One day after Albert Haynesworth accused Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan of underplaying the two-time All-Pro's medical condition in recent days, The Washington Post reported that Haynesworth has rhabdomyolysis.
The condition, which sidelined Haynesworth in practice last week, causes the rapid breakdown of skeletal muscle due to injury to muscle tissue, the paper reported Sunday, citing three sources.
A Redskins official told ESPN that the team is unaware that Haynesworth has this condition.
Haynesworth stopped practicing early Tuesday at training camp and did not practice Wednesday or Thursday. Shanahan gave varying explanations for Haynesworth's idleness each day. The coach initially said Haynesworth "just was sick," then said the cause was dehydration, then finally said it was "more of a headache than anything else."
Haynesworth said Saturday night he had something more, but he didn't specify what.
"You'll have to ask them, but I guess they'll tell you 'headaches' again," said Haynesworth, emphasizing the word by holding his fingers in the air to simulate quotation marks. "It was part of it, but it wasn't all of it. They left out a whole lot of stuff."
The Redskins said Shanahan will comment on Haynesworth on Monday, when the team resumes practice.
Experts told the paper that Haynesworth likely recovered from the condition since he was able to play in Saturday's 23-3 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. They also suggested Haynesworth was suffering from rhabdomyolysis because he was not in shape for practicing in the heat.
"Rhabdomyolysis is basically a condition in which you have extensive muscle breakdown," Dr. Lynne P. Yao, chairman-elect of the National Kidney Foundation, told The Washington Post. "It doesn't happen as often in well-conditioned athletes, but if there's really extreme circumstances -- like extremely hot weather -- than that could happen. When you have large amounts of muscle breakdown."
It was Haynesworth's boycott of the Redskins' offseason program that drew Shanahan's ire all spring. Haynesworth stayed away in part because he wanted to work with his own trainer, but also because he wanted a trade so he wouldn't have to play nose tackle in a 3-4 defense.
Because he didn't take part in the offseason work, Haynesworth was required by Shanahan to pass a conditioning test in order to practice at training camp. Haynesworth failed on his first attempts and didn't pass the test until the 10th day of camp.
Once he started practicing, Haynesworth was made to work with the second-stringers. He played with the backups in the first preseason game a week ago and again Saturday night, entering in the second half after all the starters had departed.
"Third quarter. I'm a ninth-year pro," Haynesworth said. "I don't think I should have been out there in the third quarter. But, for having 'headaches' again, that was what they wanted to do."
Information from The Associated Press contributed to this story.
