FanHouse Stuart Schweigert

Who says that preseason games don't count?

They count to Stuart Schweigert ... a former safety for the Washington Redskins. I say "former" because he was released by the team yesterday.

Originally signed by the Redskins on June 2, Schweigert was late getting over in coverage as Indianapolis quarterback Quinn Gray connected with Onrea Jones on a 30-yard touchdown in Sunday's 30-16 victory over the Colts in the Hall of Fame game.

Schweigert played four seasons in Oakland before being released on May 21. For his career he has made 42 starts in 63 games, recording 315 tackles, four interceptions and 18 passes defended.

It doesn't help when another guy fighting for the backup safety gig ... Chris Horton ... played well in the same game. It also doesn't help ... and I'm not kidding about this ... that when searching for a picture of Schweigert, I found a bunch of photos of him getting beat by a receiver or shoved to the ground by a running back.

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.

The more Lane Kiffin talks, the more I'm convinced he has no real conception of what's going on around him. Maybe he's mailing it in and now just shows up to collect a paycheck.

I get that -- owner Al Davis has been trying to run him off for months now -- but Kiffin might want to consider just avoiding the media altogether because he often comes off looking like the senile old man. After releasing safety Stuart Schweigert earlier in the week, Kiffin offered these encouraging words:

"It was in Stu's best interest as well not to drag it out any longer ... With how this league works, you never know, he could be back here."

I'm not NFL personnel expert, but I'm guessing Schweigert won't be back. Call it a hunch.

In the Saginaw News, Schweigert said of Oakland, "In all my years in football, I've never been around a more negative atmosphere. Nobody had my back, even when in the years before I had their backs 100 percent."

Look, I don't expect Kiffin to subscribe to the Saginaw News, but good Lord, why even comment on Schweigert's possible future with the Raiders days after cutting the guy?