NFL 'Skins to start with just pair of QBs

Washington got rid of two QBs, leaving only Patrick Ramsey and Rob Johnson.
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) -- It'll be much harder for Steve Spurrier to start three different quarterbacks this year: The Washington Redskins are keeping only two.
In a surprising move that relied on owner Dan Snyder's tie-breaking vote, the Redskins cut Danny Wuerffel and Gibran Hamdan on Saturday, which means Spurrier will start the season with just Patrick Ramsey and Rob Johnson available at quarterback.
"Right now we're planning on dressing out two and hoping and praying that Patrick doesn't get hurt -- or both of them don't get hurt," Spurrier said.
Repeated versions
Asked to elaborate on the risks of keeping two quarterbacks -- a rarity in the NFL -- Spurrier repeated versions of the same answer several times.
"Any time there's a disagreement around here between coaches and the personnel staff, the owner makes the final call," he said. "That's the way it's set up. So all decisions are team decisions, and we all support it, and that's where we are right now."
Spurrier would not say which side he was on, but this is the coach who shuffled quarterbacks often at Florida and went through three starters last season, going through a rotation of Shane Matthews, Wuerffel and Ramsey -- not once, but twice.
Spurrier also praised Wuerffel, who appeared to make a solid case for a roster spot by completing 13 of 19 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown in the exhibition finale at Jacksonville.
"Danny has proven he's very capable of playing," Spurrier said. "He statistically was our highest-rated guy through preseason, whatever that means."
Plans to sign Hamdan
Spurrier said the team plans to sign Hamdan, a seventh-round round draft pick from Indiana, to the practice squad next week. If he needs a third quarterback during the game, Spurrier mentioned receivers Laveranues Coles and Rod Gardner as possible emergency fill-ins.
Pressed again to shed light on the decision to keep just two quarterbacks, Spurrier agreed it was highly unusual.
"Very rare," he said. "But it was team, organization, club, franchise -- it was the decision right now to go with two. But, realistically, very seldom do two get hurt in a game. We've got more concerns that two quarterbacks getting hurt in a game, and Patrick's proven very durable."
Spurrier has been criticized for showing too much loyalty to Wuerffel, the quarterback for Spurrier's only national championship team at Florida, so it was almost predictable when Wuerffel was re-signed early in training camp to compete with Johnson for the No. 2 spot.
Invaluable mentor
Yet, even if Wuerffel were No. 3, it was thought his knowledge of Spurrier's offense would make him an invaluable mentor for Ramsey.
"I've got a lot of conflicting emotions," Wuerffel said. "Obviously I'm disappointed not to be a part of this team. I'm frustrated. I felt like I competed enough to be part of this team."
In another unexpected move, the Redskins kept un-drafted Southern California rookie Sultan McCullough and cut Kenny Watson, who rushed for 534 yards last year and entered camp as a contender for the starting job. Coaches were impressed with McCullough's performance in exhibition games, in which he ran for 102 yards on 24 carries, mostly against reserves.
Watson missed much of training camp with a sprained knee. He gained 74 yards on 18 carries in preseason.
Trung Canidate will start at running back in Thursday's opener against the New York Jets. Other running backs on the roster are Ladell Betts and Chad Morton, a kick-return man who will be used sporadically in the backfield on passing downs.
Spurrier also said Zeron Flemister had won the starting tight end job over Robert Royal.