FanHouse Laron Landry

The dust has finally settled from the Sunday's sideline melee between Washington and Atlanta. The skirmish occurred shortly after a late hit by LaRon Landry sent Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan flying and tempers flaring between the Atlanta sideline and a few Redskins players, including former-Falcon DeAngelo Hall.

The NFL office has decided that fines should be handed out to four individuals. Falcons head coach Mike Smith received the biggest fine of $15,000 and Director of Athletic Performance Jeff Fish was slapped with a $2,500 fine. Two Redskins players were also fined -- Albert Haynesworth at $7,500 and LaRon Landry at $5,000.

In light of a brief brawl that broke out Sunday on the Atlanta sideline between a few Redskins and what seemed to be a large group of Falcons -- whom were protecting their quarterback who had just been hit late -- it is no surprise that some fines have been handed out.

Jason Reid of the Washington Post has learned that both Albert Haynesworth and LaRon Landry have been fined for their roles in the skirmish. He's also reporting that Landry -- who was fined for starting the issue with his hit on an out-of-bounds Matt Ryan -- plans to appeal the decision.

ATLANTA -- When the NFL schedule came out at the beginning of the year, the Washington Redskins game at the Atlanta Falcons wasn't necessarily a matchup you expected to be volatile. But DeAngelo Hall sure did.

Hall, who spent the first four seasons of his career playing in Atlanta, did a lot of trash-talking this week. He claimed that Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff lied to him on multiple occasions regarding roster issues, and he dared the Falcons to make him a target this week -- since he knew they probably would anyway.

Was there any doubt that if a skirmish broke out between the two teams that Hall would be involved?

The Redskins defeated the Steelers in their Week 2 preseason matchup Saturday, but despite the meaningless victory, there are still concerns about Washington's inert offense. It starts with quarterback Jason Campbell, of course, although fans now have a new favorite backup quarterback should things get to that point.

The defense is a different story, however. Free-agent acquisition Albert Haynesworth and first-round pick Brian Orakpo have suddenly given Washington a pass rush, and as Pittsburgh and Baltimore (the 'Skins opponent last week) can attest, a suffocating defense can mask a lot of offensive shortcomings.

The '09 Redskins defense isn't yet on par with some of the league's best units, but it wouldn't come as a complete surprise if that changed in the coming months. Because in addition to Haynesworth and Orakpo, there's also free safety LaRon Landry who, according to safeties coach Steve Jackson is, well, just keep reading (via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ed Bouchette):

ASHBURN, Va. -- Just a week ago, Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn expressed his disappointment over LaRon Landry's absence from OTAs (organized team activities). Zorn admitted he had been trying to get in touch with Landry, but the third-year safety had not returned any of his calls or texts.

On Thursday, after Washington's last team workout before training camp, we found out why.

Landry gave Zorn the ol' fake-number sliparoo.

"Several texts came back to me, and I thought, 'You know, I don't really have the right number,' " Zorn said.

Thank God. LaRon Landry has returned to the Redskins' loving bosom. Search and rescue teams have been called off because Landry, who missed voluntary workouts last week and didn't return calls or texts from head coach Jim Zorn, showed up for work today. Disaster averted.

Last Thursday, Zorn told reporters that Landry's absence was "disappointing to his teammates as well" although "I fully expect him to be ready in training camp and go hard and have a great year."

Totally agree with that last bit, but I'm pretty sure Landry's teammates aren't losing sleep over him skipping organized team activities. You know, because unlike most of us who write about this stuff, the guys who actually play football for a living seem to understand that veteran starters familiar with the scheme aren't really missing much during the shorts and t-shirts portion of the summer schedule.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

The Redskins stormed out of the gate in Jim Zorn's first season as head coach, running their record to 6-2 at the halfway point. The second half of the season, unfortunately, was perfectly symmetrical -- they went 2-6 to finish 8-8.

They could have won three of those games in best-case scenarios, but the best teams come through instead of talking about what could have been. The reality is that the Redskins only played a half-season in '08.

There is no way I can stat up this game -- it was a stinker. Neither offense could really get anything going, both defenses were all over the field and there were enough bad plays to fill Daniel Snyder's mansion.

Still, it was a gripping game that went down to the final play of the game. It also came down to the final inches of the field.

Down 10-3, the Eagles made a last second drive to tie the game. With :12 left on the clock, Donovan McNabb completed a pass to Reggie Brown on the two, maybe three, inch line. The Redskins LaRon Landry and Fred Smoot stopped him there and with Philly out of timeouts, the clock ran out. Yes, that is the play pictured above.

This is a huge blow to the Eagles playoff chances. Coming into the game, Philly actually held its own destiny. With a win over the Redskins and next week against the Cowboys, the Eagles would have been in the playoffs. Now Philly needs to win and hope Tampa Bay loses to Oakland and Chicago loses tomorrow against Green Bay or in Houston next week. While possible, it's hard to pin your hopes on Oakland winning in Tampa against Jon Gruden.

If there was one highlight play in a very lackluster game last night, it was Brandon Jacobs bowling over LaRon Landry.

In the first quarter of the Giants 16-7 win over the Redskins, Jacobs got lose a bit and just blew up Landry -- who is known as somewhat of a big hitter himself. Well, Landry isn't going to live this one down for a while.

Of course none of the Skins' secondary will be giving him the business. Jacobs also jacked up Fred Smoot and Reed Doughty.

The Redskins had two extra sandwiches at their defensive back picnic today when Shawn Springs and LaRon Landry failed to attend the first day of the latest round of OTAs.

According to the Washington Post's Jason La Canfora, coach Jim Zorn said that neither player was excused from the workouts. As always, they're voluntary but Zorn nor defensive coordinator Greg Blache had spoken to them. Zorn didn't make a big deal about the absnece.

"I'm going to try to get a feel for why they didn't want to come ... It's not something that I'm going to make a huge spectacle of. We'll just see what happens."

Per La Canfora, Springs has been working out in Arizona and skipped last season's workouts as well. Landry, however, "has not been around the facility much and some are concerned about his attitude." La Canfora doesn't elaborate on those concerns but I'll guess he has a habit of making off-color jokes about other players' mothers.

The Washington Times has a milder explanation. Teammates said each player missed his flight and, presumably, would be along as soon as they could find another.

Whenever they do arrive, they'll have to teach the Redskin secondary handshake to ex-Raider Stuart Schweigert. The four-year veteran signed with the team today. He's a much needed addition to the thin safety corps and could challenge for a starting role if all broke right for him.