Portis Says 'There's No Beef Between Me And Coach Zorn'

Late last season, as the Redskins were slipping in the standings, frustrations began to mount. After a 6-2 start, Washington lost five of six, and first-year head coach Jim Zorn was not only the target of criticism, there was speculation that his job might be in trouble.

The latter proved to be just a rumor, but running back Clinton Portis was partly responsible for the former. During a Dec. 2008 appearance on the John Thompson show, he told the former Georgetown coach that, "We got a genius for a head coach, 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."

In case it's not obvious, Portis was being sarcastic. Zorn later responded and was surprisingly diplomatic given the circumstances.

Portis and Zorn eventually worked things out and everybody lived happily ever after. Well, until last week, when Pro Football Talk reported that "Multiple sources have advised us that Portis shows little or no respect to coach Jim Zorn, and that the situation bubbled over at least once during the team's OTA sessions, with Portis telling the coach off in front of other players."

The Washington Times' David Elfin caught up with Portis this week to get his reaction to the news that he's a team cancer.

"How this story came about, I have no idea," Portis said. "There's nothing going on. There's no beef between me and Coach Zorn. We're on good terms at this present moment. There's no problem." ...

"I don't know why people have that in their mind," Portis said. "Me and Coach [Joe] Gibbs had a great relationship. We talked more than me and Coach Zorn do, but lately me and Coach Zorn been talking, trying to get on the same page. Things been going good. He understand me and I understand him."

To be fair, Portis can be outspoken, so it's not a completely insane notion that he might sometimes say things he shouldn't. That doesn't mean he's unmanageable or ignores authority. It just means that he occasionally talks too much. He's been in Washington since 2004, missed just nine games, and rushed for more than 1,200 yards four times. And he's universally loved by fans. There are better examples of guys who aren't team players.

Meanwhile, Terrell Owens, who can divide a locker room like nobody's business, is working on his third club. So, yeah, relatively speaking, maybe Portis isn't that bad.