Defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin may be limited in practice this week as he rests a strained hip flexor injury suffered in Sunday's 52-17 win over the San Francisco 49ers at FedExField.
The Redskins' defensive tackles have sustained a series of injuries in recent weeks. Joe Salave'a played Sunday with a foot injury, while Cedric Killings sat out the game with a sprained ankle and Aki Jones was deactivated due to a hamstring injury. Killings and Jones are expected to be back this week in practice.
"Cornelius is a little bit of a concern," Gibbs said on Monday. "We'll probably have to take some time off with him to get him ready [for Sunday's game against the New York Giants]."
Salave'a was praised by trainers for gutting out his foot injury during Sunday's game.
"Joe is so tough, we kind of leave playing up to him," Gibbs said. "We were thin at defensive tackle. It was important to us that he play [against the 49ers]. But I think Joe really wanted to play. And we didn't think [the injury] was something that would be long-term with him and he wouldn't be at further risk."
Assistant head coach-defense Gregg Williams used several different packages to make up for the loss of Griffin. He has praised the versatility of his linemen, particularly ends Phillip Daniels and Renaldo Wynn.
With the win over the 49ers decided early on, the pressure was off coaches to make sure players were rested down the stretch.
"The hardest thing to do in the NFL is to rush the passer near the end of the fourth quarter," Williams said. "The only way to ease that is to make sure that you rotate people throughout the game so that there is enough gas left in the tank. [Defensive coordinator-defensive line coach] Greg Blache does a good job with that."
Meantime, linebacker LaVar Arrington came out of Sunday's game with a sore hamstring, but it is not expected to hinder him this week in practice.
Arrington is coming off of his most extensive playing time this season. Against the 49ers, he recorded nine tackles, with two tackles for a loss.
Asked if Arrington could compete to regain his starting job on defense, Gibbs replied: "That would be something for the defensive coaches to decide. They are working extremely hard over there. It is a work in progress and we will just see where everything leads. You just work from week to week and see how he does."
-- NO CHANGE AT KICKER
Kicker John Hall will continue to practice alongside Nick Novak this week. Gibbs said the decision as to who will kick in next Sunday's game against the Giants will be made later in the week.
Hall has been sidelined since Week 1 with a quad injury, but he was close to returning last week. Novak has replaced him and performed well, converting on 5-of-7 field goals.
With the Redskins set to play at the Meadowlands, where Hall kicked for seven years prior to joining the Redskins in 2003, coaches may lean toward using Hall.
"John Hall will continue to work this week," Gibbs said. "Last week, he had more work. It was the most he had and I think he was the most comfortable he has been. He was probably was pretty positive toward the end of last week, but it was up to [special teams coordinator] Danny Smith and he felt like it was better to go with [Novak].
"We'll continue to work with that and we'll see. We'll see what it looks like toward the end of the week."
-- SELLERS DRAWS A SMILE
The normally stoic Gibbs grinned and laughed during his day-after press conference when he mentioned the two-touchdown performance of fullback Mike Sellers in Sunday's win.
"He has such a great attitude in everything," Gibbs said. "Last week we were short in practice on running backs, so he jumped back there in the backfield and he's carrying the ball. You just like his attitude. He plays great on special teams. I think he's becoming a real special player for us."
