Cloak-and-Dagger Cutdown Day

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The Giants didn't like quarterback Andre Woodson enough to keep him on their team when final roster cuts were made Saturday. It's unlikely that the Redskins like him much better. Yet the Redskins signed Woodson on Sunday. Why? Giants coach Tom Coughlin thinks he knows exactly why -- so the Redskins can ask Woodson everything he learned in Giants training camp in advance of Sunday's regular-season opener between...yup, the Giants and the Redskins.

"Why is he in Washington right now? That's pretty obvious, why he's there," Coughlin said with a wide grin after Giants practice Monday. "We'll see. There's no question that's what's going on, but we'll see what transpires. It works both ways a little bit."

There's nothing untoward going on, and Coughlin wouldn't suggest there was. He said he's been involved in similar situations in the past, and that it happens all the time -- teams signing players to see if they can pick up clues about the next week's opponent. It's happened with other teams this weekend -- the Steelers signing former Titan Tuff Harris to their practice squad in advance of Thursday's opener against Tennessee, for example.

Washington coach Jim Zorn told reporters at Redskins practice that he actually does like Woodson, and that his motivation had more to do with the player than any one-week strategic advantage he might provide.

"We like his size and I think he has a good presence," Zorn said. "He has escape ability, which I saw as I watched him. It is necessary for this offense. I was impressed with his deep ball. We just have to work on some intermediate things."

But Zorn wasn't in all-out denial mode, either. He did admit that Woodson could help prepare for the Giants.

"He was on the offensive side. He may be able to help us a little bit," Zorn said. "He knows their stuff and he certainly knew their snap count. We are not going to put him under the microscope. He has a lot to learn to get up to speed, and we feel like we're on the right track with what we're already doing."

Coughlin said the Giants might have to tweak an audible here or there to account for the possibility that Woodson has given up some of their secrets to the enemy, but he didn't seem too concerned.

"I've been a part of it. I've seen it done," Coughlin said. "A guy doesn't get in the door two seconds, and he's in a classroom being grilled."

Asked how much a team can really learn from such an arrangement, Coughlin said, "You'd be surprised."

So we'll see. On Sunday, if it looks as if the Redskins know what the Giants are trying to do before they do it, maybe it's Andre Woodson's revenge.