Thomas was carted off the field and it seemed that perhaps he had blown out his knee so coach Jim Zorn was relieved that the news wasn't nearly so devastating.

"Fortunately, it's just a pulled muscle," Zorn said. "There's no structural damage. ... We'll see after two weeks how this thing looks. He may be ready in two weeks. It may be a few days later. We don't know how he (heals) yet. This is his first pull. We'll see how fast he can work himself back into full-speed."

--The defensive line lost another starter when right tackle Anthony Montgomery broke a bone in his right hand in the July 26 intra-squad scrimmage that was attended by a record throng of more than 28,000 at Redskin Park. Montgomery was expected to have surgery on July 28 and be sidelined 10 days. Kedric Golston, who started at the spot in 2006, will take over again.

--Longtime assistant coach Don Breaux retired on July 17 -- 17 days before his 68th birthday -- because of a heart condition.

"I felt it was a privilege to coach for one of the NFL's premier franchises for 17 years under an outstanding leader of men in Joe Gibbs," Breaux said. "I also want to pay tribute to Dan Snyder, who I feel operates a first-class organization for the fans, players, coaches and staff. I was looking forward to working with Coach Zorn and the staff."

Hall of Famer John Riggins (1983-84), George Rogers (1985-86), Earnest Byner (1990-91) and Reggie Brooks (1993) all had 1,000-yard seasons for Breaux as the Redskins won three Super Bowls, four NFC titles and eight playoff berths.

After a season with the New York Jets and eight in Carolina as tight ends coach, Breaux returned to Washington in 2004 to work again for Joe Gibbs as a game-planner. Breaux coached 40 seasons, 27 in the NFL and 17 for the Redskins. Only offensive line coach Joe Bugel and tight ends coach Rennie Simmons remain as links to the first Gibbs era.

--There were no apologies from cornerback Shawn Springs for skipping all of June's organized team activities. This was the second straight year that Springs had been absent from the offseason conditioning and the OTAs, reporting only for the mandatory minicamp.

"(Executive vice president Vinny Cerrato) and those guys know where I was," said Springs, adding that his agent, Kennard McGuire, had been in touch with the Redskins. "It wasn't like I would just be missing. They knew I would come back in shape."

Coach Jim Zorn, who was on Seattle's staff during Springs' final three seasons as a Seahawk (2001-03), couldn't argue with that.

"He's in great shape," Zorn said. "He came out ready."

--Five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Chris Samuels was held out of contact during the first week of camp as he recovers from elbow surgery in June. Line coach Joe Bugel expects Samuels to start hitting this week.

"They're holding me out from going against any of the defensive guys, but I'm doing the bag work and all the footwork stuff and conditioning on my own," Samuels said.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's on us. Dan Snyder has done everything in his power to put the right group of guys together and now it's on us. Probably the only guy who's mad about this is Jerry Jones." -- CB Fred Smoot, on the July 20 trade for six-time Pro Bowl DE Jason Taylor.

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