Shawn Springs has competed against Terrell Owens since 1997. They never faced each other Sunday night, of course, owing to Owens' suspension earlier in the weekend.
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Andy Reid and Philadelphia decided they had had enough of Owens. The latest drama over T.O., concerns his reported part in a tussle with teammate Hugh Douglas. As if that weren't enough, Owens also suggested that Brett Favre and not Donovan McNabb should be quarterbacking the four-time defending NFC East champs.
With that as backdrop, the Redskins edged Philly 17-10 in a pivotal NFC East matchup. It broke a string of seven straight Eagles wins in the series.
Owens' future in Philadelphia would appear to be an open question and the highly anticipated matchup between Owens and Springs never came about Sunday evening at FedExField.
Springs said Wednesday: "I'm more familiar with T.O. It might be easier for me versus T.O. as opposed to going against another receiver coming off the bench who's trying to prove himself. Sometimes those guys give you a harder time."
That's exactly what happened in the early going as Springs lined up opposite rookie wide receiver Reggie Brown, the 6-1, 197-pounder out of Georgia. McNabb found Brown on an in route and Brown took one 56 yards to the end zone at the 2:55 mark of the first quarter.
Springs had initial coverage but second-year safety Sean Taylor also appeared to have been victimized on Brown's first NFL TD. For the game, Brown contributed five catches for 98 yards.
On whether he would have preferred to beat the Eagles with T.O. on the field, Springs said: "I don't think it makes a difference. Sometimes, guys can be a distraction.
"I don't know the situation with Terrell. It's unfortunate. We have such a great league, and right now there are so many great stories going on. It seems to be a distraction for the league."
The outstanding story for the Redskins was safety Ryan Clark, who picked off a Donovan McNabb pass in the waning seconds to help the Redskins improve to 5-3.
They're 4-0 at FedExField, with wins over Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco and Philadelphia.
Said Springs: "It helps us establish ourselves as winners in this division. For a while, our record against the NFC was not all that good. That's all Gregg Williams talked about this offseason. In order to be the type of team we want to be, we have to start winning these games in the NFC East. So far, we're 2-1 in the division. We owe the Giants."
Against Philly, Springs finished with five tackles. Phillip Daniels and LaVar Arrington led the defense with six stops each. Daniels and Marcus Washington had sacks on McNabb.
Springs' skills weren't called upon to check T.O. on Week 9 but his analytical skills were right on target when he was talking about Clark after the win over Reid's 4-4 club.
"Ryan is a guy who works really hard," said Springs. "Not that long ago, he was at LSU, working the academic department. He does his job, works hard and good things happen. He's one of those guys coach [Joe] Gibbs always talks about.
"Actually, on that play, I thought Donovan was going to throw it right to me. I had dreams of skirting 90 yards for a TD. But then Ryan stepped in."
