ASHBURN, Va. — Ryan Grant had finished a workout and was close to signing a deal with the Chicago Bears when the Washington Redskins called with an offer he liked better.
ASHBURN, Va. — Ryan Grant had finished a workout and was close to signing a deal with the Chicago Bears when the Washington Redskins called with an offer he liked better.
“I was on my way to do a physical in Chicago,” Grant said. “Agreed to Washington. Told the driver to turn around and take me to the airport.”
Grant said arrived late Tuesday and signed with the Redskins on Wednesday morning, joining a banged-up backfield that didn’t have a healthy alternative to rookie starter Alfred Morris.
“This time of year you need guys that have a little bit of experience, are mentally pretty sharp,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “I think he’s a guy in a couple of weeks’ time probably could learn the system fairly quickly and help us.”
Grant spent five years with the Green Bay Packers but has been looking for work since the team opted not to re-sign him after last season. He rushed for 1,203 yards in 2008 and 1,253 yards in 2009 before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in the 2010 regular-season opener. He returned last year and ran for 559 yards, sharing the load with James Starks.
To make room for Grant, the Redskins placed running back Roy Helu Jr. on injured reserve.
Helu has been dealing with turf toe in his left foot since the season opener and also has two sore Achilles from training camp. He had only two carries for 2 yards and seven catches for 45 yards this season.
Helu said the injuries forced him to play in pain and kept him from practicing at full-speed. He wore a protective boot on his left foot in the locker room Wednesday.
“I don’t like not playing football,” the second-year back said. “I’m still processing sitting out a season.”
The Redskins’ only other running back, Evan Royster, was limited in practice Wednesday after spraining a ligament in his right knee in Sunday’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. The team originally announced his injury as a strained patella tendon. His status is uncertain for this week’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Redskins considered bringing back Tim Hightower, who was cut at the end of preseason after a slower-than-hoped recovery from a torn ACL a year ago. But Shanahan said Hightower had a setback in rehabilitation and could be having arthroscopic surgery on the knee.
Notes: LT Trent Williams (bone bruise in right knee) was limping and did not practice Wednesday. … CB Cedric Griffin (hamstring) also did not practice. … WR Pierre Garcon was limited again with a right foot injury that has sidelined him since his 88-yard touchdown catch in the season opener. “It’s nagging a lot more than anybody would have expected,” Garcon said. … S Brandon Meriweather (sprained left knee) was limited.
Chargers sign Floyd to three-year extension
SAN DIEGO — The San Diego Chargers signed receiver Malcom Floyd to a three-year contract extension Wednesday through 2015. Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
Floyd has 13 catches for 227 yards and a touchdown in three games this season. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound former Wyoming player has 190 receptions for 3,397 yards and 21 touchdowns in eight NFL seasons.
“I guess all these years of hard work have paid off,” Floyd said in an interview posted on the team’s website. “They took great care of me, and now I get to start and finish my career as a Chargers. That’s something I always dreamed about.”
Also, left tackle Jared Gaither practiced for the first time since injuring his back July 28, and hopes to play Sunday in Kansas City.
“That’s the goal,” Gaither said. “This was a big day, a major hurdle to my return. It felt good to be out there, and I’m going to keep on working and try to help this team in a game as soon as humanly possible.”
That might come the following week in New Orleans.
“We’ll see how the week goes,” Chargers coach Norv Turner said. “He did well today, but he has some work to do to get back in the swing of things.”
Bears’ Forte expects to play against Dallas
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte expects to play Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys after missing a game because of a sprained right ankle.
The Pro Bowl player practiced Wednesday for the first time since he was injured in a loss at Green Bay on Sept. 13. He sat out last week’s win over the St. Louis Rams.
He responded, “Uh huh, yeah,” when asked if he expects to play against the Cowboys.
Forte went through individual drills Wednesday and said he felt “pretty good.”
“I can sprint. So I think I’ll be good to go,” he added.
Coach Lovie Smith tempered the optimism a bit, saying Forte is “making progress every day “
“I would hold off on …” Smith said, his voice trailing off. “He’s got a long ways to go, still. But he is making progress, and hopefully we can get him out there.”
Either way, the fact that Forte was back practicing was a good sign for the Bears.
He went to the locker room midway through the third quarter against Green Bay after he appeared to twist his right ankle while being tackled by Charles Woodson, leaving Chicago without one of its top players in a game.
That was a big blow for an offense that was already struggling after an impressive opener against Indianapolis, and things weren’t much better last week. The defense came to the rescue, leading the Bears to a 23-6 win over the Rams.
Forte, meanwhile, said he didn’t think he would miss much time because the ankle didn’t swell up much last week.
“That’s the big part,” he said. “When the swelling is big, it takes a long time to get it out, but I didn’t really swell up so I knew I’d be back pretty soon.”
With Revis out, McKnight to work at CB
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Joe McKnight walked into the Jets’ offensive meeting room and Rex Ryan broke the news to the backup running back.
“He said I’ve been traded,” McKnight recalled Wednesday. “I was traded to the defense.”
McKnight will start working “a ton” at cornerback to help offset the loss of All-Pro Darrelle Revis, who’s likely out for the season with a knee injury.
McKnight, whose role on offense has been limited this season, played the position in high school and practiced at cornerback in Week 2 when Revis was sidelined by a concussion.
Still, finding out about his new role on Monday wasn’t exactly an exciting moment for McKnight.
“I mean, I was drafted as a running back,” the former Southern California star said. “The way I took it as was I wasn’t good enough to play running back. I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but that’s the way I’m looking at it right now.”
McKnight didn’t ask Ryan if that was the situation, and insisted he’s not disappointed. After all, it could mean getting on the field a lot more after carrying the ball just three times for 14 yards in three games.
“I kind of get tired of just standing on the sideline watching,” McKnight said. “I’m just happy to play right now.”
McKnight practiced on defense Wednesday, wearing a green No. 25 jersey instead of the offense’s usual white, and intercepted Mark Sanchez, Tim Tebow and Greg McElroy once each.
“He’ll have a role on offense, but we’re also teaching him to play corner in almost, not quite a full-time capacity, but he’s going to be over there a ton — in the meetings and everything else,” Ryan said.