Kendall waiting for call

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By David Elfin

All but one of the Washington Redskins' offensive starters from 2008 were on hand for last weekend's minicamp.

And that one absent player, guard Pete Kendall, isn't stressed out despite not a having a contract.

Instead, Kendall, just over two months away from turning 36, is enjoying some time at home with his family in Massachusetts, cheering for the Red Sox and working out as he has every offseason.

"I'm just trying to stay ready," Kendall said. "There's been some contact with the Redskins and some other teams since the start of free agency, but my sense is that teams are going to go through their minicamps and [organized team activities] and see what they have before they call me."

And Kendall, a starter from the opener of his rookie year with the Seattle Seahawks, believes that some team, perhaps even the Redskins - who found him expendable when they brought back Derrick Dockery - will call eventually.

"If they had drafted an interior lineman in the third round, I would've thought I really wasn't in their plans, but they didn't draft anyone," said Kendall, who knows he won't earn close to the $3.05 million he made in 2008. "I would prefer to go to a team where I could start, but if I'm going to be a backup, especially for the Redskins, it wouldn't be that big a deal."

Although Kendall has played for four teams, he's not accustomed to being out of work. He left Seattle for Arizona shortly after the expiration of his rookie contract in 2001. When the Cardinals cut him in 2004, Kendall soon joined the New York Jets. Embroiled in a contract dispute with the Jets in 2007, Washington traded for Kendall that August.

Offensive line coach Joe Bugel said that while he hasn't ruled out bringing back Kendall, he's happy with young reserve linemen Chad Rinehart, Devin Clark and Rueben Riley. Kendall's return became even less likely Tuesday when Washington signed former Cardinals and Carolina Panthers starting guard Jeremy Bridges, who was impressive in last weekend's minicamp on a tryout basis.

Williams suits up

After years of searching for a wide receiver with decent size, the Redskins hope to have found one in Roydell Williams, whom they signed Monday after a minicamp tryout.

Williams, who led the Titans with 55 catches in 2007 while racking up 719 yards and four touchdowns, was in a Redskins uniform during Tuesday's practice.

"It's been a tough road," said Williams, who missed all of last year with a broken ankle. "I'm still shocked to this day [that I was cut by Tennessee]. I feel like I can come in and compete for a job. I catch the ball well, and I run good routes."

Williams, 28, ran the 40-yard dash in 4.48 seconds when he came out of Tulane in 2005. He played with Jason Campbell in the Senior Bowl that January and trained with the future Redskins quarterback before the draft.

Less agony for Zorn

Jim Zorn, entering his second full offseason as Washington's coach, is much less hyper this spring than during practices a year ago.

Back then he was installing a new offense that was new to all of his players and many of his assistant coaches while agonizing over every mistake made on the practice field.

"I was teaching everybody," Zorn said. "Now I'm sitting back, and all the assistant coaches know exactly what's going on and they're very aggressive in correcting and making sure we're doing it right. That makes a huge difference because then we can take another step and work on things that we didn't even touch on last year."