"Stunned that Coach Mike Shanahan would bench a player as accomplished as quarterback Donovan McNabb, the Redskins are playing "scared," running back Clinton Portis said in a radio interview Tuesday.

During his weekly appearance on 106.7 The Fan's The Mike Wise Show With Holden Kushner, Portis said Shanahan's decision to demote McNabb for the final three games stirred concern in the locker room because McNabb, a six-time Pro Bowler, is among the game's most successful active quarterbacks. The sentiment in the locker room is that if Shanahan would do that to McNabb, Portis said, no one is safe.

"In the locker room, I think that [the McNabb benching] that would scare a lot of guys," Portis said. "That Donovan McNabb, who is proven to do so much, and who has done so much in the NFL, gets benched. I think it becomes a thing in the locker room like, 'Man, if they bench Donovan, anybody can be benched. Or am I next or what's next?' And I think guys start playing for safety.

"That's really been a big part of the problem around here. People start playing for safety. So it's like, 'I gotta play safe and sound, instead of going out on the limb and making plays.' It's like, 'How do you do what they say? I don't want to be outside the box. I want to do everything I possibly could to save myself.' Instead of just laying on the line. ... If they done with you, it ain't much you can do."

McNabb did everything the coaching staff asked of him, Portis said."