NFL, players' union, investigate Redskins' offseason practices

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) The NFL wants to know if the Washington Redskins have been playing too rough in the offseason.

The league and the players' union said Thursday they are investigating the Redskins offseason practices. At issue are the team's one-on-one drills between offensive and defensive linemen, which the union says are forbidden, and whether those drills violate a prohibition against "live contact."

The players' union was first alerted of the possible infractions after the team posted video from the drills on the Internet. The practices are closed to reporters.

"Do you know how we caught them?" NFL Players Association executive director Gene Upshaw said. "We saw it on their Web site."

Coach Joe Gibbs said the team has turned over tapes of its practices to the league for review. If the team is found in violation, it could lose part of its allotted number of offseason practice days.

"We think we're doing what we need to be doing, trying to get everybody ready," Gibbs said. "And if it fits within the rules, we'll just have to see."

The practices - called OTAs or "organized team activities" - are essentially practices without pads. The collective bargaining agreement forbids "live contact drills between offensive and defensive linemen" during the practices.

Of course, "live contact" can be open to interpretation. Asked to describe the one-on-one drills, tackle Chris Samuels said: "We're locking up, just working our hand placement and technique, but we're not, like, finishing guys or driving guys to the ground."

NFLPA spokesman Carl Francis said the team shouldn't be doing one-on-one drills in the first place.

"The only thing that is allowed at OTAs is 7-on-7, 9-on-7 and 11-on-11," Francis said.

Gibbs said he thinks the Redskins are "well within the rules." He said his interpretation is that one-on-one drills are allowed for teaching pass rushing techniques and that the drills are not too physical.

"What they don't want is one-on-one physical stuff, competitive, where you wind up with players on the ground getting injured," Gibbs said.

Assistant coach Joe Bugel defended the drills by saying that their "physical contact bears no resemblance to that experienced in a regular-season practice or game."

NFL spokesman Greg Aiello confirmed that the league is looking into the matter. Neither Francis nor Aiello offered a timetable for a decision.

This is the second time since his return from retirement that Gibbs has drawn the attention of league officials for possible transgressions during practice. Last year, during the regular season, the coach tried to flaunt the rules by using an extra practice squad player until the league told him to stop.