Jason Campbell could not play today, Clinton Portis moves closer to the field

Same article, two big pieces of relevant Redskins injury news. First:

From the mustache himself: I think he needs some more reps, but I'd just as soon let him play more of the fourth preseason game than rush this thing for this weekend. Essentially I'm saying his being ready for the regular season is a function of reps rather than games played. Or at least that's the position I'm taking given last Saturday's terrifying scare. With Chris Samuels still out I just don't like the idea of Campbell putting himself on the field with a knee he's unsure of. In a best case scenario his mind isn't in the game, it's focused on the knee, but he walks away uninjured. Even then, he loses a bit of confidence, he isn't focused on the game, and we all get to speculate about whether he's truly ready. In a worst case scenario, and I'm talking about the kind with no respite for this blogger, we're discussing his reinjured knee and biting fingernails over the seriousness of it. Don't let that happen. If he's good to go, if the knee heals miraculously over the next few days, great fantastic and wonderful. I'm almost still leaning towards playing it safe, and Chris Mottram agrees with me. He makes the case that Campbell shouldn't even play until Chris Samuels returns this preseason. Discuss.

Where Campbell's situation has become less certain over the past week, Clinton Portis' has become moreso:

Of course paint me skeptical on whether he'll play this week -- I'm voting a no. If not because of his current status, than because of last year's fiasco where he went down in the preseason and seemed to hold some animosity about it. In light of the fact that Jerome Bettis just admitted to lying about an injury to keep his job it would not surprise me if the seriousness of the injury was played up by Portis to avoid playing in the preseason.

NOTE: I am not calling anyone on our team a liar. But if Jerome Bettis is willing to lie to a coaching staff about an injury to keep his job, it would hardly surprise me if one of our own players talked his way out of the field rather than genuinely pained his way off of it. And I'm not even being judgmental here: It may or may not be better for Clinton Portis to remain off the field in this situation. I am making no value judgment on that one way or the other, for the moment at least.

By the way, our run game thus far this preseason has been absolutely dismal. To wit: 120 yards on 49 rushes for 2.4 yards per carry. Only the Eagles have been worse.