Lachey

CARLISLE, Pa. -- Jim Lachey is holding out.Ed Simmons is coming back from a knee injury.Mark Adickes is out with a back injury.Russ Grimm has retired and is now an assistant coach.The result is that the Redskins have yet to get four of the five players who played tackle last year in the lineup in the exhibition games.Joe Jacoby, the starting right tackle, who jammed his elbow in last night's practice but is expected to stay in the lineup, is the only holdover from last year's tackle contingent who's seen action this year.

Lachey, Green are making differenceEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Jim Lachey and Darrell Green, who missed all of training camp while holding out, are proving just how valuable they are to the Washington Redskins.Since they have rejoined the starting lineup, the Redskins have won back-to-back games by a 69-13 count.They pounded the Phoenix Cardinals, 41-3, last week and the New York Giants, 28-10, yesterday.Lachey's return at left tackle has stabilized the offensive line and given Mark Rypien time to throw.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Sharon Pratt Kelly, the mayor of Washington, recently called Washington Redskins owner Jack Kent Cooke a "billionaire bully."The Redskins have a different name for him: Mr. Cooke.When former quarterback Joe Theismann, one of the few players who was allowed to negotiate directly with the owner, was asked why he called him Mr. Cooke, he said, "Because he's Mr. Cooke."The fact that all the Redskins from coach Joe Gibbs on down refer to him as "Mr. Cooke" is an example of the combination of fear and respect with which the Redskins treat the owner.

WASHINGTON -- The Best Team That Money Can Buy takes the field at RFK Stadium tonight.For the first time since they left the Metrodome as Super Bowl XXVI champions last January, the Washington Redskins will have their team intact when they play host to the Minnesota Vikings in their final preseason game this year.There's one major difference in this year's team: Their wallets are fatter than they were last January.It cost owner Jack Kent Cooke more than $26 million to sign four holdouts -- quarterback Mark Rypien, cornerback Darrell Green, offensive tackle Jim Lachey and Heisman Trophy winner Desmond Howard.

WASHINGTON -- Jim Lachey was asked if the Washington Redskins had shut up the critics who have been pronouncing them old.The National Football League's second most aged team had just run and passed the young Miami Dolphins silly, 42-20. The eldest team, the San Francisco 49ers, continues to pursue its third straight championship tonight."If I were starting a team," said Lachey, a 27-year-old offensive tackle, "I'd want these old guys right here."Right there were Jeff Bostic, 32, and Russ Grimm and Joe lTC Jacoby, both 31. All aboriginal Hogs, all surgically stitched around their knees, they brought the Redskins' running game into existence again.

WASHINGTON -- In a sauna bath cleverly disguised as RFK Stadium, the Washington Redskins sweated out a 17-3 victory over the New York Jets last night.With the temperature a stifling 84 degrees at the kickoff, it wasn't a setting for crisp football in the final exhibition game before 50,695 fans."That was a sloppy football game," coach Richie Petitbon said.Petitbon also was concerned about the team's injury situation.Tight end Frank Wycheck of Maryland was lost for two weeks with a mild concussion and both offensive tackle Joe Jacoby and linebacker Andre Collins are expected to undergo magnetic resonance imaging exams today for knee sprains.

98 Degrees member and former Jessica Simpson husband Nick Lachey headlines Mix 106.5's Mistletoe Meltdown on Saturday at the Hippodrome Theatre. With his boy band on hiatus, the former Newlyweds star launched his solo career in 2003 with the critically panned SoulO. Since his divorce, Lachey's latest effort, What's Left of Me, has produced two hit singles, "What's Left of Me" and "I Can't Hate You Anymore." The show starts at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Hippodrome, 12 N. Eutaw St. Tickets are $39.50-$49.

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.

HERNDON, Va. -- Wide receiver Gary Clark hopes it was good omen for the Washington Redskins that he ended his two-year Pro Bowl drought yesterday.Clark, who ranks fourth in the National Football Conference with 68 catches, was one of four Redskins selected for the NFC team.The others were cornerback Darrell Green, who made it for the fourth time; offensive tackle Jim Lachey, named for the second time; and running back Earnest Byner, selected for the first time.The teams are selected by the National Football League's players.