NFL ROUNDUP | Training camp news and notes

Redskins: Washington has gone through 11 kickers in regular season games over the last eight years, and signed John Hall in the off-season from the New York Jets to try to reverse that trend. "I hear that a lot," Hall said. "It guess it's just the way things have gone down around here. They've had some good kickers. You go through some problems with injuries, and the stability of the team gets a little off. You can't look too much into all that." Easy for him to say. He hasn't had to watch the team that relied for years on steady Mark Mosely and then Chip Lohmiller go through a mind-numbing procession of Eddie Murray (twice), Scott Blanton, Chris Jacke, David Akers, Cary Blanchard, Brett Conway (twice), Kris Heppner, Michael Husted, Scott Bentley, James Tuthill and Jose Cortez. Determined to remedy the situation, owner Dan Snyder lured Hall with a five-year, $7.1 million contract. The investment is such that the team didn't even invite another kicker to camp to offer token competition. Hall's strength does wonders for kickoffs, but his field-goal accuracy was average at best during his six years with the Jets. Still, his 74 percent success rate is better than the 68 percent by the Redskins' kickers during the same period.Texans: Jabar Gaffney believes a year of experience and a new role will allow the former University of Florida standout to flourish. Gaffney started 14 games in his rookie year last season and caught 41 passes for 483 yards and a touchdown last season. But he is projected as the slot receiver on passing downs with veteran Corey Bradford and rookie Andre Johnson starting as the primary wideouts. "Last year was a good learning process for me," Gaffney said. "It's always good to watch other guys, but I'm a competitive guy and I want to get in and play. I had the opportunity to learn as I went, and that helped a lot with where I am right now." Coach Dom Capers believed the new role would have better suited Gaffney last year, but the depth-starved Texans needed him to start. "Jabar's a better football player than he was at this time last year, and he should be with the experience," Capers said. "He has ability, he can run routes, he has good quickness, and he has a feel for open areas in zone [defenses]."Patriots: Now, in his second camp, tight end Daniel Graham appears to be living up to his potential. "Graham's had a really good camp," coach Bill Belichick said. "He didn't have a lot of participation in the passing camp and the minicamps, he was still limited a little bit from the offseason. But he was here and trained hard ... and spent a lot of time with the coaches in the offseason, reviewing his play last year and the playbook and that kind of thing. So he really hit the ground running in training camp."Seahawks: Safety Damien Robinson will miss three-to-four weeks with a separated right shoulder. Robinson was injured during Saturday's scrimmage in Seattle when he made a low dive to break up a pass. Rookie Ken Hamlin, who has been working with the starting defense at free safety and strong safety, will step in. Reserve defensive tackle Norris McCleary will miss two-to-three weeks after elbow surgery.Eagles: Defensive coordinator Jim Johnson selected N.D. Kalu as the team's starting right defensive end Sunday. He will replace three-time Pro Bowler Hugh Douglas, who signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in the offseason. Douglas had 121/2 sacks last season. Kalu, who came to the Eagles from the Washington Redskins two years ago, played in all 16 regular-season games last year for the first time in his six-year career. He finished with career highs in sacks (eight), tackles (30) and forced fumbles (two).Packers: Tight end Luther Broughton was signed Sunday. Broughton, a six-year NFL veteran, has played in 62 games with eight starts. He was drafted by Philadelphia in 1997 and also has played for Carolina. In 1999 with the Eagles, he had 26 catches for 295 yards and four touchdowns. He was out of football during the 2002 season. The Packers also waived tight end Joey Knapp, who has a hamstring injury.Bengals: Third-round draft pick Kelley Washington signed a three-year contract Sunday. Washington, a wide receiver from Tennessee, was the last of the Bengals' nine 2003 draft picks to sign. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound Washington was sidelined by injuries for most of last season. He had 70 catches for the Volunteers in 2001 and is expected to join workouts Monday.Chargers: David Boston missed his second straight training camp practice, resting a sore oblique muscle. He had been briefly sidelined with a hip pointer earlier in the camp, but coach Marty Schottenheimer said it was unrelated to his current injury.