Arrington's Progress Encourages Redskins

The Washington Redskins have been encouraged by the progress of linebacker LaVar Arrington in the last week, director of sports medicine Bubba Tyer said yesterday, and believe he is making strides toward fully recovering from a series of right knee problems that forced him to miss 12 games last season.

Arrington was originally expected to miss four to six weeks after having minor surgery performed to remove meniscus from his right knee, but he aggravated a troublesome bone bruise during his recovery and never made it back to full strength. He continues to work closely with the team's medical staff with hopes of being back on the field by March 21, when players return to Redskins Park for the start of optional offseason workouts.

During a news conference last Monday, Coach Joe Gibbs called Arrington's injury one of the team's major concerns, and, although he was loathe to speculate that more surgery could be necessary, he did hint that another procedure could be required. But Tyer was encouraged by Arrington's training sessions last week and said he will rehab at the team's practice facility again this week before heading back to Birmingham next Monday for another evaluation by James Andrews, who performed the original procedure on his knee.

"LaVar had an excellent week [last week]," Tyer said. "He worked extremely hard for three days last week -- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with no setbacks. . . . We plan to do the same thing this week, work hard for three days and then he's scheduled to see Dr. Andrews again on the 14th for an evaluation."

Arrington declined to comment last week, saying, "I'm only here to rehab," and has shied away from talking much about his health after initially declaring he would be playing within a few weeks after surgery and pushing himself to get back in the starting lineup.

-- Jason La Canfora