming more dramatic by the minute, it is now being reported that Haynesworth had to drop a deuce and it caused him to fail his test. I would otherwise not pass on this speculation, but the Haynesworth Saga would be incomplete without a log in the bowl. In fact, if true, it would be among the least offensive parts of the Haynesworth Saga.

**As reported by John Clayton on ESPNews, "Haynesworth failed to run a third 100-yard sprint in a satisfactory time. Coach Mike Shanahan felt he had too much rest between his runs and asked for a third. When Haynesworth told Shanahan he never ran 3 such sprints during his best Pro Bowl seasons Shanahan told Haynesworth he must not have ever been in shape."

***Oakland Raiders sign Rolando McClain. My prediction: Pro Bowl in his rookie year.