While Albert Haynesworth was allegedly rather demonstrative in voicing his displeasure over being benched, his teammates probably know that doing the same will land them a spot next to Big Al in Shanahan's doghouse. That's why, according to Rick Maese of the Washington Post's Redskins Insider, other members of the Redskins aren't saying too much in regards to Haynesworth being inactive for the game.
"Coach made the decision not to dress him," linebacker London Fletcher said, "so that's the decision they made."
Yes London, that is a perfectly sound statement of fact. They benched him, so he was benched. Way to go out on a limb. And that's pretty much how most of the Redskins sounded when they were talking about Haynesworth. But here is something from Phillip Daniels that seemed kind of interesting.
"All I know is that a lot of talk was about Albert before this game, and it could have been a distraction for a lot of guys."
I'm not ready to pin the loss on Albert Haynesworth being listed inactive, either for his absence on the field or the potential distraction it could have caused, but do I think that it helped in any way? No. Football is a hard sport to play, and it doesn't make a lot of sense for them to introduce a potential distraction like this right before a game. There is no way it could have helped, and that's the bottom line.