Jeff Rutledge

PHILADELPHIA -- When the Washington Redskins prepared to play the Philadelphia Eagles three weeks ago, Jeff Rutledge flopped at the task of imitating quarterback Randall Cunningham in practice."

ASHBURN, Va. -- The Washington Redskins are fortunate they don't have to open the season with their "final" 47-man roster.Doing their usual roster maneuvering yesterday, the Redskins waived their punter (Kelly Goodburn) and their holder (Jeff Rutledge) while cutting 13 players to reduce their roster to 47 players.That doesn't mean they're not planning to punt this year. It's just business as usual for the Redskins, who will bring both players back if they clear waivers today.It was less than a rousing endorsement of Goodburn, who was 24th in the NFL with an average of 39.8 yards last season.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The quarterback search seems likely to continue for the Washington Redskins.Five years after Joe Theismann's career was ended with a broken leg in 1985, the team's quarterback situation remains a puzzle.That was one of the major lessons of a Washington season that ended Saturday with a 28-10 divisional-playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.Despite joining the long list of teams that have lost to Joe Montana in the playoffs (the Redskins won in their only previous playoff meeting with him in 1983)

Where have all the quarterbacks gone?As the NFL season nears its halfway mark, the general managers and coaches are scrambling to answer that question.The shortage of quarterbacks is probably tied into the drop in scoring that has been one of the hallmarks of this season.Although Bobby Hebert has come back from a season-long holdout to lead the New Orleans Saints to a 6-0 start, the league has lost such high-profile players as Joe Montana, Randall Cunningham, Jim McMahon, Timm Rosenbaugh and Dave Krieg because of injuries.

For the Washington Redskins, only the names change. The quarterback controversy seems to go on forever.For most of the past two decades, the Redskins have been arguing about their quarterbacks.There were Sonny, Billy and Joe in the 1970s, Doug, Jay and Mark in the 1980s and now in the 1990s, Cary, Jeff and Stan.When the Redskins close out their exhibition season tonight against the New York Jets in Columbia, S.C., they hope to resolve their latest quarterback controversy.Coach Joe Gibbs has to decide whether to go with Cary Conklin and Jeff Rutledge as his two backups behind Mark Rypien and leave Stan Humphries as the odd man out."

HERNDON, Va. -- It's a question that is haunting the Washington Redskins these days: Why can't they beat the New York Giants?The Giants have won seven of the past eight non-strike games from the Redskins, beating them three times in 1986 and sweeping both games the past two years.Their inability to beat the Giants helped cost the Redskins a playoff berth the past two years.The strange thing is that the games usually are close, but the Giants still dominate the series. The Giants' last three victories // have come by a total of seven points -- 24-23, 27-24 and 20-17.

HERNDON, Va. -- It is a young tradition of Brooks, 11; Christen, 9, and Meg, 7, that Monday is Dad's Night Out, so the Rutledges were on line at McDonald's."

PHILADELPHIA -- Jeff Rutledge didn't know what happened to his thumb, only that it was blood red and distended and three times the size it used to be. He didn't know if he had smashed it against a lineman's helmet or had it crushed into the artificial turf like an old cigarette butt. He didn't even know whether the thumb was sprained or broken.All he knew was that, although it hurt like hell and it stuck out like, well, a sore thumb, the pain in his hand was not the worst of it.What really hurt was that the heart-warming story was over.

BETHLEHEM, PA. -- It didn't take long for quarterback Mark Cypien to scrape off the rust after his 10-day holdout.In only his third day in training camp, Rypien -- who wasn't even scheduled to play -- directed the Washington Redskins on a nine-play, 65-yard touchdown drive in a scrimmage against the New York Jets at Lehigh University yesterday.Rypien's 8-yard touchdown pass to Earnest Byner and four field goals by Chip Lohmiller were enough to give the Redskins a 25-16 victory.Coach Joe Gibbs decided to give Rypien a series in the scrimmage after he threw well in the seven-on-seven passing drill.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Washington Redskins and the New York Giants know each other so well -- Washington has met New York in six of their past 39 games -- that they try to cross each other up.They were at it again yesterday in the Giants' 21-10 victory.For the Redskins, the surprise move was quarterback Stan Humphries throwing to tight end Don Warren, who had caught one pass all year, but caught 10 against the Giants.For the Giants, it was a fake field-goal attempt, with holder Jeff Hostetler throwing to Lawrence Taylor in the end zone from the Washington 27.But defensive back Alvoid Mays wasn't fooled, covering Taylor all the way and breaking up the play.

HERNDON, Va. -- Football holders can be compared to referees and umpires: They usually get noticed only when they make a mistake."All you can do is screw up back there," said Jeff Rutledge, holder for the Washington Redskins."

For the Washington Redskins, only the names change. The quarterback controversy seems to go on forever.For most of the past two decades, the Redskins have been arguing about their quarterbacks.There were Sonny, Billy and Joe in the 1970s, Doug, Jay and Mark in the 1980s and now in the 1990s, Cary, Jeff and Stan.When the Redskins close out their exhibition season tonight against the New York Jets in Columbia, S.C., they hope to resolve their latest quarterback controversy.Coach Joe Gibbs has to decide whether to go with Cary Conklin and Jeff Rutledge as his two backups behind Mark Rypien and leave Stan Humphries as the odd man out."

BETHLEHEM, PA. -- It didn't take long for quarterback Mark Cypien to scrape off the rust after his 10-day holdout.In only his third day in training camp, Rypien -- who wasn't even scheduled to play -- directed the Washington Redskins on a nine-play, 65-yard touchdown drive in a scrimmage against the New York Jets at Lehigh University yesterday.Rypien's 8-yard touchdown pass to Earnest Byner and four field goals by Chip Lohmiller were enough to give the Redskins a 25-16 victory.Coach Joe Gibbs decided to give Rypien a series in the scrimmage after he threw well in the seven-on-seven passing drill.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The quarterback search seems likely to continue for the Washington Redskins.Five years after Joe Theismann's career was ended with a broken leg in 1985, the team's quarterback situation remains a puzzle.That was one of the major lessons of a Washington season that ended Saturday with a 28-10 divisional-playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers.Despite joining the long list of teams that have lost to Joe Montana in the playoffs (the Redskins won in their only previous playoff meeting with him in 1983)

HERNDON, Va. -- For Mark Rypien and Brian Mitchell, it wasn't just an ordinary practice yesterday.Rypien called signals in a Washington Redskins practice for the first time since he injured his left knee on Sept. 23 against the Dallas Cowboys.Mitchell, a rookie who was pressed into emergency action as a quarterback Monday night, got his first chance to work with the first-string offense as a running back.Both players looked sharp and should play key roles Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

PHILADELPHIA -- Jeff Rutledge didn't know what happened to his thumb, only that it was blood red and distended and three times the size it used to be. He didn't know if he had smashed it against a lineman's helmet or had it crushed into the artificial turf like an old cigarette butt. He didn't even know whether the thumb was sprained or broken.All he knew was that, although it hurt like hell and it stuck out like, well, a sore thumb, the pain in his hand was not the worst of it.What really hurt was that the heart-warming story was over.

Where have all the quarterbacks gone?As the NFL season nears its halfway mark, the general managers and coaches are scrambling to answer that question.The shortage of quarterbacks is probably tied into the drop in scoring that has been one of the hallmarks of this season.Although Bobby Hebert has come back from a season-long holdout to lead the New Orleans Saints to a 6-0 start, the league has lost such high-profile players as Joe Montana, Randall Cunningham, Jim McMahon, Timm Rosenbaugh and Dave Krieg because of injuries.

HERNDON, Va. -- For Mark Rypien and Brian Mitchell, it wasn't just an ordinary practice yesterday.Rypien called signals in a Washington Redskins practice for the first time since he injured his left knee on Sept. 23 against the Dallas Cowboys.Mitchell, a rookie who was pressed into emergency action as a quarterback Monday night, got his first chance to work with the first-string offense as a running back.Both players looked sharp and should play key roles Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.

HERNDON, Va. -- It is a young tradition of Brooks, 11; Christen, 9, and Meg, 7, that Monday is Dad's Night Out, so the Rutledges were on line at McDonald's."

PHILADELPHIA -- When the Washington Redskins prepared to play the Philadelphia Eagles three weeks ago, Jeff Rutledge flopped at the task of imitating quarterback Randall Cunningham in practice."