Heat Is On the Redskins

The Washington Redskins, who haven’t made the playoffs in seven years, have lost three of their last four games after a promising start, continuing a trend that is all too familiar on the Beltway.

They started 7-1 in 1996 before collapsing in the second half of the season and missing the playoffs. In 1997, they couldn’t reach postseason play after starting 4-2.

This year’s 4-1 start has been dimmed by the recent slide, most dimming Sunday’s 35-28 loss to the lowly Philadelphia Eagles. There were six Redskin turnovers and the defeat dropped them into a three-way tie for the division lead with the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants, their opponent Sunday.

Nerves are frayed.

On Monday, upon hearing that Coach Norv Turner had told reporters that James Thrash would probably share kickoff return duties from now on, prolific return man Brian Mitchell vented some frustration on his radio talk show.

“I was over there all day and I saw these coaches and none of the coaches want to say anything to me,” he said. “I think the way that was handled, that’s not respectful to me. Because if I have something to say to Norv or anybody else, I’m going to tell him before I say it to anybody else. To not talk to me and say nothing about it all day, I take it as a slap in the face.”

Said kicker Brett Conway, detecting a sense of urgency, if not cohesion, among the Redskins: “It’s tough to take these losses, given that we had so much success in the preseason and early on this year. Everybody’s really upset, and sometimes that’s what it takes. Maybe this is a wake-up call, and maybe it will make us focus on the rest of the season.”