ATLANTA
--DeAngelo Hall said last week that he was cool with Mike Smith.Not anymore.
Hall, the Washington Redskins' top cornerback, made a rousing return to his former home stadium in yesterday's 31-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He was booed loudly during player introductions, and he got into a skirmish with Smith, the Falcons' head coach, on the Atlanta sideline.
The situation deteriorated after Redskins free safety LaRon Landry hit Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan out of bounds on the Falcons sideline late in the second quarter.
Landry was flagged for a personal foul, and several Falcons surrounded him. Hall was chasing the play and ended up in a shoving match with several players.
Smith intervened and engaged Hall in a brief pushing match. Hall was not penalized on the play.
"He put his hands on me in a harmful way, talking about how he's going to kick my [butt] and all this other [stuff], and that ain't how you do things," Hall said of Smith. "It's a different story if he's coming in there to break a fight up."
Smith insisted that he didn't know it was Hall.
"There were a bunch of guys on that sideline," he said. "Some of them were wearing black helmets and some of them were wearing maroon helmets. I can't tell you anything about it. It was very, very hectic on that sideline. There were a lot of things going on, and my main goal was for the safety of our football team and restoring order."
Hall played his first four NFL seasons with Atlanta but acrimoniously departed from the organization after the 2007 season. Last week, he claimed that Atlanta general manager Thomas Dimitroff lied to him about a contract extension, but he said that he had no problems with Mike Smith.
That has changed.
"When a coach comes over there to put his hands on you in a harmful way, something needs to be done about that," Hall said. "I'm going to call Commissioner Goodell. Ray Anderson used to be with Atlanta. I know him very well from there. He's the vice president [of football operations] over there in the league office. I'll definitely going to be calling some of my friends to figure out what we can do the situation."
betts, cartwright step in for injured portis
Ladell Betts and Rock Cartwright helped the Redskins' offense show some life yesterday by combining for 72 rushing yards in relief of injured starter Clinton Portis, who suffered a concussion in the first quarter.
"I think in the second half, you saw our run game take off," head coach Jim Zorn said. "I think that's what really sparked us."
Washington outscored the Falcons 14-3 after halftime.
Betts, who is primarily a third-down back, finished with 15 carries for 70 yards and a touchdown, his best output since he replaced an injured Portis in the starting lineup in 2006.
"I just try to run the way I've always run," Betts said. "Dating back to high school, pee-wee leagues, college, the more runs I get the easier it is for me to get into a rhythm, and that's what was able to happen today."
Portis was knocked unconscious on a first-quarter run and did not return.
"He didn't remember the play," Zorn said.
As for Portis' availability next week, Zorn said he'll wait to see how Portis recovers.
"We'll be real cautious with that," he said.
Mitchell makes first
Rookie receiver Marko Mitchell caught two passes for 22 yards yesterday, the first two catches of his career.
Both came on slant patterns from the left. He was able to beat his defender inside and use his 6-4 frame to make the catch.
"I've been waiting for this opportunity for a long time, and it finally came around," he said. They can see now that I'm not one of those guys that's just here to collect a paycheck. I'm one of those guys that's coming here to try to be one of the best receivers."
On defense, rookie Brian Orakpo had two sacks to increase his season total to 5.5.
"I'm not an individual guy, man," he said. "I'd rather win, for real."
THIS AND THAT
Quarterback Jason Campbell left the game with injuries twice, but he returned both times. His ribs landed on the point of the ball in the first instance, and he suffered a high right ankle sprain late in the game.
The ankle injury is the more serious.
"It kind of twisted in the turf and he landed on top of it," Campbell said. "It was a very sharp pain. It was really painful at the time. The only thing I could think of was the worst."
Strong safeties Reed Doughty (sprained right knee) and Chris Horton (toe) and right tackle Mike Williams (ankle) also were injured.
The Redskins yesterday deactivated offensive lineman Chad Rinehart, fullback Eddie Williams, defensive linemen Anthony Montgomery and Renaldo Wynn, cornerback Kevin Barnes, tight end Chris Cooley, cornerback Byron Westbrook and punter Hunter Smith.
Rich Campbell: 540/735-1974
Email: rcampbell@freelancestar.com