FanHouse StephenHeyer

Washington Redskins Pro-Bowl left tackle Chris Samuels has been placed on injured reserve and will miss the rest of the season.

Samuels will require surgery after tearing his right triceps in the fourth quarter of the 24-10 loss. Also placed on injured reserve was offensive lineman Justin Geisinger, who sustained a meniscus injury in his left knee while serving as an emergency fill-in for Samuels and injured right tackle Jon Jansen.

Jansen, who sprained a ligament in his left knee in the fourth quarter, remains on the active roster, although it remains unclear whether he will be able to play again this season. Stephon Heyer and Jason Fabini are expected to start at tackle Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Redskins stayed busy yesterday. They added tackle Devin Clark from the practice squad and signed former Panthers and Jets guard Will Montgomery. Washington also released defensive end Erasmus James.

All this is great news for quarterback Jason Campbell and his blind side. Not that the side he could see was doing any better.

Redskins head coach Jim Zorn made his first real bold move in his new team by demoting right tackle Jon Jansen in favor of Stephen Heyer.

It is really simple: Heyer has looked good in the preseason while Jansen hasn't. Still, Jansen doesn't see it that way:

"I'm disappointed that I'm not going to be out there," Jansen said. "I still believe myself to be the right tackle here, but it's not going to be that way on [Thursday], and that's what I have to deal with."

Jansen was given some explanations for the change, but "nothing that I felt was reason enough," he said. Zorn said the decision to go with Heyer was very difficult, citing the ability to best protect the passer as a key factor.

Jansen is the longest tenured Redskin and has started in every game he's played since being drafted in 1999. Jansen never missed a start in his first five seasons but has missed all of 2004 and nearly all of the 2007 season.

Today was a nice blast from the past for the Terps. For the first time since they were good, they beat NC State. And for the first time all year, they dominated a team. Don't let the close score fool you, this was Maryland's game from start to end. The most surprising part? They did it on defense.

For the last two weeks, I have been giving it to defensive coordinator Chris Cosh hard. But today, he shut me up -- at least for a week. The defensively line put constant pressure on NC State quarterback Dan Evans. Conrad Bolston and Rick Costa could not be contained by the NC State defensive line. Costa is listed as a linebacker, but he would line up on the defensive line most plays and he had some big tackles.

I don't think people are listening to my bandwagon plea. I think Maryland fans are already giving up on the Terps. I wasn't at the game, but the Diamondback's Steve Whyno was and he did a good job of running a live journal. He mentions that the fans wondered in late, left before half time, although the Terps only had a touchdown lead, and the fans booed the team multiple times after an interception and a three and outs.

The fan's angst is understandable. Everyone, including myself, was expecting the Terps to roll into Byrd Stadium today and release their frustration from West Virginia all over Florida International. Instead, the game went to the very last play, when Maryland's Christian Varner intercepted what could have been a game winning pass from the Golden Panthers.

14-7 at halftime isn't a big deal. Many times these games open up in the second half. Instead, Maryland was shut down -- shut down -- in the second half of the game. There was some offensive line mix ups, with guard Stephen Heyer leaving for some of the first half and Donnie Woods leaving for most of the second. But these excuses shouldn't matter. The Terps need to go out and put it on teams like these. I don't care what Ralph Friedgen says about this team having really talented players. Big universities always say that about the smaller schools before they crush them. Maybe the Fridge was just making excuses early because he knew the trouble his team has. An ESPN360 announcer mentioned that the Golden Panthers had one of the best defenses in the country. That may very well be true, and I hope it is, but Maryland needs to show they can function on both ends of the ball.

One of the bright spots was Josh Allen, who scored a touchdown on a screen pass and hauled in a nice 21 yard catch. Hopefully, he's getting closer and closer to where he was. He was excellent at his prime.

The defense did their job well. To hold any opponent to 10 points is good. They gave the offense and chance to win, although they gave up a huge touchdown play. Big plays should not be tolerated like that. They also made it too close at the end than they should have. Otherwise, they did well.

I understand fans frustartions. For the first four weeks, we get weak games against AA teams and one humiliation dealt out by West Virginia. Now we have a bye week before we even get into ACC play. This is been one of the most boring first five weeks in college football. Hopefully, the Terps will use that week off to start fixing some things. If not, it's going to be a long season that's not going to get any more entertaining.