The Redskins deactivated defensive tackles Joe Salave'a and Cedric Killings prior to Sunday's game against the St. Louis Rams, leaving the team thin along the interior defensive line.
Backups Ryan Boschetti, who drew his first start of the season, Aki Jones and converted end Demetric Evans all stepped up in the defensive tackle rotation and played a key role in Sunday's 24-9 win over the Rams at the Edward Jones Dome.
The Rams were without rookie left tackle Alex Barron, so they tried to test the Redskins' interior defensive line with 6-2, 231-pound running back Steven Jackson, who entered Sunday's game with 845 rushing yards on 192 carries and seven touchdowns.
Jackson was held to just 24 rushing yards on 11 carries. As a team, the Rams logged just 49 rushing yards overall.
In fact, the Rams had their best success running the ball on scrambles by rookie quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
Salave'a missed his first game of the season due to a lingering foot injury. He has played with it since early October, but last Sunday against San Diego, he re-aggravated the injury.
"Joe is a very strong point-of-attack person," assistant head coach-defense Gregg Williams said, discussing Salave'a's importance to the defense. "More importantly, his emotional leadership is strong. There is a tremendous confidence in the guys who play around him when he is in the ballgame. Everyone knows that you can trust him. No matter what it is, you can trust him with maximum effort on every snap."
Killings had sustained a groin injury in practice last week and was not available to play.
The Redskins were also without running back Ladell Betts and wide receiver James Thrash. Betts has been sidelined for two games with a knee injury and Thrash has missed one game due to a hamstring injury.
The Redskins' complete list of inactive players was as follows: safety Omar Stoutmire, Betts, linebacker Robert McCune, Thrash, tight end Robert Johnson and linemen Salave'a and Killings.
The Rams started a secondary that included a pair of rookies in safety Jerome Carter and cornerback Ron Bartell. Carter replaced Adam Archuleta, who sustained a concussion last week and was on the Rams' inactive list.
The Rams' complete list of inactive players was as follows: quarterback Marc Bulger, cornerbacks Travis Fisher and Terry Fair, running back Aveion Cason, Archuleta, offensive lineman Ben Noll and Barron.
