"The reaction in the stadium is loud, intense and directed right at them. The players don't like it, but they know it's coming when a team is struggling.

Going out in public is another matter, especially when players are enduring a season like this one.

"Everyone feels like they know what the answer is," running back Clinton Portis said. "'They should bench you. What do you think, they should bench you?' At the time, people have the craziest ideas. They think they're on to something. My reply to them is, 'How would you feel if you weren't producing and you was the guy they was going to fire. Just to get the morale up in the building, we're gonna get you out of here.'"

Portis said no fan has actually told him they think he should be benched. But he has heard other suggestions that make him shake his head.

"They ask stupid questions like that," Portis said. "'What do you think if you get a quarterback from the Canadian league and get rid of Jason [Campbell]?'"

Fans will come up to him in restaurants wanting to know what the problem is with the Redskins.

"I'm hungry, that's the problem," Portis said, laughing.

Not everybody gets the same reaction. Quarterback Todd Collins said he mostly hears from neighbors and it's usually of the keep-your-chin-up variety.

"Clinton probably gets out a lot more than me," Collins said. "I live a boring life.""