NFL

Albert Haynesworth Redskins Train Wreck Continues With Failed Conditioning Test

This whole “Albert Haynesworth on the Redskins” thing isn’t working out very well, hasn’t been for while, and oh yeah – that nightmarish contract. And today, adding more fuel to the “wow, this is a disaster” fire: Haynesworth failed his training camp conditioning test and can not yet practice with the team.

Of course, it couldn’t just be any failure. This was an Albert-Haynesworth-on-the-Redskins failure. It started out great, and then, um…

FoxSports.com, which first reported the story, said that Haynesworth finished the first part of the test but walked through the second part.

The Washington Post reported that Haynesworth needed a bathroom break during the second part of the test and when he returned he had to start from the second half from the beginning and was unable to finish the test.

Yes, it sounds like this failure had some physical comedy thrown in for good measure – though the two accounts differ slightly, as WaPo makes no mention of Haynesworth walking through any part of the test, while FOX doesn’t mention the bathroom break.

The most important part, though, is what both reports say: that Haynesworth couldn’t make it through the test. In fairness, the test as reported by FOX’s Jay Glazer (two 300-yard shuttle runs) doesn’t sound like a gimme, especially for someone of Haynesworth’s size (listed at 6-6, 350). being able to do it is his job – a job, we’ll note again, for which he’s paid a lavish amount.

For his part, coach Mike Shanahan sounds like he doesn’t really care whether or not Haynesworth gets his act together…or at least, he’s making it sound that way.

“I’m expecting him to be in great shape,” Shanahan said Wednesday.

So much for that.

“And if he’s not in great shape, then we’re going to do what we need to do to get him in shape.

“Once he gets to that point, hopefully he’ll fit into our system and do the things we want him to do. Because, if he does, he can be an excellent football player for us. If not, we’re going to be very good anyhow.”

Shanahan is taking the right approach here: indirectly and with just enough subtlety, letting Haynesworth know he better get his act together, or he’ll get left behind by players who didn’t skip the team’s entire offseason program. While we’re not sure if Shanahan’s “very good” prediction will come to pass, we are pretty certain that if a guy with two Super Bowl rings can’t get through to Haynesworth, it’s not happening.

(Our bet: it’s not happening.)

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