Redskins Training Camp: Albert Haynesworth Will Take Conditioning Test Every Day Until He Passes

ASHBURN, V.A. - Mike Shanahan knew he had to address the Albert Haynesworth situation, but after a while, even he got tired of it. About four minutes into the questioning, even he snapped a bit.

"Let's get on with it. I think we covered Albert enough."

Shanahan's message was clear, though, from the earlier line of questioning. He will gladly welcome Haynesworth back into the fold and let him run through a normal practice, but he has to pass that conditioning test first.

"We will test him every day to see if he can pass it, and if not, he'll get some good cardiovascular endurance with the strength coach, both on the treadmill and on the field," Shanahan said.

Instead of practicing, Haynesworth spent the majority of the time on the sidelines working with Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett and Defensive Lineman Coach Jacob Burney. He spent some time on a treadmill and went over the Redskins' defensive terminology, Shanahan said. If Haynesworth fails the test again, he will again stay on the sidelines.

"[The test]" keeps a guy from getting hurt," Shanahan said. "I don't want to put a guy out there and have him get hurt, and suddenly there's a setback for two weeks. It just doesn't make sense."

Shanahan declined to reveal the details of the test, but he did say it's a standard conditioning drill that every lineman on the team went through at some point during the OTA program, though it's unclear whether they were actually timed while doing so. Shanahan said that anyone who completed a certain percentage of OTA practices did not have to be tested on the drill prior to training camp.

When asked whether it was safe to admit that it's a "pretty tough test" for a big guy, Shanahan simply said that every other lineman on the team "passed the test." 

Fellow linemen Andre Carter and Kendrick Golston said they did not take the test, though they did run through the drill.

But Haynesworth has a (sort of) supporter in DeAngelo Hall. Hall said he didn't think a lot of the players on the roster could have passed the test Shanahan administered.

"I was telling somebody that I don't think a lot of us guys that were even here 100-percent could have even passed it.  That's what conditioning tests are, that's what conditioning tests are for. Some of them are unattainable," Hall said.

When asked whether he was surprised that Haynesworth failed, Hall said he wasn't.

"Some guys are made to do conditioning tests like that, and some guys aren't," he said.

Regardless, Shanahan said he has high hopes for Haynesworth this season and expects him to meet those hopes once he passes the test.

"Obviously, you'd like him to be in the type of shape most of our players are in, but the bottom line is we're going to get him in shape," he said. "He's going to be on our football team and he's going to play at the level we'd like him to play."