FanHouse KennyWright

In this edition of Answers to Questions Nobody Asked, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's Tony Grossi writes that the Browns and Cowboys aren't working on a trade that would send one of the myriad cornerbacks on Dallas' roster to Cleveland to fill the gaping (but slow developing) hole left by Kenny Wright.

Apparently, the two front offices have a wonderful working relationship due in part to last year's Brady Quinn deal, so with that in mind, Grossi asks, "what's the holdup on sending one of those cornerbacks the Browns' way? He then answers his own question:

First, the Cowboys are not yet comfortable counting on [Pacman] Jones. Although they are protecting him from getting into more trouble with a squadron of security people working round-the-clock, they don't want to risk totally depending on him. And [2007 first-round pick Mike] Jenkins, after all, will be a rookie, so they don't want to rush him into the starting lineup.

They also have plans on moving [Anthony] Henry to safety in certain packages as a precursor to an eventual permanent position switch.

Last month, Browns cornerback Kenny Wright lost a foot race to a couple of law enforcement types -- presumably because he was running with his eyes closed -- and was eventually cuffed and stuffed for, shockingly, evading arrest. He also was found to have marijuana on his person.

Well, the Browns finally got around to releasing the 10-year journeyman, which explains why he wasn't at the team's OTAs today.

With Leigh Bodden now in Detroit, the Browns have a need for depth at cornerback. Frankly, that was the case even with Wright on the roster. According to the Plain Dealer's Tony Grossi, second-year player Eric Wright and Daven Holley lined up as starters during today's practice. Gary Baxter, who's allegedly moving to safety, wasn't healthy enough to participate,

Sometimes fixing the secondary is an indirect process, and that's what Cleveland is hoping for in 2008; they traded for defensive linemen Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams, and have high hopes for young linebackers D'Qwell Jackson and Leon Williams. If the Browns' front seven can consistently mount a pass rush and manage to slow up the run (something they haven't been able to do in, well, forever), the four guys playing behind them won't much matter.

No matter what you think of the Jerome Mathis signing, at least it won't cost the Redskins much. According to the Washington Post's Jason La Canfora, Mathis got a one-year, veteran minimum deal and no bonus. Which means he could earn $520,000 if he makes it through the season.

La Canfora, like the Washington Times' Ryan O'Halloran (and me), questions the signing, even suggesting that there "ain't no way Mathis gets in the building on [Joe Gibbs'] watch, not even for a workout. Not even to deliver the mail."

The Redskins may have had more players off their draft board last year for character issues than any club in the league. Gibbs blew it on Brandon Lloyd - and Vinny Cerrato, after all his years in San Fran, should have had the goods on that one - but otherwise proved that character and attitude mattered. Owner Daniel Snyder has a rep for reaching for players, and the Skins were never known much for their overall character and team-first ethos before Gibbs returned.

La Canfora throws out the obligatory "Is Chris Henry next?" reference before writing that the Redskins were apparently high on Kenny Wright before he signed with the Browns. The point, I think, is that the team is a more willing to take chances on players with character concerns now that Gibbs has retired.

When Kenny Wright isn't getting outrun by the nation's fastest police force and posing for handsome pictures, he serves as a defensive back for the Browns. Which goes a long way in explaining why Cleveland's pass defense was so atrocious last season.

Wright has since been released from jail and now the Browns have to decide if they'll release him from Cleveland. According to the Plain Dealer's Mary Kay Cabot, the Browns "are withholding comment on the situation until we can gather more information." For example: "how the hell did Wright get run down by a bunch of cops?"

Question is, will the Browns stand by a player who barely played for them last year in the first year of his three-year contract? He's set to make $730,000 in 2008 and $845,000 in 2009.

Well, considering they sent their best cornerback, Leigh Bodden, to the Lions for Shaun Rogers, Cleveland may be more inclined to keep Wright around. As Cabot points out, though, the Browns don't tolerate off-field silliness well, so having no depth in the secondary -- something the team is very familiar with -- won't preclude them from releasing Wright if they deem he's not worth the trouble.

The Browns are hoping Gary Baxter is finished getting hurt, and second-year cornerback Eric Wright can make the transition to starter. Still, after those two, there isn't a lot depth at the position.

Cleveland Browns defensive back Kenny Wright was arrested Thursday morning in Pearland, Texas, and charged with unlawful restraint, evading arrest and possession of marijuana, all misdemeanors.

Pearland police had to chase Wright on foot, and in the statement they released, they sounded proud of their ability to run down an NFL defensive back:

"The foot chase was about a quarter of a mile," Sgt. Roy Castillo said in a prepared Pearland Police Department statement. "We had people on scene pretty fast, and I believe because of our quick response time and the mental and physical toughness of our officers to catch offenders, we were able to get him in custody quickly and safely."

Wright, who has previously played for the Vikings, Texans, Jaguars and Redskins, was then taken to jail, where he produced one of the better sports-related mug shots we've seen. I don't know what he's wearing, I don't know what the deal with his eyes is, and I don't know how a 30-year-old professional athlete can look that old.

Well, Clinton Portis is back, but Shawn Springs is going to miss another game this weekend after straining his groin when he tried practicing Wednesday afternoon. Springs had surgery Aug. 14 to repair an abdominal muscle that had torn from the pelvic bone. The injury Wednesday did not aggravate that injury, but how much better is it to have two injuries?

Through the first two games so far, the Redskins' defense allowed two aging QBs to shine, Mark Brunell not one of them. Brad Johnson consistently picked apart the secondary, specifically picking on Carlos Rogers, making sure no one in Minnesota is missing Daunte Culpepper (actually, Culpepper is doing that himself). Then just when Tony Romo was gearing up to be the next Cowboys QB, Drew Bledsoe had a consistent game, stayed off his back and threw his way to a victory at the expense of the Redskins' secondary. And that was without an effective T.O.

Without Springs, the corners will be manned by Carlos Rogers, Kenny Wright and Mike Rumph. Adam Archuleta is going to have to figure out how to play pass defense, Marcus Washington is going to have to keep pace covering TEs and the defensive line is going to have to put some heat on David Carr.

Springs may return week four, but there are no guarantees even that will happen. An MRI revealed an abductor sprain, ummm, whatever that means. All I know is they said something about a groin problem. That can't be good.

All week I've been hearing and reading stuff about the upcoming Redskins-Cowboys game about how the Redskins secondary looked so bad against Minnesota that they should make Bledsoe look good again. The theory is that second-year CB Carlos Rogers won't be able to maintain T.O., let alone Kenny Wright or Mike Rumph.

Looking back at the Vikings game, Gregg Williams did not employ a lot of blitz packages. Brad Johnson was pretty much given a break because of the injuries suffered on our defensive side of the ball. With Pierson Prioleau going down early in the game and Shawn Springs still nursing his injury, that left zero depth in the secondary. If you blitz Rogers and Taylor, you have recently acquired Mike Rumph covering one-on-one with only Adam Archuleta covering the top. Not a good idea. The backup safeties are Vernon Fox and Reed Doughty, neither of whom has proven anything yet.

With Gregg Williams holding back on bringing the heat we're used to seeing, that left the pressure up to an injured Cornelius Griffin, Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn. And where in the world is Andre Carter? Going against Steve Hutchinson, Matt Birk and Bryant McKinnie, you HAVE to bring some heat.

Everyone knows that to compete for an NFL playoff spot, you have to be able to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense. Well, the Washington Redskins have suffered injuries in both preseason games that greatly affects this formula. In the first quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals, RB Clinton Portis went down with a shoulder injury. In the first quarter against the New York Jets, DT Cornelius Griffin went down with a knee injury.

With Clinton Portis uncertain for the season opener, the Redskins could begin the year aiming to at least do enough. And that's in addition to losing RB Kerry Carter for the season, RB Ladell Betts recuperating from nagging injuries and RB Jesse Lumsden nursing a groin injury. RB Rock Cartwright is the size of a smurf and isn't built to handle a full load, and FB Mike Sellers, well, he's a FB (though he looked good carrying the load for three carries against the Jets).

Stopping the run will already be harder without Griffin, but then you have to consider DE Phillip Daniels' back injury, CB Shawn Springs' abdomen injury, the loss of LB Chris Clemons for the season, CB Ade Jimoh's chest injury and CB Kenny Wright playing like CB Walt Harris did last year.

With a couple of weeks to go before the season's first Monday Night game between the Redskins and the Minnesota Vikings, perhaps some of the wounded warriors will be ready to go. The injuries for the most part are minor, but none of the injured have played a full 60-minute head-knocking game in months. If we're going to make a run for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, either trainer Bubba Tyer is going to have to find a miracle cure or someone is going to have to step up and offensively make sure we're still churning yards out on the ground game and defensively making sure no runningback carries the rock past the line of hemorrhage without getting their heads busted.