ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — While the Washington Redskins awaited official word about their future, perhaps with Mike Shanahan as coach, Clinton Portis went about rehashing the past — including his thoughts on quarterback Jason Campbell’s leadership skills.
There was no news conference at Redskins Park on Tuesday. No press release. No on-the-record statement by anyone associated with the team.
Shanahan arrived in the area Monday, flying across the country on owner Dan Snyder’s plane only hours after the Redskins fired Jim Zorn following a 4-12 season. Shanahan’s agent and the Redskins were working on a contract Tuesday, according to ESPN.com.
The Redskins would only acknowledge that the process of finding a coach was ongoing.
There was plenty said by Portis during his weekly appearance on a local radio station, however, including about what it’s like to play for Shanahan — something the running back did for two seasons with the Denver Broncos — and what it’s like to play with Campbell.
Asked on ESPN980 why Campbell was a team captain and he wasn’t, Portis replied: “I wonder the same thing. It’s no disrespect to Jason, but everybody in that locker room will tell you — you will never see Jason mad, you will never see Jason’s tempo change.”
Portis continued: “(He’s) going to give you everything (he’s) got. But as a leader … it was always, ‘Jason couldn’t take control of the huddle,’ or ‘He didn’t do this’ or ‘He didn’t do that.’ That wasn’t Jason’s character. … I think Jason, you can’t place so much on somebody who’s not ready for that situation. I think Jason has enough trouble in getting the plays in and worrying about this, compared to controlling the huddle.”
Portis told ESPN980 Campbell isn’t the type of player who would go to a coach and say, “‘Well, we need to do this or we need to do that,’ or ‘This is how the players want it.'”
It’s quite possible neither player will be with the Redskins next season.
Campbell can become a free agent. Portis missed the last half of the season after getting a concussion against Atlanta on Nov. 8, and he’ll turn 29 in September.
Portis also took exception to comments made by some teammates Monday about a lack of discipline this season and preferential treatment given to some players.
“Don’t wait for the season over to say that’s what the problem was. They could’ve came out and addressed those players and tried to stop it,” Portis told the radio station. “But you wait until the season’s over — and then it’s like a tell-all book came out.”
Although other players didn’t call out Portis specifically, he said: “You would think out of everything that came out, probably the first name that come to mind would be me. I never missed curfew. I ain’t never left the hotel. I never did any of that. I think the only thing we did, there was a group of us that set up and played poker, and they broke that game up at 11 o’clock.”
As for Shanahan, Portis described the coach as “the perfect guy for the job” and a “straight shooter.”
“If you’re doing the stuff you’re supposed to be doing, you’re fine with him,” Portis told the radio station. “If you’re not, no matter how much you’re getting paid, he’s going to get you up out of there.”
