--Coach Mike Shanahan said he expects running back Clinton Portis, who starred for him in Denver in 2002-03, to have a strong season at 29 after missing the second half of last season with a concussion.

"The first thing we talked about was him being in excellent shape, him paying the price in the offseason -- he's done that," Shanahan said. "He's in good football shape. You can see it in the way he practices, the way he goes about his business, and he looks like a young player right now. So, hopefully it pays dividends this season and I'm looking for him to have a good year."

--Donovan McNabb has been repeatedly praised for the leadership he's shown since being acquired from Philadelphia in April, but the quarterback said he doesn't feel the need to be more of a leader for the Redskins, coming off a 4-12 season, than he was for the playoff perennial Eagles.

"I'm just gonna be myself," McNabb said. "When you get to trying to change who you are and trying to please others, then that takes you away mentally of what you set out to do. I'm just gonna be myself, make sure the guys are very loose and I'm loose myself and prepared and ready to go and just go out and have fun."

--On the radio on Tuesday, McNabb said, "We can't win without him," when asked about Haynesworth's future with the Redskins. On Wednesday, McNabb was equally supportive of his truculent teammate.

"Albert is one of our brothers in the locker room," McNabb said. "He's practicing with us. Albert is going to play. He's going to be a guy we're all cheering for to get to the quarterback because I've been there. Albert sacked me last year and that wasn't fun. I want somebody else to feel that pain. I think people have to realize that everybody in this building, we support one another."

BY THE NUMBERS
43 -- Catches by Redskins WR Santana Moss in the past six games against Cowboys.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"Any time you go through your OTAs and your summer camp, hopefully you've arrived because we have a game this week. So we'll find out here shortly." -- Redskins first-year coach Mike Shanahan, whose team has a new offense and a new defense, on whether Washington's players have adapted to the systems of coordinators Kyle Shanahan and Jim Haslett.

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