ASHBURN, Va. (AP)—Washington Redskins receiver Anthony Armstrong(notes) and
fullback Darrel Young(notes) remain limited in practice with hamstring injuries and are
questionable for Sunday’s game against the St. Louis Rams.

Both were listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report.

Armstrong, the team’s No. 3 receiver behind starters Santana Moss(notes) and Jabar
Gaffney(notes), was injured in Monday night’s 18-16 loss at Dallas. He has four catches
for 38 yards and a touchdown this season.

Young missed the Cowboys game, prompting the Redskins to line up tight end
Chris Cooley(notes) at the position. Cooley had the first two carries of his NFL career
against Dallas.

Also listed as questionable with a hamstring injury is rookie backup safety
DeJon Gomes(notes).

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The move from the St. Louis Rams to the
Washington Redskins has brought some new additions to Oshiomogho
Atogwe’s Incredible Hulk collection.

The veteran safety has a dozen or so green Hulk figurines that take up much of the shelf space in his locker. There’s also a drawing made by Atogwe’s wife that depicts the Atogwe as the notorious comic book character fending off symbols of all three of the Redskins’ NFC East rivals.

Atogwe faces his old team Sunday when the Redskins visit the Rams. He says he has no hard feelings as he makes his return — he even gave comic book-related parting gifts to his teammates before leaving to sign as a free agent with the Redskins.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

The Washington Redskins and St. Louis Rams will face each other for the sixth time in seven years this Sunday.  The Rams have come out on top in three of the contests, which is surprising considering the franchise’s recent futility.  That said, the Redskins haven’t been much better.

The Rams trudged through a 2-14 record in 2008 and a 1-15 record in 2009.  During a 35-game span that covered the 2008-2010 seasons, they won just four times while losing 31.  Two of those wins would come against the Washington Redskins.

St. Louis’ win over the Redskins in 2010 ended a 10-game losing streak for the Rams and spoiled an opening day victory over the Dallas Cowboys for Washington.

Throughout the matchups, most have been close, decided by just a few points.  Most games were downright ugly, marked by borderline ineptness from both teams.  With the Rams pulling off several upsets over the Redskins, Washington has payback on their minds.

Let’s take an in-depth look at the five games between the Rams and Redskins since 2005.

(c) 2011, The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — The number of elements to consider, on every third down, run through Jim Haslett’s mind. What protection is the opponent likely to call?
Can Haslett’s Washington Redskins defense get to the quarterback by rushing the standard four players and dropping the other seven into pass coverage? Will he need five — which the Redskins refer to as a “dog”? Or will he send six or seven or — gulp — even eight players, with hopes of outnumbering the blockers and overwhelming the quarterback, all while putting pressure on his lonely cornerbacks to hold up?
“It’s high-risk, high-reward,” inside linebacker London Fletcher.
The risk was apparent Monday night, when Haslett dialed up a “zero” blitz against Dallas — sending everyone but three cornerbacks — on a third-and-21 play in a game the Redskins led by a point late in the fourth quarter. The result — Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo sidestepping the rush and completing a 30-yard pass to Dez Bryant, covered one-on-one — was the seminal play in Washington’s 18-16 loss.
But for Haslett, that call was just one of many made in a game in which he thought his defense played spectacularly, holding Dallas without a touchdown. The very same max blitz Haslett called on that play resulted, earlier in the night, in an interception by cornerback Kevin Barnes and a forced fumble from safety LaRon Landry. Two weeks earlier, it had resulted in a tipped pass for outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan, a play Kerrigan turned into a touchdown. In fact, Haslett said in his first remarks since the Dallas game, he had called the defense nine times in the season’s first three games before the third-and-21 play.
“We won nine of them and lost one,” he said. “It’s a great defense. It really is.”
So Haslett is spending this week, as the Redskins (2-1) prepare for Sunday’s game at St. Louis (0-3), sounding completely comfortable with his live-by-the-sword-die-by-the-sword approach to blitzing.
“Would you take it back? Of course you would,” Haslett said. “Coaches always second-guess themselves. It’s still a great defense.”
Though the Redskins have spent a great deal of time discussing the third-and-21 play this week — in part because Hall ripped into Haslett’s call immediately after the game, to which Haslett said Thursday, “That doesn’t bother me” — much more goes into developing a philosophy of when to blitz and when to cover during the week. “It’s a process,” Haslett said. “We mix it up.”
Haslett believes the success of his blitz-calling shows up in the Redskins’ third-down numbers. Last year, when the Redskins were adjusting to the 3-4 scheme and had some ill-fitting personnel, they ranked eighth in the NFL, allowing opponents a 35 percent conversion rate on third down. Through the first three weeks this year, that number has fallen to 21.9 percent, tied with the New York Jets for best in the NFL.
“We got an idea going into the game exactly what we want to do,” Haslett said, “and then we adjust it accordingly to what they’re doing.”
The mix, coaches say, is one key element of whether blitzes are successful. On the Cowboys’ final drive, Haslett called the zero blitz on both first and second down — plays that resulted in a fumbled snap and an incomplete pass. He then came back with the same call again, which Hall called “unorthodox.” Whatever keeps the offense off-balance.
“You do it based on a lot of things — film study, the situation, what kind of success you’re having,” Rams Coach Steve Spagnuolo said. “You’ve got to pick and choose. . . . A good mixture is what it takes, and whatever is called, if you can get guys to execute it, usually it works out pretty good.”
That, players said, is paramount. Wednesday, Hall spent more than 10 minutes explaining his errors on the play — briefly taking his eyes off Bryant, taking an improper route — and apologizing for a profanity-laced outburst after the game. The message: Players’ performance is more important than any call.
“The thing is, whatever the call is made, us as players we have to execute it and get the play stopped,” Fletcher said. “It’s on us as pass rushers to get to the quarterback. . . . That defense has been excellent for us all season long. We have to go out and execute the call regardless. Any call that’s made, we have to execute it.”
The next opportunity for execution will be Sunday against St. Louis, which is struggling in such situations. The Rams have allowed 12 sacks, fourth-most in the league, and their third-down conversion rate of 25.6 percent is worse than all but one team. But regardless of the opponent, Haslett’s position on the sideline will be the same: Deciding when to send his guys, and when to hold back.
“It’s not like a blitz-fest,” Haslett said. “It’s a good mixture of what we do.”

ASHBURN, Va. – The move from the St. Louis Rams to the Washington Redskins has brought some new additions to Canadian Oshiomogho Atogwe’s Incredible Hulk collection.

Along with the 12 or so green Hulk figurines that take up much of the shelf space in Atogwe’s locker, there’s also a drawing made by Atogwe’s wife, Jill. It depicts the veteran safety from Windsor, Ont., as the notorious comic book and movie character fending off symbols of all three of the Redskins’ NFC East rivals — pushing over a cowboy dressed in blue, stomping on a giant with “NY” dog tags and clutching an eagle in his left hand.

There’s also an unusual red version of the Hulk sitting in the next locker over, the one that belongs to fellow safety LaRon Landry.

“That’s him,” said Atogwe, nodding toward Landry. “The Red Hulk’s craaazy. Craaaaaaaaazy.”

Atogwe and Landry are the backside of the Redskins secondary, the ying-and-yang duo meant to improve a defence that ranked 31st last year. The pairing got off to a slow start because of injuries to both during training camp, and Sunday’s game at St. Louis — when Atogwe returns to the city where he played for six seasons — will mark just their second game together.

“They’re two different-type guys,” defensive co-ordinator Jim Haslett said. “One’s kind of high-strung. One’s level-headed, relaxed.

“But they work together well. They talk. They sit together in meetings, They talk through plays. I think it’s a good mixture.”

In case there’s any doubt, Atogwe is the level-headed half, acquired as a free agent in a five-year, US$26-million deal signed just before the NFL lockout began in March. Sitting at his locker, he’s as calm as the mild-mannered Dr. David Banner, the scientist who transforms into the Hulk.

“I guess that’s why I was attracted to it,” Atogwe said. “There’s two sides to the Hulk.

“Every football player has two sides to him — the way you are on the field, the way you are off the field. You ain’t the same guy.”

Landry, of course, is the exception.

“This guy,” said Atogwe, again looking at Landry, “is crazy all the time.”

Atogwe became a fan of the Hulk as a youngster, and his comic books collection runs into the thousands. He’ll happily give you a quick review of the recent Hulk movies, but he dropped a 1980s TV reference by saying: “When you think of the Hulk, you think of Lou Ferrigno.”

For most of his time in St. Louis, Atogwe was a bright spot on a bad team. He was the Rams’ MVP in 2009 and considered a solid locker-room leader. Before he left, he gave out parting gifts derived from comic books — cornerback Justin King got the Nightcrawler, cornerback Bradley Fletcher received the Juggernaut.

“O.J. put everything into comic books,” said King, using the nickname Atogwe prefers to be used only by his friends. “He was fun that way.”

Atogwe said he’s looking forward to Sunday’s game, but that there’s no bad blood with his old team. It wouldn’t be his style to say so anyway.

“He’s very smart,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “He likes to play and he’s very accountable.

“He’s a team leader both on and off the football field. You like people that prepare themselves every week and he’s one of those guys.”

NOTES — Three players were limited in practice Thursday, and each has a hamstring injury: WR Anthony Armstrong, S DeJon Gomes and FB Darrel Young. … Rookie LB Ryan Kerrigan was selected as the NFL defensive rookie of the month for September. The first-round pick’s highlight was the interception he returned for the go-ahead touchdown in Week 1 against the New York Giants.