Schottenheimer

LANDOVER - If yesterday was Marty Schottenheimer's last turn behind the wheel of the Washington Redskins, the record will reflect that he drove full throttle. Amid rumors that he will be fired as early as today as the team's coach and head of football operations, Schottenheimer pushed virtually every button at his disposal to get the sluggish Redskins across the finish line a winner. And after the Redskins got a hard-fought 20-17 victory over the Arizona Cardinals (7-9) at rain-soaked FedEx Field, Schottenheimer made it clear that he wants to remain in the driver's seat.

ASHBURN, Va. - Likely Hall of Fame Washington Redskins cornerback Darrell Green, who hinted last week that his decision to retire after the season may have been influenced by the lack of respect new coach Marty Schottenheimer showed him in training camp, announced yesterday that he will "unretire" and play his 20th season in 2002. "After discussing it with my wife, Jewell, and our family [Sunday night], I decided it was premature to retire this year," Green, 41, said in a prepared statement.

ASHBURN, Va. - It has reached the point in the Washington Redskins' tumultuous season where coach Marty Schottenheimer can nit-pick his wins, meaning the Redskins must be doing something right, or at least better than in the first part of the season. In the 20-10 win Sunday over the Arizona Cardinals, Washington's offense not only didn't commit a turnover, it also got Stephen Davis over the 100-yard rushing mark and enabled quarterback Tony Banks to throw for more than 200 yards, completing passes to nine receivers.

ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins coach Marty Schottenheimer was given two chances during his normal Monday news conference to stand and bray that he really did know what he was doing during the team's horrendous 0-5 start. But even with the platform of a five-game winning streak to stand on, Schottenheimer, whether out of humility or supreme self-confidence, let both pitches sail by like a batter taking a 3-0 fastball. "This is the National Football League," Schottenheimer said. "The minute you blink, well, you only have to look at the results of [Sunday]

ASHBURN, Va. - In an attempt to explain the unexplainable, namely his team's startling midcourse correction, Washington Redskins coach Marty Schottenheimer is reaching back into recent local history. Specifically, Schottenheimer has tapped into former Redskins coach Joe Gibbs' 0-5 start to begin his coaching career in the 1981 season, as well as the Ravens' early-season stumbles last year on the way to the Super Bowl to provide context for Washington's current turnaround. "In our case, as we've said from the outset, there were a lot of things that we were trying to put together and they didn't always fit the way we'd like them to," Schottenheimer said last week.

ASHBURN, Va. - With a three-game winning streak and a new lease on postseason life, things are getting serious for the Washington Redskins as they return to work after an open date. The easiest way to tell is the effort Redskins coach Marty Schottenheimer is applying in saying as little as possible. Presented the opportunity yesterday to be definitive about the roles and health of some key players heading into Sunday's game in Denver, Schottenheimer took the road less clear on just about every occasion.

ASHBURN, Va. -- Perhaps the larger lesson in the Washington Redskins' mini-turnaround is that the words just have to sink in before they can take hold. Since the beginning of training camp, coach Marty Schottenheimer has been saying that his system would work and that things would get better. While outsiders were laughing too hard at Washington's 0-5 start to hear Schottenheimer, his players were seeing enough incremental improvement to believe that something good was on the way. "We'd see things.

ASHBURN, Va. - In the minds of some, football seasons take far too many twists and turns for one specific moment or play to define all others. But, if the Washington Redskins can scrounge some respectability out of what to date has been a train wreck of a season, most people will point to linebacker LaVar Arrington's fourth-quarter interception return in Sunday's 17-14 overtime win over Carolina as something of a turning point. "That's the great thing about sports. You always have a chance to come back and basically redeem yourself.

ASHBURN, Va. - Perspectives are slightly off-kilter these days in the Washington Redskins' locker room. Far from the somber tones one might expect from a team that is 0-5, Redskins players such as defensive end Kenard Lang and fullback Donnell Bennett have been heard singing lively '70s tunes at the top of their lungs in an effort, no doubt, to shake off the blues. By contrast, offensive tackle Chris Samuels admitted that he "cried like a baby" in private after Monday's 9-7 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

ASHBURN, Va. - For public consumption, wide receiver Michael Westbrook has been saying all the right things about the Washington Redskins' struggles, and how it's only a matter of time before the team breaks through to get its first win of the season, perhaps as early as Sunday at home against the Carolina Panthers. "We're looking for that game that we can win, and then tie two [victories] together," Westbrook said this week at Redskin Park. "We're getting closer. We're becoming a team, and, in my opinion, we're getting better as a team.