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| Washington. (Getty Images) |
NEW YORK -- When Kenny Britt went down with an ACL tear early in the 2011 season, Nate Washington had to step up and shoulder the load for the Titans receivers.
While he enjoyed the best year of his career, he doesn't want to do that again in 2012, and told CBSSports.com that he's excited about Britt's recovery and that Britt is "already running and cutting."
"He's already running and cutting," Washington said. "He's a machine. He's excited about getting out there. He feels like he has something to prove to the locker room, to the community and to the league. He wants to get back out there and give every part of him and show that he hasn't lost a step. He's done an awesome job of his rehab, he's been doing everything he can to make sure he doesn't come in with him being so sore. The main thing is getting his confidence back to taking hits."
Britt piled up 289 yards in the first three games of the season before suffering the injury to go along with three receiving touchdowns. Of course, it's not like Washington was struggling before Britt's injury -- he had 21 catches for 258 yards in that span as well, and said that the offense really doesn't change without Britt, but not having him is a "huge loss."
"I don't even know if it was a changeup from me without him," Washington said. "Our first couple games, I think he had nine catches I had seven. He had eight, I had seven again. That being said, it made it where I had to step my game up and someone was doing their job in the offense. We have plenty of guys who can make plays, but when a playmaker like Kenny Britt goes down, it's a huge loss for us."
Perhaps Washington even thinks getting Britt back would be more important than adding Peyton Manning.
