By Evan Dunlap

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Dec 27, 2011 – The Washington Redskins have released running back Ryan Torain, reports ESPN 980, citing a team source. The three-year veteran made nine appearances for Washington in 2011, including four starts, but averaged just 3.4 yards per carry on 59 attempts.

“It’s a business” Torain told Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan. “This is how it goes. It’s ugly.”

The emergence of Roy Helu and Evan Royster following the season-ending injury to starter Tim Hightower made Torain expendable. Further, excepting his one big game in the 2011 season–a 19-carry, 135-yard outing against the St. Louis Rams on Oct. 2–the three-year veteran gained 65 yards on 40 carries for a 1.63 average.

Torain joined the Redskins prior to the 2010 campaign and started eight games for them after Clinton Portis suffered an injury. He fared much better in 2010 than he has in 2011, gaining 742 yards on 164 carries (a 4.5-yard average) and scoring four touchdowns. He added 18 receptions for 125 yards and two touchdowns as well.

For more on the Redskins, please visit Hogs Haven, SB Nation’s Redskins blog.

Read More: Tim Hightower (RB – WAS), Ryan Torain (RB – WAS), Roy Helu (RB – WAS), Evan Royster (RB – WAS), Washington Redskins

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By JOSEPH WHITE
AP Sports Writer

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) – Washington coach Mike Shanahan vowed Thursday to restore a rushing attack that has been the worst in the NFL since he took over the Redskins.

“We will get that running game back, I promise you,” Shanahan said. “I’ve been doing it over 20 years, and that’s our trademark.”

Shanahan’s pride showed as he referenced his track record with the Denver Broncos, where his ground game was regularly ranked in the top 10 and never finished below 12th. It never seemed to matter who the running back was – Terrell Davis or Olandis Gary or Reuben Droughns or Clinton Portis or Tatum Bell – the Shanahan zone-blocking scheme always seemed on pace to produce a 1,000-yard rusher during his run in Denver from 1995-2008.

Yet, since Shanahan came to Washington last year, the Redskins have averaged a league-low 89.6 yards rushing per game. They’re at 86.7 this season, ahead of only the Tennessee Titans.

While saying he wasn’t making excuses, Shanahan cited injuries to tight end Chris Cooley, running back Tim Hightower, receiver Santana Moss and particularly offensive linemen Kory Lichtensteiger, Trent Williams and Jammal Brown as sapping the offense’s continuity.

“Any time you have a lot of different pieces in the offensive line, you’re not as consistent as you’d like,” Shanahan said. “It just takes one guy to be a little bit off, because if the play is going to go outside or cut all the way back, everybody’s got to be in unison. … And if you do lose somebody, you’re hoping that you have the depth where you don’t skip a beat, and if it’s the offensive line or the running back position, it goes hand-in-hand.”

The Redskins (3-6) haven’t rushed for more than 92 yards in any game during their current 5-game skid. Hightower wasn’t exactly a world-beater before he blew out his left knee against the Carolina Panthers on Oct. 23 – he was averaging 3.8 yards per carry – and Ryan Torain and Roy Helu have struggled to find traction trying to replace him.

The lack of a running game – in addition to shaky play by quarterbacks Rex Grossman and John Beck – has contributed to Washington’s slow starts. The Redskins haven’t scored a touchdown on an opening drive all season and have amassed only 16 first-quarter points. They haven’t scored a first-half touchdown or held a lead since Oct. 2.

That means they’re playing catch-up in the second half, and it’s reflected in the paltry number of rushing attempts. The last three games, the Redskins have run the ball 11, 15 and 16 times and have compiled a total of 20 points.

Right guard Chris Chester has been the only constant along an offensive line that could start its fifth different combination in six games on Sunday when the Redskins host the Dallas Cowboys.

Asked if it’s easier to replace running backs than offensive linemen, Shanahan said: “Everything starts up front, on offense or defense. If you don’t have a good offensive front, or if you don’t have a good defensive front, you’re not going to win in the National Football League. You’re not going to be consistent. You may be lucky enough to get 10 games or 11 games, but once you get to the playoffs, your chances of doing something aren’t very good.”

Although there are still seven games to play, the Redskins have reached the point where it’s time to start analyzing what went wrong and how to fix it in time for next season. The team chose during free agency to focus on improving a defense that ranked 31st in the league in 2010, and Shanahan indicated that the offense will get similar attention come next spring.

“You’ve got to target something in the offseason. That’s what we targeted,” the coach said. “And I really think we were fine on offense, but when you lose four or 5 of those guys, you’re not quite as deep as you’d like. But you’ve always got a plan, but you’re always looking at the salary cap. You’ve taking a look at offense-defense. And you’re taking a look at drafts. Then you try to come up with the best plan.”

On Thursday, tackles Brown (groin) and Sean Locklear (ankle) were limited in practice, and guard Maurice Hurt (knee) sat out. Left tackle Trent Williams is still working his way back into top form after missing two games last month.

In other words, it’s going to take some time for Shanahan to come through with his promise.

“Once we get it rolling and get the depth that we want,” he said, “I think consistently we’ll be good every year.”

Notes: Shanahan said LB Keyaron Fox has a staph infection and was released Monday after being hospitalized for about a week. Fox has not practiced this week. … S LaRon Landry (Achilles) was again a spectator at practice Thursday. “It’s inflamed enough where he couldn’t practice, so that’s never a good sign,” Shanahan said. .. The coach said there’s an “outside chance” WR Santana Moss (broken hand) will play Nov. 27 vs. Seattle.

Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

When healthy, Clinton Portis was regularly one of the top running backs in the NFL. Unfortunately, three of Portis’ seven seasons in Washington were cut short due to injury. A combination of that, and the fact that I’m still bitter about the trade that landed Portis in Washington, is all the excuse I have for why this ranking isn’t a little higher. 

After trading away Champ Bailey to Denver in exchange for the 2004 budding young star, Portis was asked to change his style of play in order to fit head coach Joe Gibb’s running scheme. Not only did Portis alter his style, he produced in a major way. 

In 83 games over seven years, Portis finished his Redskins career with 6,824 yards on 1,667 carries (4.1 ypc) and 46 touchdowns. Portis also hauled in 176 receptions for 1,340 yards and three touchdowns. 

Portis represented the Redskins in the 2008 Pro Bowl after rushing for 1,487 yards and nine touchdowns. 

Although debatable, for me Portis has been the Redskins best running back since the days of John Riggins. 

Rex Grossman is still under fire for having more turnovers than touchdowns at this point in the season.

However, this team is 3-1, and the haters should back off, and take a look at how the season has gone thus far.

The Washington Redskins opened their season with a victory over the New York Giants, which is currently the only loss the Giants have to this point in the season.The most incredible part about that victory, is that it was the first time since Sunday, December 16th of 2007 that the Redskins knocked off the Giants.

For those keeping track, Todd Collins was the QB for that game, and Clinton Portis was still a 100-yard running back.

The Redskins came from behind against the Arizona Cardinals, and held on to defeat the St. Louis Rams. For those that have followed the Redskins over the years, they know those victories were instrumental in proving that things are different this time around.

In past years, the Redskins would not only have played down to competition, but would have lost both of those games. They wouldn’t have come from behind against Arizona, and they would have found a way to blow their lead against the Rams, much like they did against the Detroit Lions last year.

Grossman is by no means a premier QB, he currently ranks 23rd in the NFL in ESPN’s Total QBR, but is ahead of QBs such as Ben Roethlisberger and Kevin Kolb. It’s also tough to be sold on this new Total QBR method of ranking QBs as Philip Rivers is ahead of Tom Brady, and Tavaris Jackson is in the top 10. Jackson currently has one more interception than touchdown, the same as Grossman, and has only topped 200 yards passing once this season.

Bad Rex has reared his ugly head a couple times, including against the St. Louis Rams and Dallas Cowboys, but two of his interceptions are far from his fault. Anthony Armstrong and Santana Moss both let catchable balls go through their hands, which led to interceptions.

However, when Grossman has had time in the pocket this year, he has been quite effective. When he isn’t under pressure, he has done a good job of finding Fred Davis, Santana Moss and Jabar Gaffney down field.

Redskins fans shouldn’t be expecting Grossman to be a top 10 QB, that’s not who he is. The Redskins need him to be a game manager, and if you take away just a couple bad throws, Grossman has been exactly what the Redskins need.

Their defense is elite, they have a three-headed monster at running back, and Mike Shanahan is the coach this team needs.

Things are different this time around, and Grossman has led this team to a 3-1 record, so stop calling for his head.

On Monday night, Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall got exposed as the most inconsistent and unreliable member of Washington’s secondary.

You may remember Hall as the player who, prior to Monday night’s contest between the Cowboys and Redskins, giddily announced that he would target Dallas quarterback Tony Romo’s injured ribs if given the chance. Never one to pass up an opportunity to seek unnecessary attention, Hall assumed the role of provocateur by telling the media that he planned to ask the coaching staff to dial up some corner blitzes so he could try to further hurt Romo.

Hall never ended up hitting Romo during the game, but Romo targeted Hall several times and hurt the Redskins in the process.

For the second week in a row, the Redskins defensive coaching staff tasked Hall with containing the opposing team’s best wide receiver, and for the second week in a row, he failed to do so. On Monday night, Hall could not slow down Cowboys wide receiver Dez Bryant; Romo through the ball to Bryant four times and Bryant caught each pass for a team-high 63 yards.

Bryant’s most significant catch occurred on a third-and-21 with 2:20 left in the game when Romo, under duress from a Redskins blitz, rolled to his right and floated a pass to Bryant who pulled it down for a 30-yard gain. Hall was called for a facemask on the ensuing tackle, adding another 15 yards to the gain and putting the Cowboys in range for what would be the game-winning field goal.

In his post-game comments, rather than give credit to his opponent for getting the best of him or simply keep his mouth shut, Hall criticized Redskins defensive coordinator Jim Haslett for calling an all-out blitz on that third down, implying that the Cowboys didn’t have to be rocket scientists to figure out the Redskins’ schemes.

Apparently Hall forgot that the Redskins defense was having a lot of success pressuring Romo with heavy blitzes.

More importantly, if Hall was as good a player as he purports to be, he would have put himself in position to either break up that pass, which was far from a laser strike, or tackle Bryant without incident (in fairness to Hall, replays show his hands were at Bryant’s collar, not his facemask, but had Hall been in better position on the play, he would not have been forced to lunge at Bryant’s neck).

Hall’s post-game comments sounded a lot like the self-righteous whining past Redskins players like Albert Haynesworth and Clinton Portis often partook in.

They stand in stark contrast to the team-first attitude that has permeated the Redskins locker room this season and that players have credited with generating a renewed sense of optimism. And Hall’s teammates did not echo his criticism of Haslett. Strong safety LaRon Landry, who played like an absolute beast in his first game of the season, defended Haslett’s decision in a post-game interview and reiterated that it was not the job of the players to question their coaches.

The majority of the Redskins secondary played exceptionally well on Monday night.

Landry reminded everyone why he is one of the most feared defensive players in the NFL by forcing a fumble late the first quarter with a vicious hit and by coming out of nowhere early in the second quarter to prevent Cowboys wide receiver Laurent Robinson from catching a pass that would have resulted in a first down. Cornerback Josh Wilson batted down several passes and came very close to intercepting two of those passes. Free Safety Oshiomogho Atogwe used his speed to break up what should have been a third-quarter touchdown to Robinson.

Hall was the only player the Cowboys consistently victimized.

This shouldn’t surprise fans that have been paying close attention to the Redskins these past two seasons. Every now and then, Hall turns in a magnificent performance like his record-tying four interception game against the Chicago Bears during the 2009-2010 season, but the word that most aptly describes his play is inconsistent.

Hall does not play on a high level week after week; he is not a shut-down corner like Darrelle Revis and Nnamdi Asomugha.

Hall is a player who has the swagger of an all-pro but the game of a solid role player. His condemnation of Haslett was the last thing the Redskins needed after what was an all around solid effort against a division rival. Monday’s loss may be hard to swallow, but the Redskins are still in a prime position to make a playoff run, and they did a lot of things right in a game that was decided by a mere two points.

What the Redskins don’t need going forward is distractions in the locker room.

Hall stepped out of line when he criticized the coaching staff, and the Redskins would be better served if the players followed the lead of Landry and assumed responsibility rather than placing the blame on someone else.

Last season, after Hall’s aforementioned four-interception game against the Bears, Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler told the press that despite Hall’s performance he would still “go at him every time” if given the opportunity. Cutler’s comments came off as insanely arrogant, and to a degree, they were.

But, in retrospect, they illustrate something that is quite evident: Hall is not a defensive player that strikes fear in the hearts of opposing offenses. He is a serviceable player who talks too much trash, and if he can’t tone down his mouth or increase his level of play, the Redskins would be wise to cut him loose.