Tag: Albert Haynesworth sent home early

Albert Haynesworth isn’t happy with the way things are in Washington and expressed his frustrations shortly after being sent home early on Friday for missing a team meeting. Haynesworth, who was given $41 million in guaranteed money last offseason, mainly expressed his frustration with defensive coordinator Greg Blache.

From the Washington Post:

In a lengthy phone interview shortly after he was sent home from practice by Coach Jim Zorn for disciplinary reasons, Haynesworth for the first time discussed his poor relationship with Blache and provided his most detailed explanation yet about the flaws, in his opinion, of Blache’s disciplined scheme, which has helped the Redskins rank ninth overall in defense. Haynesworth expressed fear that owner Daniel Snyder’s major investment in him — the Redskins guaranteed Haynesworth $41 million in signing him this past February — would be wasted unless he again is given freedom to “create havoc” as he did in his first seven seasons with the Tennessee Titans.

“If they keep this system the way it is, then they would label Albert Haynesworth a bust who didn’t live up to the contract,” Haynesworth said. “Everybody would say he just took the money and ran off. And I’m still playing as hard as I possibly can. But you can only do so much within the system that’s put around you. And I’m not talking about the players. The players have been great. I couldn’t ask for any better guys. I’m talking about the system. And [the coaches] can say whatever they want about that [the reason he was sent home Friday]. The main thing it’s coming from is what I said after the game about leadership and about the team.”

Haynesworth will likely get his wish if he wants to see Blache gone, because once Zorn is fired in the offseason the new head coach (Mike Shanahan?) will clean house and bring in his own coordinators. So Haynesworth’s frustrations will probably be short lived.

That said, it isn’t good when a team invests $41 million in guaranteed money in a player and he gets sent home early, then openly complains about his defensive coordinator.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

According to the Washington Post, Albert Haynesworth was sent home from practice Friday because he was late for a team meeting.

Zorn said Haynesworth would play Sunday night against the Cowboys, but he didn’t commit to starting the lineman. He would not disclose the nature of Haynesworth’s infraction, but said it happened Friday morning.

The defensive tackle signed with the Redskins for a record $41 million guaranteed money last winter, and his season has been marked by several controversies. He’s missed three of the team’s past five games with ankle injuries, was fined $10,000 after trading blows with Giants running back Brandon Jacobs Monday Night, and ended the night by complaining about his role on the team’s defense and the franchise’s lack of a leader. Fans and some media members have criticized Haynesworth for appearing winded during several games; he was also limited in Thursday’s practice because of what the team described as a leg injury.

Everyone makes mistakes, but one would think that for $41 million in guaranteed money that Haynesworth would show up on time for meetings.

Photo from fOTOGLIF