Skins.com:Redskins Move Practice Inside; Morton Sits Out

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http://www.redskins.com/story.asp?ContentID=12387

Redskins Move Practice Inside; Morton Sits Out

12/11/2003

By Gary Fitzgerald

Redskins.com

Mother Nature forced the Redskins to shift their Thursday practice to Dulles SportsPlex, an indoor facility in Ashburn, Va. The team’s four practice fields at Redskin Park—including the artificial turf field—were flooded due to extensive rainwater from Wednesday’s storms.

Meantime, running back Chad Morton, expected to see significant playing time in this weekend’s game against Dallas, sat out practice with recurring flu symptoms. Morton missed some practice time last week with the flu.

“Sure I’m concerned,” head coach Steve Spurrier said. “When it returns like that, it means it hasn’t completely gone away. But he was out most of last week [with the flu] and contributed to the victory over the Giants. We believe he’ll be ready to go Sunday.”

John Simon and Rock Cartwright took the bulk of reps at tailback during Thursday’s practice. Sultan McCullough would be next in line to get playing time, Spurrier said.

Tailbacks Ladell Betts (injured forearm) and Trung Canidate (sprained ankle) also missed Thursday’s practice. Betts is doubtful and Canidate is questionable, and Spurrier is not optimistic that he’ll have their services for Sunday’s game against Dallas.

Complete Injury Report.

Depending on how fast the rainwater recedes at Redskin Park's four fields, the team may consider moving Friday’s practice to Dulles SportsPlex as well, Spurrier said.

Regarding Thursday's practice, Spurrier said: “We got some decent work in. We couldn’t throw long passes [indoors]. But we could line up and run our plays. We could get our formations down, and things of that nature. We snapped the ball a lot, ran a lot of plays on offense and defense—but we couldn't do any long throws down the field.”

The team had planned to practice on the team’s Astroturf turf field Thursday, but the rainwater had advanced to that field as well and almost completely covered it by mid-day.

“I think it’ll be 2-3 days before it goes away,” Spurrier said. “You don’t clear floodwater, you just let it recede over time.”

Said right tackle Jon Jansen: "We've had water on the field before, but never to this extent. We've had a contingency plan for bad weather in the past, and we've had a couple close calls in the past, but this is the first time I've ever gone to practice [at an indoor facility] since I've been here."

The Redskins investigated using indoor facilities to use during severe weather earlier this season prior to the arrival of Hurricane Isabel in September. The alternative location was not needed during that storm, however.

Dulles SportsPlex is a 70,000-square foot facility that houses three indoor fields covered with synthetic turf—similar to the field turfs in Giants Stadium and Texas Stadium, Spurrier said—and three full 84-foot regulation basketball courts. The facility hosts indoor soccer leagues, lacrosse, flag football and basketball leagues.

Injuries Updated

Linebacker LaVar Arrington did not practice Thursday so that he could get treatment on his sprained knee. He is listed as probable for Sunday’s game against Dallas and is expected to play.

Wide receiver Laveranues Coles participated in warm-ups and light running, but did not join in on the team’s practice drills. During Wednesday’s practice, he re-aggravated the toe injury that has been bothering him in recent weeks.

Also sitting out practice were left tackle Chris Samuels (sprained knee), wide receiver Taylor Jacobs (foot injury) and defensive end Bruce Smith (knee injury).