"(Running backs coach Stump Mitchell) had asked (Clinton) if he was ready to go and he said yes," Zorn said. "I call a play for him and he wasn't in there. I was kind of surprised and Shaun (Alexander) ran the ball. ... When the quarter ended, (Clinton) was already on the field. ... I'm thinking, 'Wait a minute. This isn't right.' So I was confused and I brought him off the field and just said, 'Don't go on the field. I don't know what's going on here so get off the field.' He was mad, rightly so, because he was ready to go. ... I didn't want a player to go on or off when he felt like it. Those are things I tried to communicate to him. And he had said that he had had a helmet problem and that's why he was off. We got it straightened out very quickly and he went back in and did his thing."

--When he was benched before the opener, Jon Jansen, the Redskins' right tackle when healthy the previous nine seasons, was worried that instead of finally getting a chance to be a part of a victory at Detroit, he would be embarrassed by standing on the sideline all game in front of his family and friends. The Redskins lost at the Silverdome during each of his first two seasons, and he was on injured reserve when they won at Ford Field in 2004.

But Stephon Heyer sprained a shoulder on Sept. 21. Jansen took over and isn't giving the job back. Portis has run for at least 120 yards in a record five straight games with Jansen at right tackle. That includes the 25-17 victory over the Lions. Jansen committed two penalties, but he also dove to recover a fumble with 2:00 left so that Shaun Suisham could come on to tack on the clinching field goal.

"I would rather not have that opportunity, but I was (fortunate) to get my hands on it," said Jansen, who grew up just across the city line in Clawson before starring at the University of Michigan. "It was nice to get a win and nice to be at home."