Portis to play Saturday - he doesn't seem too happy about it

Lets just do what he says and nobody gets hurt.

...There's a saying in the rap community. "Nobuddy move, nobuddy git hurt"

Yeah didn't we try that one season and he seperated his shoulder trying to tackle somebody on an interception?

I knew someone would bring that up. Like someone said earlier it was a fluke. Injuries are gonna happen, but you cant completely baby these guys just because they're a starter. He better be able to handle several carries in a preseason game or two if hes gonna be our starter for 16 (hopefully more) games this season.

With the precarious state of the offensive line right now, I want Portis and Campbell out there as little as possible this weekend

I say no. Portis is a veteran player, and he doesn't have any cobwebs to shake off. Even if he did, you'd have to give him significant carries in the pre-season for it to make any difference. 10 plays won't do it.

Is Portis playing also because Cartwright is hurt? What about Betts, is he well enough to play? I like Mason, but I don't think he should be playing almost an entire game if Betts and Cartwright are hurt.

It is important for Portis to get some work. Everyone on the offense needs to get in sync. Won't hurt him to make a few carries and take some hits.

With the precarious state of the offensive line right now, I want Portis and Campbell out there as little as possible this weekend

I agree, I don't want to see Portis out there at all. I really don't think he needs to play 1 snap in the preseason in order to be effective in the regular season. If they actually kept the running package from last year, it's not worth risking him.

He doesn't need the work, a couple of snaps won't make that much difference.

The only issue I can't foresee is the team unity being disrupted with some players getting a special deal.

Don't play him in the pre-season, if he's not up-to-par in the first two games of the season (which I believe he will be) then sit him for a game and play Cartwright, Mason and Sellers.

His statements have been bothering me since I heard them. First, he acts like the only person who really knows what is best for him is him ("But what's good for [No.] 26 is rest. Rest is important. Rest is vital."). And he has the audacity to say: "Is this [going to be] good? For who? For y'all? For the media? For the public? I guess.". Wow! I'm sorry he feels so bad about having to play for the fans that pay his salary, not to mention the coaches that want to see him tune up his game a little.

What really gets me is that last year he complained that he didn't want to play because he already knew the offense and wouldn't benifit from running the same plays again in preseason that he already had plenty of game experience running. That is a fair statement. The problem is now he is saying he doesn't want to play because he doesn't want to have contact 7 times in a preaseason game... and it is a new offense and he has a new running backs coach. Zorn may really want to see him involved in the short passing game (new plays) and tuning up his pass protection.

He isn't LT. He needs to stop his public whining, get over it, and play... just like Edgerrin James did last night.

I really don't see the benefit of him getting a few snaps. A RB really doesn't find his groove until he's had a bunch of carries, and that's not going to happen in a preseason game. So I can understand what he's saying. Is there really anything to gain from him playing a couple of series? I honestly don't see it. If he got hurt it would be funny to see how quickly some people would change their tune.