Left tackle Trent Williams returned to practice on Friday, albeit on a limited basis.
It's a sign that Williams' knee injury and toe sprain is improving. Still, head coach Mike Shanahan would not say for sure that Williams will be available to play in this Sunday's game against the St. Louis Rams.
"We'll find out in a couple days of recovery time and get a chance to see how [he] responds," Shanahan said.
Shanahan indicated that Williams could be available as a backup if it's determined he is not healthy enough to play a full game.
"There are a lot of possibilities," Shanahan said. "It all depends on how he feels."
The decision to play Williams will be based on "practice, recovery, what the athletic trainers think and what's in the best interest of our football team," Shanahan added.
Williams told reporters on Friday he feels like he can play against the Rams and that he would be healthy enough to be effective.
If Williams is unable to play, then either Stephon Heyer or Jammal Brown would start at left tackle and the other would start at right tackle.
Both Heyer and Brown saw action at left tackle in practice this week, according to Redskins coaches.
Brown is a two-time Pro Bowler at left tackle, but he has played right tackle with the Redskins.
Williams suffered his knee injury in the latter stages of last Sunday's overtime loss to the Houston Texans at FedExField.
-- PLAYING THE RAMS
The St. Louis Rams entered Sunday's game having won just six of their last 50 games.
Clearly, the Rams are a struggling franchise.
One of those six wins was against the Redskins, though – a 19-17 decision in 2008 at FedExField.
Last year, the Redskins and Rams played again at FedExField and it was another close game. The Redskins escaped with a 9-7 victory.
While fans worry that the Redskins play to the level of their opponents, coaches and players say they are focused only on the job at hand.
"You want consistency," head coach Mike Shanahan said. "To me, it starts in practice. If you practice at a certain level, then usually you play at that level."
Added quarterback Donovan McNabb: "People can look at it just by going by [the Rams' record]. I think in our situation, we are totally not focused on that. We know what we need to do in order to win. We need to go into this game hungry."
-- BRYANT HAS A CONCUSSION
Backup nose tackle Anthony Bryant suffered a concussion in Wednesday's practice and he has been ruled out of Sunday's game vs. St. Louis.
Ma'ake Kemoeatu is listed as the starter at nose tackle and his backup is Albert Haynesworth. Bryant is listed as the third nose tackle.
Mike Shanahan said that it was too soon to say how many defensive linemen the Redskins would activate on Sunday.
"You could go with five or six, or a combination of different people," he said. "In Jim Haslett's history, he has gone with five defensive linemen. We've gone with six all through preseason and the regular season games. It obviously depends on what our game plan is."
Haynesworth was full-go in practice on Thursday and Friday this week. He missed last week's game vs. Houston with an ankle injury.
