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News & Notes: Defense Shorthanded, But Pulls Through

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The Redskins overcame the absence of three defensive starters to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 23-17 at Lincoln Financial Field on Sunday.

Jason Taylor, Shawn Springs and Marcus Washington were among the Redskins' inactives for the game.

After a shaky start, the defense stepped up in their absence, though.

The Eagles' offense scored a touchdown on their opening possession. The Redskins clamped down the rest of the way, allowing a touchdown on a punt return and a short field goal.

Overall, the defense limited the Eagles to just 254 yards of total offense and 58 total rushing yards.

Andre Carter had a strong game, leading the defense with six tackles. London Fletcher shadowed Eagles' running back Brian Westbrook in coverage and totaled four tackles.

Springs was slowed by a calf injury that he suffered last week against the Dallas Cowboys.

Springs was on Lincoln Financial Field at pre-game stretching the calf injury, but team officials determined it was not in good enough condition to play.

Carlos Rogers and Fred Smoot started at cornerback for the Redskins. Leigh Torrence served as the nickel cornerback and rookie J.T. Tryon also saw action.

Washington was sidelined due to a lingering hamstring injury. He was able to practice on a limited basis last Friday.


Washington played through the injury last week at Dallas, but coaches decided to rest him this week.

Second-year player H.B. Blades started in place of Washington and recorded three tackles in the game.

It was announced last Friday that Taylor would not play in the game. He remains sidelined by a calf injury suffered in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals.

Demetric Evans started in place of Taylor for the second week in a row.

-- WESTBROOK STARTS FOR EAGLES

The big question leading up to Sunday's Redskins-Eagles game was whether running back Brian Westbrook would play despite an ankle injury.

The answer came 90 minutes before game time: Westbrook would be in the starting lineup.

All last week, the Redskins had anticipated that Westbrook would be active for the game.

They had his brother Byron, a practice squad cornerback, play him on the scout team during practice last week.

The preparation paid off.

After scoring a touchdown on the Eagles' opening possession, Westbrook was a non-factor the rest of the game. He finished with 12 carries for 33 yards and caught six passes for 51 yards.

-- HEYER INACTIVE

Stephon Heyer was sidelined for Sunday's game at Philadelphia and he was replaced by Jon Jansen in the starting lineup for the second game in a row.

Heyer remains slowed by a shoulder injury.

Heyer was on Lincoln Financial Field at pre-game testing the shoulder under the watchful eye of the team's athletic trainers.

He was listed as doubtful heading into the game.

The Redskins' complete list of inactives for the Philadelphia game was as follows: Springs, Justin Hamilton, Washington, Taylor, Heyer, Chad Rinehart and Rob Jackson.

-- GRIFFIN INJURED

The Redskins reported one injury after the Eagles game: Cornelius Griffin suffered a shoulder injury in the third quarter.

He was able to return to the game, however.

Griffin, a 9-year veteran, is expected to have an MRI on Monday to further evaluate the injury.

Griffin's availability for practice this week will be updated by team officials on Monday.

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