ASHBURN, Va. — The big bad New York Giants’ rushing game? Yawn.

Really, really big running back Brandon Jacobs? So what.
Albert Haynesworth, the Washington Redskins’ new $100 million defensive tackle, was practically dismissive about the prospect of facing the Giants in Sunday’s season opener. In his session with reporters Wednesday, Haynesworth made Washington’s NFC East rivals — who had the top running game in the NFL last year — sound no more exciting than a JV team.
“I really don’t care what they do,” Haynesworth said. “If they’re going to run the ball, that’s fine with me. That’s easier on the pass, so I don’t know, it’s OK with me. I don’t care what they do. I’ve played a lot of teams that ran the ball and ran the ball well and we played against it and we stopped it, so I expect the same thing here.”
Asked about the challenge of tackling Jacobs, who checks in at 264 pounds, the 350-pound Haynesworth said: “They all fall the same.”
“It doesn’t really matter,” Haynesworth said. “What is he, 250? I weighed 250 when I was in the 10th grade.”
In New York, Jacobs returned the favor by portraying Haynesworth as a mere mortal.
“I’m taking it as if you run into any defensive lineman in the league,” Jacobs said. “He’s a human being, he walks on two feet, and he bleeds. He puts his pants on one leg at a time. I mean he is a great player, don’t get me wrong. Probably one of the most dominant players in the NFL, but there is no reason to go in there and only think about him.”
Haynesworth was the centerpiece of the Redskins’ defensive upgrade in the offseason, signing a seven-year contract that includes an NFL-record $41 million in guaranteed money. He’s faced the Giants only twice, in 2002 and 2006, having spent his first seven years in the AFC with the Tennessee Titans.