Springs goes solo

Listening to analysts express surprise at his ability to contain Terrell Owens on Sunday befuddled Washington Redskins cornerback Shawn Springs.

Owens made seven catches for the Dallas Cowboys in the Redskins’ 26-24 victory but Springs controlled the one-on-one matchup, something he expected to do because of his experience covering Owens.

“The funny part is people are like, ’Shawn Springs, for an older corner, can cover,’” he said. “I’m like, ’Hold it, he’s two years older than me.’ People forget that.”

Springs is 33 and in his 12th season, Owens will be 35 in December and is in his 13th year.

“The reason I was drafted [high] was to play against bigger receivers,” Springs said. “It wasn’t like this was the first time we matched up. Everybody says we’re doubling him but we played man against him when he was with Philadelphia and when I was in Seattle, we played man because [defensive coordinator] Ray Rhodes is about lining up and covering. For me, it was the same as usual.”

After the game, Springs went to Owens’ Dallas-area condo to watch the Philadelphia-Chicago game but the two didn’t discuss the Redskins’ win.

In his post-game comments, Owens complained about the number of chances he got even though he was quarterback Tony Romo’s intended target 17 times and had two carries.

“Everybody recognized that I wasn’t really getting the ball in the first half,” Owens said. “I’m pretty sure everybody watching the game recognized it, people in the stands recognized it. I think my team recognized it.”

Springs left late in the third quarter because of the calf injury that he doesn’t expect to keep him out of Sunday’s game at Philadelphia.

“I felt really good coming out for the second half but that was one of those games where you want to keep going,” he said. “I guess it made the game a little more dramatic for the fans.”

Springs spent Monday in Dallas seeing his father, Ron, who remains in a coma. Shawn flew home Tuesday morning and received treatment on his calf.

“It’s not too bad,” he said. “I’m walking fine. I know my shin that [Marcus Washington] almost broke before the Giants game hurt worse than this. … I’m hoping to be fine.”

Sigh of relief

The win over Dallas allowed Redskins center Casey Rabach, who committed two penalties to negate Washington touchdowns, to breathe a little easier on the flight home.

Rabach was called for holding linebacker Zach Thomas on Clinton Portis’ 6-yard touchdown run. Thomas laughed after the penalty.

“Like he told me, he tripped,” Rabach said.

Three plays later, Rabach ran dowfield illegally to erase a 10-yard touchdown pass to Antwaan Randle El.

“I was trying to be aggressive and block DeMarcus Ware and [Campbell potentially scrambling] crossed my mind too a little bit,” he said.

The Redskins settled for a field goal but Rabach wasn’t down when he got to the sidelines.

“It used to bother me a whole lot more but with the circumstances we were in, I felt confident we would be alright,” he said.

Westbrook’s status

Philadelphia played without running back Brian Westbrook in Sunday’s loss at Chicago. The status of his ankle injury will be a daily question for coach Andy Reid.

Reid said if the Eagles had practiced Monday, Westbrook would not have participated. Westbrook has six career touchdowns against Washington.