Three declared out for Sunday

Brett Favre doesn’t have to worry about LaVar Arrington this time around.

Arrington, the Washington Redskins linebacker who knocked the Green Bay Packers quarterback out of their last meeting, was among three players declared out for Sunday’s game by the Redskins yesterday.

Arrington, kicker John Hall and tight end Fred Baxter won’t play against the Packers because of various injuries. The declarations regarding Arrington and Hall, who had been listed as doubtful, weren’t surprising, but Baxter’s plunge from probable to out seemingly came out of nowhere.

Baxter wouldn’t comment as he left Redskin Park, other than to say his hamstring is strained and that the injury occured this week in practice. Director of sports medicine Bubba Tyer was not available for comment.

The absence of Baxter leaves Washington with just one true tight end, Robert Royal. Baxter was signed last week to replace Walter Rasby, who was released following a poor blocking performance in the Oct.17 win at Chicago.

In any case, Baxter wasn’t fully healthy when he signed, thanks to the lingering effects of a partial knee tendon tear he suffered in the preseason. It was unclear yesterday whether Baxter’s new injury was related to his rehabilitating knee.

Before the injury report came out, Arrington actually held out some hope of battling Favre, whom he dealt a sprained ankle in the Packers’ 2002 win at Lambeau Field. The Pro Bowl linebacker was disappointed about aggravating his knee Monday but upbeat that loosened scar tissue might accelerate the healing process.

“It’s actually progressing fairly quickly,” Arrington said. “Now that the fluid’s out of it, it’s progressing pretty good.”

Hall, who strained his groin two weeks ago in practice, once again will be replaced by Ola Kimrin. Kimrin hit both of his field goal attempts at Chicago in his first NFL game.

Meanwhile, linebacker Mike Barrow was downgraded to doubtful despite practicing for a second straight day. Defensive end Phillip Daniels believes he is ready to play after sitting out the past four games and practicing this week.

“I feel great,” said Daniels, who officially remains questionable. “I guess we’ll make the decision tomorrow. But right now, I feel like I can go.”

Hearing postponed

The upcoming arbitration hearing between Arrington and the Redskins, which had been scheduled Tuesday, was postponed, NFL Players Association general counsel Richard Berthelsen said. No new date has been set.

An “unavoidable conflict” on the part of one NFL lawyer led the league to request the postponement, according to Berthelsen. There was no indication of when the hearing might be rescheduled.

Arrington’s $6.5 million grievance is being monitored fairly closely because of the large amount at stake and the fact that each side has expressed absolute certainty regarding its version of the dispute.

Arrington’s camp has accused the Redskins of removing a $6.5 million roster bonus from 2006 of the contract extension he signed in December. The Redskins contend they have copies of previous drafts of the contract initialed by Arrington’s agents, Carl and Kevin Poston.

The Postons acknowledge they didn’t read the final draft, but they say deadline pressure didn’t permit them to do so.

Extra points

Perhaps the most intriguing matchup within Sunday’s battle between Washington’s No. 1 defense and Green Bay’s No. 2 offense will come on third down, where each unit leads the league in conversion percentage.

The Redskins have permitted third-down conversions just 23.5 percent of the time, while the Packers extend drives on 51.6 percent of their third downs. Washington assistant head coach for defense Gregg Williams credited both sides with “managing first and second down” — in other words, gaining enough (or yielding few enough) yards to set up a favorable third down.

“It’s key,” Williams said of the battle within the battle. “We always pick two of the three hard work days [during a regular week] and spend them on third downs. Three of the days this week have some emphasis on third down.” …

Coach Joe Gibbs permitted former Redskins linebacker Pete Cronan to address the team before practice. Cronan, a special teams whiz from 1981 to 1985, is “one of the greatest overachievers” and the subject of many Gibbs anecdotes, according to the coach.

“I wanted them to know he’s real,” Gibbs said with a laugh.