Smoke Signals: D.C. stands for Drama City!

Head Coach Mike Shanahan met with perennially-disgruntled DL Albert Haynesworth yesterday, but he would not divulge the contents of that conversation.

“If you guys want to talk about football, we’ll talk about football,” Shanahan said. “But to keep on talking about things outside of football to me is completely ridiculous. I did have a conversation with him. If you want to talk about football, we’ll talk about football.”

So Shanahan gave no response to the strong words uttered by the disgruntled nose tackle following Saturday’s loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Haynesworth accused the coach of mischaracterizing the reason he missed practice last week and said he will stay away from the Redskins’ offseason workout program again next year.

The rest of the team is sick of the whole thing, too.

“I’m staying out of that,” defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said. “That will end here soon. … He has to get going, that’s all. It’s time to stop all this and let’s go.” …

“I was surprised last week after [Haynesworth] was saying he liked the 3-4,” Redskins end Phillip Daniels said. “And this week you get a whole different story. It’s just crazy. We all need to move forward. … Coaches coach and players play; once he realizes that he’ll be better.”

Daniels also laughed about Haynesworth complaining about playing in the second half of a preseason game. Daniels, entering his 15th year, was on the field with him.

“It’s no big deal with me and really it shouldn’t have been a big deal with him at all,” Daniels said.

My favorite quote comes from WR/KR Devin Thomas: “It’s Drama City around here sometimes.”

Watch Redskins Round Table panelists John Keim and Rick Snider of The Examiner discuss the ongoing Albert Haynesworth drama. Snider also writes that the Haynesworth-Shanahan battle is like the Jeff George-Marty Schottenheimer battle of 2001 and should be solved the same way — with the head coach firing the malcontent player.

Watch this ESPN report on the Haynesworth soap opera…

Rookie LT Trent Williams, who was schooled by LB Terrell Suggs and injured in the Ravens game, says he’s healthy and will practice all week.

“It was a huge learning experience,” Williams said. “I look forward to going against more pass rushers of his stature. Maybe I can put my game on their level also.”

Through two training camp and two preseason games starting TB Clinton Portis has looked good. Young backups Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams have also looked good. But Larry Johnson was terrible on Saturday night and Willie Parker hasn’t looked good in several years. This leaves the running back situation more unsettled that it was thought to be.

At this point, many in the organization privately acknowledge that Portis, barring unforeseen circumstances, will line up with the first-team offense Sept. 12 against the Dallas Cowboys at FedEx Field. Who will be his primary backup?

Johnson or Parker still could make the opening 53-man roster, but it also wouldn’t be shocking if both were released. The Redskins are high on young backs Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams, and there are two preseason games remaining.

When Shanahan was with the Denver Broncos, he sometimes made surprising roster moves in choosing younger players over established veterans. It’s still unknown which path Shanahan will take with the backup spots, but at least Portis’s role seems clear.

If Torain and Williams keep playing well and Johnson and Parker keep not playing well, I hope Shanahan will do the smart, correct thing and release the veterans in favor of the kids. This Redskins team is old enough and one older running back — Portis — should be enough. If Johnson and Parker are not better than Torain and Williams, they should go and the kids should stay. We’ve already seen the best from the older guys. We saw it 4 years ago.

In case you missed it yesterday, free safety Kareem Moore is out 4-6 weeks with a sprained MCL and the Redskins signed ex-Steelers FS Tyrone Carter to replace him.

Donovan McNabb, FB Mike Sellers and FS Kareem Moore all missed practice yesterday, but LT Trent Williams and DL Albert Haynesworth did practice. McNabb wore a walking boot and then an air cast on his injured ankle yesterday. Sellers is officially questionable for Friday’s game against the Jets.

Speaking of McNabb, GQ has a big feature on him right now so go read it.

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