Albert Haynesworth claims he's not good enough to play the Washington Redskins 3-4 defence
Since coming over to the Washington Redskins from the Tennessee Titans two seasons ago, Albert Haynesworth has had a difficult time settling into the Redskins 3-4 "Okie" run defence. In a midweek question and answer session last week, he was quoted as saying:
"I'm not good enough to play the 3-4."
The Redskins had hoped that Haynesworth would become the starting nose tackle for the team, but the two-time Pro Bowler has had difficulty adjusting to Jim Haslett's defence and has settled into a part-time role mostly in nickel packages.
"We just kept working at the Okie, and I wasn't coming along to be able to be the starter in that stuff," Haynesworth said. "And I was like, hey, let's focus on the stuff that I know, and you'll see a lot more production out of me."
Jim Haslett has also spoken recently about Haynesworth's inability to acclimatize to the Redskins 3-4 system.
"Trying to get him to do the 3-4 stuff was trying to get a square peg into a round hole," he said. "We tried to force the issue, and it hasn't worked out the way that we would like. I still think he can do it because he's a good athlete and he is athletic
and smart and tough enough to do it."
Haynesworth spoke about the issue after coming off arguably his best performance last week as the Redskins beat the Chicago Bears 17-14, and where Haynesworth recorded his first sack of the season and made an important goal-line stop.
"Now that we've changed some of the things that I do, it's helped a lot," Haynesworth said. "I don't have to think as much on the field – I can just go out and play."
It's been a rocky road for Haynesworth with the Redskins, as he was even recently the target of much trade speculation, but a trade never materialized before the deadline. According to Haynesworth, the goal at this point is to just keep playing his game.
"Keep playing and help the team mates," he said, "and make plays and I guess get noticed more, so people will say I'm not a bust or whatever."
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