Portis rips Zorn in radio interview

Dec 9, 2008 - 10:12 PM ASHBURN, Virginia (Ticker) -- Angry over his limited playing time in last week's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins running back Clinton Portis blasted coach Jim Zorn during a radio interview Tuesday.

Appearing on the "John Thompson Show," Portis suggested the Redskins should put him on injured reserved after he carried only 11 times for 32 yards against the Ravens.

"We got a genius for a head coach," said Portis, who was pulled early in the third quarter. "I don't know, I'm sure he on top of things. He's got everything figured out.

"Hey, that's up to him. All I can do is when he calls a play is go out and try to execute to the best of my ability."

Portis missed practice last week due to the rib and knee injuries that have bothered him for most of the season.

Zorn said Monday that Portis not practicing influenced his decision to use Ladell Betts in the second half after the Redskins fell behind, 17-0, in their 24-10 loss to the Ravens.

"What happened is that as we got down, we wanted to give Ladell a series," Zorn said. "And as he was running the ball, running routes and blocking, we gave him another series. We felt like he was doing just fine especially because we were going to have to throw the ball more."

Betts carried six times for only three yards, but caught three passes for 57 yards.

"Without Clinton practicing and Ladell practicing all of those protection schemes and route running, we just felt very confident that he could do it and he did," Zorn added. "He played well in what we called him to do."

Zorn also said kept Portis on the bench in an effort to keep him healthy for the Redskins' final three games of the season.

Last week's loss dropped Washington (7-6) one game behind Dallas and Atlanta in the battle for the NFC's final playoff spot.

"We've got to keep Clinton going," Zorn said. "Even though he sat on the bench and was frustrated, he's going to be far healthier and be able to practice this week, which is going to help us down this run."

But that explanation didn't satisfy Portis, the NFL's third-leading rusher with 1,260 yards.

"You know, London Fletcher played in the game and didn't practice all week," Portis said. "All of the sudden it gets aggravating to (see me) standing on the sideline. It (Zorn's comments) kind of shocked me too, but hey that's what the man said."