Clinton Portis has been out the past few games with a groin injury and his return is still at least a couple weeks away. In that time Ryan Torain has stepped into the starting running back role and exceeded expectations. Which raises the question, now that Torain has proved that he is deserving of carries, how many does that leave for Portis when he gets back?
Portis addressed that issue in his weekly radio appearance on the Mike Wise Show on 106.7 the Fan. According to Mike Jones at TBD, Portis is willing to accept whatever role the team wants him to occupy once he returns.
“There are no guarantees in life man, I need to go out and help this team however I can,” Portis said. “That’s the decision for them to make, and when they make the decision, I still have to come to work and get the job done.”
Seeing as we are in the Nation's Capitol, Portis felt it was necessary to compare his situation to the presidency. Go ahead and try to follow this logic, I dare you.
“That’s life,” Portis said. “If you step away, that’s just like Bush leaving office. We came into a mess and a bad situation and all of a sudden, Bush left out and they became Obama’s problems. Obama did this and Obama did that, and I don’t think it was him that caused it. He was in there to straighten a mess up. I’m here trying to do what I can."
I'm not really sure what he is getting at, and to be honest, he doesn't really provide any answers to the original question. The truth is we won't know that until Portis returns, we see how healthy he is, and the Redskins can evaluate how he and Torain fit together. But it is good to know that he is willing to accept any role he is given.