On the day he signed his $100 million contract, Albert Haynesworth famously said: "You're not going to remember Albert Haynesworth as a bust."

On Wednesday, the Washington Redskins used a more scathing word to describe the two-time All Pro defensive tackle: selfish.

Haynesworth was a no-show at the Redskins mandatory minicamp Wednesday because he doesn't like the team's new defense, escalating a months long showdown with coach Mike Shanahan. Players responded with some of the harshest comments that can be directed at a teammate.

"Albert made a very selfish decision," said linebacker London Fletcher, the team's most respected veteran. "When you decide to play a team sport, you have to look at it and think about everybody involved in the situation. This is not golf, tennis, things like that, where it's an all-about-you sport. What he's decided to do is make a decision based on all-about-him."

Fletcher and others went further, painting a portrait of a player who has been self-centered since the day he joined the Redskins.

"It's no different than his attitude and approach to last year's defense," Fletcher said, "about wanting everything to revolve around him and him making plays. And if it didn't benefit him, he wasn't really willing to do it."

Meanwhile, Shanahan revealed that Haynesworth was given the option of freedom or money -- and chose money. The coach said he told Haynesworth in February that the Redskins would agree to release him and let him go to another team -- in exchange for not paying him a $21 million bonus due April 1.

"Obviously, he took the check," Shanahan said, "so I was surprised he wasn't here today. ... Don't take our check and then say that, hey, you don't want to be part of our organization."

The Redskins can fine Haynesworth up to $9,442 for missing the minicamp practice, hardly a dent in the money he's collected from the team for one season's worth of work. He been paid $32 million of the $41 million guaranteed in the seven-year, $100 million contract he signed as a free agent last year.

Ironically, Haynesworth missed a practice that lasted all of 15 minutes, with the players stretching and running 10 100-yard dashes before a thunderstorm cut the session short. The two-day minicamp wraps up Thursday.

Shanahan did not say what the Redskins will do next. They could release Haynesworth, try to trade him, look through the nooks and crannies of contract legalese to see if there's a way to get some of the bonus money back, or keep him on the roster and force another showdown when training camp opens July 29.

"We'll make some decisions here shortly," the coach said.

Having pocketed his money, Haynesworth simply wants out of Washington. He is unhappy that the Redskins are switching to a 3-4 defense and prefers a scheme that would allow him the type of freedom he had during his seven seasons with the Tennessee Titans. Hoping for a trade, he did not participate in the team's offseason conditioning program and skipped two voluntary minicamps.

Haynesworth's agent, Chad Speck, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Wednesday.

But Haynesworth's teammates were talking. And they made it clear that if he does show up for training camp, there will be fences to mend.

Defensive end Phillip Daniels: "I think I speak for every guy on this team: We all feel like he turned his back on us."

Center Casey Rabach: "It's getting to be selfish. He's hurting the team. It doesn't sit well with the players. ... You can't really count on him right now."

Fletcher: "There's ways he cannot be a Redskin: Give the money back. We'll move on without him. I want teammates who I can depend on, who I can count on, who in the fourth quarter I know is going to be there to make a play or do his job that the defense calls (for). We need people that we can depend on. And at the end of the day, right now, he's showing that he can't be depended upon. ... Last year we had a lot of selfishness that took place, and we got 4-12 out of that. This year, we can't have that."

Cornerback DeAngelo Hall, who spoke with Haynesworth for about an hour on the phone Tuesday night, was one of the few willing to publicly empathize with the disgruntled player, saying that "promises were made" about the way Haynesworth would be used when the contract was signed.

Still, even Hall conceded that Haynesworth is all about Haynesworth.

"We know Albert's going to do what he wants to do," Hall said, "whether it's going to benefit him, benefit the team, or if it's a stupid idea or a good idea, he's going to do what he's going to do. It's kind of hard to change his mind."

Cullen Jenkins, who last year suggested Dom Capers wasn't using Green Bay's best defensive playmakers the right way, will be hard to miss if he's turned loose at linebacker. [During] the first day of the mandatory minicamp on Monday, Capers unveiled a potentially new playmaking role for Jenkins. The defensive end took several snaps at left outside linebacker. That meant the 6-foot-2, 305-pound Jenkins was roaming around in a two-point stance instead of his usual position with his hand on the ground. "I always feel like I can pass rush, it's just a matter of what they ask me to do on particular plays," Jenkins said. "You never know what you're actually going to carry into the season, but we're experimenting with different things. It's pretty cool to be (standing) up, actually."

Somebody's being taught a lesson for opening his mouth about not using the best playmakers.

The NFL has suspended free agent running back LenDale White for four games for violating the league's substance-abuse policy and free agent defensive tackle Hollis Thomas for eight games for violating its performance-enhancing substances policy.

League spokesman Randall Liu confirmed the suspensions Thursday in an email to The Associated Press.

White has acknowledged smoking marijuana. But he and Herman White, an uncle who has been training the running back since his release in May by Seattle, don't think that was the reason the Seahawks abruptly cut him weeks after trading for him.

If the 25-year-old White signs with a team he will be eligible to practice and play in pre-season games, but he must miss the first four regular-season games of 2010.

The six-foot-one White ballooned past 265 pounds while falling out of favour with the Tennessee Titans. White lost weight because he said he quit drinking tequila before last season, but then Chris Johnson emerged as a 2,000-yard rusher and the star of Tennessee's franchise.

After the Titans traded him to Seattle for draft picks in April, White reported to the Seahawks weighing 219 pounds. Seattle coach Pete Carroll, for whom White starred at USC, said it was the lightest he'd seen the runner since high school. It appeared White was poised to become the lead rusher in the Seahawks' new offence.

Yet the Seahawks found White lacked the proper work ethic and cut him in late May. General manager John Schneider said at the time that "it became apparent at this time that LenDale was not ready to be a member of the Seattle Seahawks."

White, a native of Denver, has been working out with his uncle in Colorado and hoping another NFL team will call.

"He needs to look himself in the mirror. He needs to do what he needs to do (to get back in the league)," said Herman White. "If there are maturity issues and his work habits are issues, he has to address those -- if there is any validity to those allegations.

"If he receives the call and he's not ready, he needs to deal with the ramifications of that."

The 36-year-old Thomas split the 2009 season with Carolina and St. Louis, playing in 13 games for the Panthers. The 14-year veteran signed with Carolina on Oct. 1, a day after he was released by the Rams. The Panthers let him become an unrestricted free agent after last season.

The NFL suspended Thomas for the last four games of the 2006 regular season when he was with New Orleans because he tested positive for a banned steroid, which Thomas blamed on his asthma medication.

The National Football League has suspended Packers' defensive lineman Johnny Jolly indefinitely without pay for violating the league's Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse.

Jolly's suspension takes effect immediately and will last through at least the entire 2010 season. He will be eligible to apply for reinstatement after Super Bowl XLV.

The 27-year-old recorded 39 tackles, one sack and one interception last season as he started all 16 regular season games.

During his four-year career, all with the Packers, he has totaled 113 stops and a pair of sacks in 48 games, including 39 starts.

Green Bay selected Jolly in the sixth round of the 2006 NFL Draft out of Texas A&M.

SAN ANTONIO -- Receiver Dez Bryant has done everything right on the field during the first two days of Dallas Cowboys training camp, but he refuses to participate in an NFL rite of passage.

According to the rookie first-round pick, Roy Williams and the other veteran receivers can carry their own shoulder pads after practice.


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Williams gave his pads to Bryant after Sunday's morning practice, but Bryant declined to carry them. Williams threatened to go to "step two" when talking to reporters.

"I'm not doing it," Bryant said. "I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads."

"If I was a free agent, it would still be the same thing. I just feel like I'm here to play football. I'm here to try to help win a championship, not carry someone's pads. I'm saying that out of no disrespect to [anyone]."

It's a common duty for rookies, who typically get some sort of hazing. Bill Parcells used to make first-round picks bring him water during breaks in practice. The Cowboys' rookie offensive linemen are given awful haircuts by the veterans at some point during each training camp.

"Everybody has to go through it," Williams said. "I had to go through it. No matter if you're a No. 1 pick or the 7,000th pick, you've still got to do something when you're a rookie.

"I carried pads. I paid for dinners. I paid for lunches. I did everything I was supposed to do, because I didn't want to be that guy."

What would "step two" be?

"We'll find out. Definitely going to find out," Williams said. "I don't know. I've seen guys take people's credit cards and go fill up their cards and wife's cards and everything. There's a lot of dirt that goes on in that locker room."

Bryant, a Lufkin, Texas, native who went to Oklahoma State, has become an immediate fan favorite. He made several spectacular catches during each practice in the Alamodome -- where the crowd roars even when he makes routine plays -- and runs a lap around the field high-fiving fans before going into the locker room.

Williams, an Odessa, Texas, native and University of Texas product, is a frequent target of fan criticism due to his poor production since being traded from the Detroit Lions during the 2008 season. He was booed during Sunday morning's practice when he dropped a pass, although Pro Bowler Miles Austin didn't get similar treatment when he had a drop in the afternoon session.

"I bought a Ford F-250 2011. Everybody loves a new car but I also have a 2004 Navigator that's still running," Williams said about the perception that Bryant will soon be the starter. "So that's the way I feel."

There has been no previous friction between Williams and Bryant, whose arrival puts Williams' status as a starter in jeopardy. Williams has consistently praised Bryant publicly and made it clear that the rookie could come to him with any questions that he had.

Williams believes it's a veteran's duty to serve as a mentor to rookies. And he believes it's a rookie's duty to carry the veterans' shoulder pads to the locker room after practice.

"I don't believe in that at all," Bryant said. "We have a goal here. It's not about playing games. It's all about just trying to do the right thing and achieve our goal."

Tim MacMahon covers the Cowboys for ESPNDallas.com You can follow him on Twitter or leave a question for his weekly mailbag.

Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman, who isn't even a teammate of Bryant's, weighed in about the situation via twitter with this gem of wisdom: "Dump his ass in the COLD TUB".

Bengals owner Mike Brown is trying to bring receiver Terrell Owens aboard.

Browns said Monday that the team is discussing a contract with Owens' agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Owens worked out for the Bengals in March, but they decided instead to sign receiver Antonio Bryant to a four-year deal.

The 36-year-old Owens is working out with Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer in California. Palmer has called coach Marvin Lewis and given good reports on Owens.
Brown is known for giving extra chances to troubled players. He said he sat down with Owens in March and was impressed with him.

Owens is close friends with Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco, who has lobbied for the team to sign him. Both receivers have the same agent.

The Cincinnati Bengals' latest addition missed his overnight flight from the West Coast and had to take a later one on Thursday, delaying his debut at training camp.

Owens also misspelled Cincinnati in one of his tweets and was quickly corrected by a follower.

"Okayyyyyy I got it now, 2 n's & 1 t! CINCINNATI!! LOL!" he tweeted.

Albert Haynesworth has failed his conditioning test and is being forced to sit out the first practice of the Washington Redskins training camp.

A person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press that Haynesworth did not pass the test Thursday morning. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because coach Mike Shanahan planned to address the matter after practice.

Haynesworth boycotted the team's off-season workouts and minicamps because he is unhappy with the Redskins' switch to a 3-4 defence and wanted a trade. When he finally returned to Redskins Park on Wednesday, he was told he would have to pass a conditioning test in order to take part in training camp and would start off practising with the reserves.