Gibbs Mostly Mum About Absent Portis

At the end of another week of organized team activities, and with his Washington Redskins players brimming with optimism about an offense they might be grasping better, Coach Joe Gibbs stepped off the practice field yesterday and began talking about a player who isn't even in town.

These days, it seems, Clinton Portis never is far away.

Gibbs said he has spoken to his star running back about the televised comments the player made about dogfighting but refused to reveal the substance of that conversation other than to say, "I think it went well."

Portis, team officials say, is home in Miami for a personal matter that he told Gibbs about before the recent controversy emerged last weekend. Therefore he has dodged, in person, much of the storm that has swirled around the interview he gave to WAVY-TV in Norfolk, in which he suggested that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick should not be pursued for alleged dogfighting at a house he owns in Virginia because "it's his property; it's his dogs. If that's what he wants to do, do it."

Portis has released a statement through the Redskins saying he does not condone dogfighting. He also told the NFL Network this week that he was trying to say there are "bigger issues in the world and in life than what Michael Vick does with his property." He also said he believes the issue "is blown out of proportion and I'm being thrown in the fire for no reason."

Gibbs seemed to hope that referencing a team statement released Tuesday, in which the team said it took Portis's remarks seriously and apologized to "everyone that was offended," would be enough to extinguish the issue, but the questions about his running back kept coming.

"When you have this many young guys together, [controversies such as this] are a concern," Gibbs said. "All it takes is for someone to make a bad judgment and it becomes a problem."

He said that in conversations with the team, he has used previous incidents to warn the players of mistakes they can make in interviews and to be careful.

Gibbs also said the team is not too concerned about the tendinitis in Portis's knee that kept him out of workouts last week. He said the plan is to rest Portis until the pain is gone with the idea of getting him ready for training camp.

"He's been a great producer and when we get him back healthy he will be a great producer again for us," Gibbs said.

Lost in the Portis debacle is the fact the Redskins finally may be grasping the offense that associate head coach Al Saunders introduced before last season. Many who have been in the system in Saunders's previous stops in St. Louis and Kansas City say it takes two years to master. That time might be coming.

Tight end Chris Cooley said he has noticed a difference in the way the offensive players have been practicing this spring, with everything seeming crisper, sharper and more cohesive.

"I think the offense is faster than before," he said. "Guys are faster when they know where they are going. I know I'm leaps and bounds beyond where I was last year. I feel more comfortable in what I'm doing."

Redskins Notes: Running back Rock Cartwright injured his left ankle Tuesday when a teammate stepped on him. The injury has grown worse in the last couple days with some tendinitis developing, so he has been held out of workouts. . . . Wide receiver Santana Moss has a sore right hip flexor and also has missed workouts. An MRI exam on the injury showed no damage. . . . Linebacker Lemar Marshall has a sore hamstring and has been kept out of workouts. . . . The team expects linebacker Marcus Washington to be cleared to play at its minicamp in early June. He has been recovering from surgery on his hip and elbow. . . . The Redskins signed wide receiver Terry Mitchell from Grand Valley State and released offensive lineman Cornelius Rogers, who had been signed as an undrafted free agent last week.