For obvious reasons, there were a lot of quotes coming out of the Redskins locker room today that dealt with owner Daniel Snyder's statement yesterday that he feels disappointed and embarrassed with the first half of the season. That was not a surprise.

Santana Moss discusses the owner feeling disappointed:
"I think we all are. It's not a good feeling to be who we are and where we are right now. We know it's people out there that pay a lot of money and that respect what we've been trying to do, and you hate to let 'em down. But at the same time, I hope they understand that we're not TRYING to, you know what I mean?"

If there was one thing that was clear during open locker room and the first portion of practice today, it's that the players on the team are actually loose and ready to go. The oppressive tension and electricity that characterized Monday were gone, and ... honestly, the mood around here hasn't seemed this pleasant in more than a month.

"Its hopeful," Clinton Portis told the assembled media. "Everybody in the locker room is still showing hope. We have a tough opponent coming in this week, and we know they coming in here ready to win. We have to find a way to fight. We're going to be on prime time television Monday night. We haven't done good really this season; here is the time to turn it around."

Today marks the NFL trade deadline, that time of year when the media feverishly speculates about a whole bunch of arbitrary trades and nothing really happens.

Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports is engaging in one of the favorite media pastimes for NFL Trade Deadline Day: isolating the players "most likely" to be traded. And one of the names on his list would have to be of some interest to Redskins fans: running back Clinton Portis. Here's Cole's reasoning:

Clinton Portis: With the Washington Redskins' loss to Kansas City, not only is coach Jim Zorn's job seemingly more in jeopardy, but owner Dan Snyder might be willing to start over completely. Snyder likes Portis personally, but he also knows that running backs don't last and Portis has already outlived the normal lifespan of a back.

What Cole doesn't address here is the question of who would want Portis.

• Metromix Washington D.C. got a chance to talk to the Washington Redskins Cheerleaders about their rigorous practice regimen. There's also a photo gallery, if you prefer that sort of thing.

• Clinton Portis is launching the Clinton Portis Foundation.

During Clinton Portis's regular Tuesday appearances on The John Thompson Show on ESPN980, you never know what you're going to get. Last year, it seemed like Portis was using Tuesdays mainly to work out his aggressions -- on the team, the coach, the radio hosts, whoever. This year, it's mostly been the Clinton Portis Super Happy Positivity Funtime Hour.

And this week -- it turns out, based on after-the-fact reports -- we have Portis's comments the day after his reported "heated exchange" with his fullback, Mike Sellers. I remembered hearing Portis's segment on my way to Santana Moss's charity event Tuesday and was sure I had heard Sellers's name mentioned, but I couldn't recall the context.

Thank goodness for the ESPN980 Audio Vault. (Although it didn't work for me in Firefox; I recommend using Internet Explorer for best results, and be prepared to have host Kevin Sheehan loudly try to sell you a Mercedes as soon as you get to the site.)

I re-listened to Portis's appearance, and here's what he had to say about the guy that he had apparently been criticizing and arguing with the day before.

It seems that there was some sort of incident -- a "heated argument," per the Washington Times -- between the Redskins Pro Bowl running backs Monday night. Rumors have Clinton Portis questioning Mike Sellers's abilities as a blocker, but no details have been confirmed. Neither Portis nor Sellers spoke after practice, but Head Coach Jim Zorn addressed the situation.

I had considered a few different approaches Zorn might take to this kind of thing, but he went with one that I hadn't thought of at all: an upbeat Zorn -- as cheerful as he's seemed for weeks -- was actively supportive and enthusiastic about the incident.

Here's my transcription of Zorn's answers, for the inevitable group of people who are unable or unwilling to watch internet video.

Santana Moss wasn't the only Redskins player doing his part for charity on Tuesday. Clinton Portis partnered with Becky's Fund and Eric Finn Custom Clothiers to host Walk This Way, an event to benefit victims of domestic violence. The event took place on the rooftop of the Liaison Hotel in D.C.; a runway had been built in the rooftop pool, and Portis and Jason Campbell both appeared as models during the fashion show component.

It would be easy to just write about this as a Hey-These-Guys-Were-Models-For-A-Night -- and I'll get to that, no doubt -- but Portis took the event extremely seriously. When I asked him about it the day before, he talked at length about the importance of stopping domestic violence. When I asked him about the modeling component that night, he talked about the seriousness of the cause. He talked to TV cameras about the cause.

Through what has felt like a three game losing streak (but has actually been two losses and one ugly win), Clinton Portis has remained remarkably upbeat. The DC Sports Bog has chronicled a lot of his on-air radio positivity, and the Clinton Portis Stay Calm Engine was cranking just as hard during his press availability on the steps today.



A few excerpts...

Practice today was a relatively light affair, shorts and shells in pleasant weather, and focused mainly on the red zone, which should make people happy. Jason Campbell got a lot of compliments from Jim Zorn for making good reads, which is always reassuring for me to hear on the sidelines, and the team seemed as loose and focused as they have at any point in this bizarre week.

But the real stories of practice came afterward, in the form of some good news and some bad news. Here's a picture to help you guess the good news.


No, Colt Brennan is not going to be playing quarterback (although he is back in the facility and in generally good spirits.)

The good news is that Chad Rinehart will be starting at right guard. Zorn walked to the podium and said "The Rhino!", thus preempting Washington Post reporter Jason Reid, who had been extremely excited to ask if it would be The Thrill (Will Montgomery) or The Rhino.

The event last night at Maté in Georgetown was marketed as a launch party for DeAngelo Hall's website. And, to an extent, it certainly had all the trappings: other players in attendance, a charity auction, computers set up displaying the site (which Hall is hugely proud of), screen showing DHall highlights and snapshots, the whole fooferaw.

But secretly, to Hall himself, the website launch was pretty much secondary.

"This is about my mom's book," Hall told me. "It was a no-brainer for me. At first I had gone back and forth for even doing this event because I didn't feel like I needed to do it to launch the website again. I feel like we had a good enough buzz coming off of training camp but when I had the chance to partner with my mom, that really made it a no-brainer."

Hall looked around at the whole scene, waitresses carrying trays of sushi and drinks and people seeing and being seen, and shrugged. "It's her, and I'm behind her. If my name can get one more person to pick the book up ... once you pick it up, you'll instantly be hooked."

The book in question is called Bitter Sweet: A Woman's Journey, and it's the work of more than twelve years for Hall's mother Joan.