Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Mike Green back in the NFL; and Bills update

It's a good fit for Mike Green, who joined the Washington Redskins Tuesday as the club placed safety Reed Doughty on injured reserve.

Green, a nine-year NFL vet who was an All-American for the Demons in 1998-99, played opposite Redskins head coach Jim Zorn for two years when Zorn was offensive coordinator and Green was a safety for the Seattle Seahawks.

Green also played the first six years of his career with the Chicago Bears, where he played under current Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Bache.

Green started 45 of 81 games for the Bears and was their second-leading tackler during his time, trailing only All-Pro Brian Urlacher.

Traded to Seattle during the 2006 offseason, Green missed his first year with the Seahawks after being placed on injured reserve with a Lisfranc foot injury.

He played in 15 games for Seattle last year, including one start, and logged 17 tackles and one pass defended. He was released right before training camp this summer, reportedly because his NFL Players Union mandated salary was too stiff for the Seahawks to handle.

Green, a Ruston native, attended the NSU game at Baylor. He lives in Dallas and planned to attend the Grambling game in Natchitoches on Sept. 13, but Hurricane Ike ruined that trip. He also was looking forward to homecoming next weekend and the 1998 Reunion and Sam Goodwin Tribute on Nov. 15, but those events appear not to be in his short-term future now.

Meanwhile, up the road in Buffalo, Terrence McGee is not able to practice full-gear yet with his knee injury suffered last month. He's trying to get ready for Sunday's game against the powerful San Diego offense.

Demetrius Bell remains on the 53-man roster, but hasn't been on any of the 45-man game-day rosters. Bell hopes to get into some special teams action as the season progresses. Head coach Dick Jauron made clear when the Bills kept Bell that he didn't expect to play him this year, but couldn't afford to waive him and risk losing him before the Bills resigned him to the practice squad. Bell's upside is just too great.

For his career, Green has 406 tackles (327 solo), six sacks, seven forced fumbles and four interceptions.

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