Redskins kicker John Hall returned to action on Sunday after missing six weeks due to a quad injury. But on a windy afternoon at Giants Stadium, it turned out that Hall was not needed.
With punter Derrick Frost performing kickoffs, Hall did not get on the field during Sunday's 36-0 loss to the New York Giants. Frost kicked off only once: the beginning of the game.
Even so, it was the first time Hall was available to kick since Week 1, when he kicked three field goals to help beat the Chicago Bears 9-7. In that game, he suffered the quad injury that sidelined him for six weeks.
Nick Novak, the rookie kicker out of Maryland who replaced Hall, was among the team's inactive players on Sunday. It's expected that coaches will wait until next week to decide whether to keep Novak on the roster or release him.
Regarding Novak, head coach Joe Gibbs said: "We have a number of options there."
Hall was on the field during pre-game warm-ups, kicking field goals from different points of the field, and showed enough to coaches to convince them that he was fully healthy.
Hall has experience kicking at windy Giants Stadium, so it was not surprising that coaches opted to go with him instead of Novak. Hall kicked at the stadium as a member of the New York Jets from 1997-2002. He signed with the Redskins prior to the 2003 season.
Also among the Redskins' inactive players for Sunday's game: defensive linemen Nic Clemons, Cedric Killings and Aki Jones, running back Nehemiah Broughton, offensive lineman Jim Molinaro, cornerback Dimitri Patterson.
The Redskins' third quarterback was Jason Campbell.
For the Giants, the following players were inactive: cornerback Will Peterson, linebacker Carlos Emmons, guard Rich Seubert, wide receiver David Tyree and defensive linemen Eric Moore, Adrian Awasom and Damane Duckett.
A pair of second-year players replaced Peterson and Emmons in the starting lineup. Cornerback Curtis DeLoatch started in place of Peterson and Linebacker Reggie Torbor started in place of Emmons.
The Giants' third quarterback was Jared Lorenzen.
-- INJURIES
Left tackle Chris Samuels suffered a sprained knee in the third quarter of Sunday's game against the Giants and did not return. He was scheduled to have an MRI on Monday. In the game, Samuels was replaced by veteran lineman Ray Brown.
Defensive tackle Joe Salave'a, hampered by a foot injury for the last few weeks, was removed from the game in the second half when the game was out of reach. Cornelius Griffin was in on a handful of plays in the first half, but he was limited due to a lingering hip injury.
Linebacker Chris Clemons was sidelined in the second half with a stinger.
H-back Chris Cooley left the game in the second quarter with a hip injury. He was taken into the locker room for X-rays. He returned to the game in the third quarter, however.
Gibbs said the team would determine the status of the injured players on Monday.
"Injuries are the number one thing I'm concerned about," Gibbs said. "We had a number of guys who did not play much. We'll just have to see how healthy we are when I get the reports back."
-- MARA HONORED
The Giants honored late owner Wellington Mara in a pre-game ceremony that included a moment of silence. At halftime, a video display highlighting Mara's many accomplishments was shown at the stadium.
On the Redskins' plane trip to New York, Redskins great Sam Huff, who also played for the Giants and Mara in the 1950s and early '60s, was full of stories about playing for Mara, who died last week.
Current Redskins players and coaches who played for Mara and the Giants included defensive backs coach DeWayne Walker, safeties Omar Stoutmire and Ryan Clark and defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin.
