Heyer Is Ready to Start Again in Place of Wade

Washington Redskins rookie tackle Stephon Heyer practiced with the first-team offense yesterday and is on track to start Sunday night's game against the New York Giants at Giants Stadium.

With veteran tackle Todd Wade still slowed because of knee and heel problems, Heyer, 23, took Wade's place at right tackle as the Redskins (6-7) continued to prepare for the Giants (9-4). The Redskins are in contention for the NFC's second wild-card berth with only three games remaining, and the Giants would clinch a wild-card berth with a victory Sunday.

Redskins quarterback Todd Collins is scheduled to make his first start since Dec. 14, 1997, when he was a member of the Buffalo Bills. Washington's injury-weakened offensive line will be tested against the productive defensive line of the Giants, who lead the league with 47 sacks, and Heyer said he is ready for the challenge.

"They're great athletes," Heyer said. "They work. They move to the ball really well. They have good pressure schemes, good blitz schemes, they're just great athletes and they have a knack of getting to the quarterback. We've got our work cut out for us this weekend. We need to just know what we're going up against."

New York's defensive ends are among the NFL's best at applying pressure. Osi Umenyiora leads the team with 12 sacks and four forced fumbles. Michael Strahan and Justin Tuck are tied for second with nine sacks each and have forced three fumbles combined.

Heyer, an undrafted rookie out of Maryland, has played in nine games and started twice, including in Thursday's 24-16 victory over the Chicago Bears. The Redskins deactivated Wade for the game against Chicago partly because of his knee problems. Although Wade practiced yesterday, he said he was unsure of his status for Sunday's game.

"The knee's fine, I think I've kind of gotten over it," Wade said. "Now, I'm still working on this Achilles' [tendon] and tendinitis and everything. Just working on that."

Regardless of who starts, the Redskins plan to provide additional blocking help against the Giants' defensive ends.

"Part of it is the number of protections we use," said Al Saunders, associate head coach-offense. "We use a variety of protections . . . always keeping an extra offensive player in, whether it's a tight end or a back. One of the ways that we've always handled protection in this system of offense is the tremendous volume we have, and hopefully a defense can't key in on a specific protection by formations or by personnel."

The Redskins were pleased with Heyer's performance against Chicago and would be comfortable with him starting against the Giants, Saunders said.

"He's going to be an outstanding player in the league," Saunders said. "He's held his own every time he's been in there. He's played against some real quality players and each week he's gotten better. I would expect that he would be better this week than he was the last two weeks.

"But there's not an offensive tackle in the National Football League that can stand in there and protect against those defensive ends, pass after pass, in obvious pass situations. It's important for the football team to keep us out of those third-and-long situations where those guys can come off the edge and get wide splits."

Emergency Quarterback

With quarterback Jason Campbell expected to be sidelined for the last three games because of a dislocated left kneecap and a sprained medial collateral ligament, Collins and Mark Brunell are the only healthy quarterbacks on the active roster.

The Redskins on Tuesday signed Jason Fife, 26, to the practice squad, but Fife could not enter a game unless he is on the active roster, so wide receiver Antwaan Randle El will serve as the Redskins' emergency quarterback, Coach Joe Gibbs said. Randle El played quarterback in college at Indiana. In five-plus seasons in the NFL, Randle El has completed 17 of 21 passes for 235 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions.

Cartwright's Season

Kick return specialist Rock Cartwright is having an outstanding season, ranking fourth in the league with 1,199 yards on kickoff returns. Cartwright has attained performance bonuses voiding the remainder of his contract, making him eligible for unrestricted free agency after the season. Cartwright, a 2002 seventh-round draft pick, said he hopes to finish his career in Washington and wants to sign a long-term extension . . .

Wide receiver James Thrash, who missed the last four games because of a high-ankle sprain, returned to practice. "He looked good in practice," Gibbs said. "It's great to get him back. He's a leader. He means a lot to us." . . . Defensive end Phillip Daniels (knee), left guard Randy Thomas (elbow) and cornerback John Eubanks (infected toe) sat out practice.

Staff writer Jason La Canfora contributed to this report.