DATE: Saturday, July 26, 1997               TAG: 9707260839

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: FROSTBURG, MD.                    LENGTH:   81 lines

REDSKINS' CAMP GETS PUNCHY FOUR FIGHTS ERUPT IN A BRIEF SCRIMMAGE, A SIGN TO TURNER OF A GOOD PRACTICE.

It was supposed to be an intrasquad scrimmage, a series or two of real football plays that would break the boredom of half-speed drills and blocking sleds.

It became an intrasquad brawl.

There were four fights in a five-play span Friday, starting with Washington Redskins rookie receiver Albert Connell and linebacker Jeremy Asher. Connell, under the impression that Asher had tried to knee him in the groin, fired the football he was carrying at the same spot on Asher's body. He missed.

But the two most interesting altercations involved Washington's top offensive threats, running back Terry Allen and quarterback Gus Frerotte.

First, Allen and defensive tackle Marc Boutte briefly went at it after Boutte's forearm got inside Allen's mask and brushed up against Allen's nose. Last year's leading rusher threw his football at Boutte, then rushed him and they wrestled each other to the ground.

``Once I slammed him, he looked up and smiled a little,'' laughed Boutte, whose forearm broke fullback Marc Logan's nose two days ago. ``Terry's small; he's easy to throw down.''

They went after each other on the next play, too, but by then both clearly were laughing and mugging for the TV cameras.

Frerotte's scrap with defensive tackle Ryan Kuehl was considerably more bizarre. Fullback Larry Bowie fumbled the ball and cornerback Darrell Green picked it up and started running the opposite way. Frerotte took off in pursuit and Kuehl stuck out his elbow to knock him off stride. Frerotte immediately turned and shoved the 290-pound tackle from behind.

``It was more like a chicken wing than an elbow,'' Kuehl said. ``Do you really think if I'd thrown an elbow that hit him that he would have kept his balance like that? He hardly slowed down.''

Frerotte was sheepish about the whole thing. In the locker room later, he good-naturedly accused Kuehl of trying to hurt him before adding, ``It's no big deal. You tend to get caught up in the moment out there.''

Later, coach Norv Turner angrily pulled second-year offensive tackle Andre Johnson out of a drill, yelling, ``Get a guy in here who wants to play.''

That was rookie free agent Ozell Powell, who on his first snap, got into a fight/shoving match with defensive end Kelvin Kinney.

It was not the day to get on Turner's bad side. Defensive end Dexter Nottage was late for practice. When the workout was done, Turner called Nottage over and personally supervised 15 or 20 minutes of punishment. Nottage started on the blocking sled, then did ups and downs while running in place and side to side until his tongue was hanging out.

Turner then called over two offensive linemen who double-teamed Nottage on pass-rush drills. Nottage left the locker room with an icebag on his wrist and a menacing scowl on his face.

``Those watching closely got to see what training camp is all about,'' Turner said. ``You go out and work hard, compete like crazy, with intensity. You keep that up, you're going to be a good football team. What happened out there even got me going a little bit.

``We're at a tough time in camp right now. You're playing yourself over and over and over. It's easy to slack off in a situation like that. But we can't if we're going to be good. I've never seen a good training camp where there haven't been fights. Today was an excellent practice.''

NOTES: The rumor around camp was that the deal with top pick Kenard Lang is finally about done. GM Charlie Casserly was in Washington and unavailable for comment, but the possibility exists Washington might give Lang the four-year deal he seeks in return for a substantial cut in pay, maybe as much as $700,000. . . . Logan had a surgical procedure Friday to reset his broken nose. . . . Michael Westbrook is recovering nicely from his skin infection but was ordered to stay inside by team doctor Donald Knowlan. . . . WR Alvin Harper has a mildly fractured little finger but hasn't missed a play in practice yet. . . . TE Jamie Asher has a hip flexor strain, will likely be back to practice today. . . . Three players are walking around with bruised eyes - LBs Ken Harvey and R-Kal Truluck and CB Darrell Green. All were poked during Thursday's practice. . . . G Tre' Johnson, who hasn't practiced since camp started because of the after-effects of shoulder surgery, hasn't progressed as quickly as hoped, trainer Bubba Tyer said. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS

Wide receiver Albert Connell, right, and linebacker Jeremy Asher

settle a difference of opinion Friday during Washington's training

camp in Frostburg, Md. It was the first of four fights during a

scrimmage.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu