Are you worried about the beating that Clint takes?

Although Clinton Portis showed his toughness on repeated occasions last season, are you worried that the pounding that his body takes over a 16 game season will negatively affect his performance in the most critical time of the season?

In the playoff games last season you could see that Portis' shoulders were a major issue for him.

Should Gibbs make it a point in the beginning of the season to play Betts more and save Portis for the stretch run?

Do you think Portis would be open to such an arangement?

Although I think that Clint would do what he thought was best for the team, its hard to tell any player in today's NFL (esp one as key as Clint) that he is gonna miss chances to get his numbers. Clinton's pride kept him on the field last season when I thought he should have taken a break from the lineup. I love the guy, he plays harder than most and lays the wood on blitzers at every opportunity, but sometimes I think the team would be better served conserving him for the stretch run at the end of the year.

To keep Clint at an ideal level for the playoffs, I think his carries need to hover at or below 300 for the season.

What do you guys think? Does this issue concern you going into the season?

It's been a major point of contention w/ Portis his entire career. Which is why, I believe, he was picked in the 2nd round (not exactly sure when but wasn't a 1st rounder). He is rather small for a run heavy team like the skins. He put on that extra weight last year and he even mentioned at around game 15 that it actually helped him in the durability column. I think the 220lbs he put on last year was great and I wouldn't expect the game plan to change too much this year.

I would like to see a little less than 300 attempts but time will tell!

yes last year i was concerned with the beating we put him through. however, that beating was because everyones defense KNEW we were going to run the ball. after this FA period with the WR being bulked up I don't believe that he will get the kind of beating that Gibbs threw at him. defenses will have to arrange their themselves for both the run and pass game. In all honestly with amount of weapons we have now I think CP will shine even brighter this season with more outbreak runs and all this should be with less wear and tear on him. also to note, he is still young and hasn't hit his full potential yet.

hope my opion helps ya bud

CP won us our last game in Philly, hurt shoulders and all. I feel that Brunells injury, at the end of the season, had more of an effect on CP's game than anything else.

There are many more things to be concerned over. CP is a tough guy and he can handle the load. In all honesty, I am more concerned with when our bye week falls..

No, i think gibbs should run him as much as possible during the season. Teams will think we are a runninng team and in the playoffs if we need to pass, than we will. Betts is a serviceable running back backup. Only thing we have to worry about is no playing well.

not at all clinton portis is a beast man no worries.

Sometimes I think Clint is is own worst enemy in this regard.

There is no denying that we need him to play well and stay in the lineup for all 16 games to get back to the playoffs. Hopefully we can spread the ball around and get some of those safeties out of the box so Clint can have some room to get into the secondary and bust some of those runs he was known for in Denver.

I will be less worried about it this year. I think the reason we went out and got two deep threats is as much for the running game as the passing game. Midway through last season teams realized that we had to run the ball to win games so they could bring in an extra safety and bring 8 to the box and still cover the pass. Clinton took a lot of hits from linebacker and safeties because the field wasn't spread. If you look a the chiefs, a lot of the hits there backs take are at or beyond the LOS. Clinton was having to make people miss in the backfield and that takes its toll. I think this year he will have more yards on less carries and Saunders will pass more late in the game to secure wins. This should be Clinton's best and healthiest season. I say 290-320 carries 1650-1700 yards.

Clint is a beast, no question, but that doesnt make him imune to the injury bug affecting his play.

No more or less than I am concerned by the beating that any RB takes.

this year he will won't be carrying the ball 30 times a game like last season. With all these new threats the offense has he'll probably get around 20 or so carries a game. Plus there won't be 8 men in the box like was the case at the end of the season last year. If the line stays healthy he shouldn't even be touched until hes 6-7 yards downfield.

he will stay healthy this year because he will have fewer carries. i do think that all the play action that saunders uses might hurt him because he will stay in pass block which he did last year but i believe he hurt himself in the tampa playoff game when he blocked shelton quarles.

When did he become Clint?

With all of our new editions I believe that Clint will have his break out year this year. We will be getting safties out of the box which will allow for more running room as well as less wear and tear.

We have very good backups who can spell or fill in, im not worried about it.

hes a soldier he'll be fine

I haven't seen when our bye is but hopefully it's a little later this year. I think a lot of the problem last season was an early bye week, and then the fact we had to win out. Portis was our offense and he had to carry us through 5 straight victories. Hopefully this year we'll get off to a better start and be able to balance our offense more giving Portis added rest.

i highly doubt clinton will take as much of a beating this year because defenses won't key on him like they have the past two years. and if they want to continue to do so we have the recievers to air it out now. hail

I dont think he will take the same pounding this yr that he took last...The field will be spread a little more and teams wont be able to stack the box like they did last yr b/c of the Posse II and Cooley...

Betts does need to take more carries from portis though, and that will only add to his longevity...

Of course we're "worried" (not sure that's the right word, but it's close enough) about the beating he's going to take.

That's why the men who play this game earn our respect, admiration, even awe. They play hard right through the beatings. If it weren't so, it wouldn't be football.

He's got heart. Maybe not as much as #43, but that really remains to be seen. I hope so, because that's how he'll inspire a team, a city, a generation.

Go Skins! Go Clinton!

I was worried about his longevity pror to Saunder and the new receivers coming in town. I really think that he will be able to stay fresher and gain bigger chunks of yards this season. Hopefully he'll be getting tackled by corners as opposed to linebackers.

im worried... but if our o line gets better... it should open up holes for him, then maybe he wont get hit as hard as he would in the trenches.

It's been a major point of contention w/ Portis his entire career. Which is why, I believe, he was picked in the 2nd round (not exactly sure when but wasn't a 1st rounder). He is rather small for a run heavy team like the skins. He put on that extra weight last year and he even mentioned at around game 15 that it actually helped him in the durability column. I think the 220lbs he put on last year was great and I wouldn't expect the game plan to change too much this year.

I would like to see a little less than 300 attempts but time will tell!

He was picked in the third round I believe. Yea, he said he is trying to put on 215-225 pounds of muscle and fat on i believe at the beggining of 2005-2006 training camp plus his carries will lower will Al Saunders here.

CP was picked in R2, he was the 51st pick.

I think the 220lbs he put on last year was great and I wouldn't expect the game plan to change too much this year.

Clinton Portis weighs like 420lbs?

Sorry I had to