ASHBURN -- Billy McMullen spent the 2007 NFL season in Richmond, waiting for the phone to ring.

Jerome Mathis spent the 2007 season in Houston, waiting for his foot to heal.

McMullen's phone didn't ring. Mathis' foot didn't heal.

McMullen no longer is in Richmond, which is good. Mathis no longer is Houston, which is good and not so good.

Both are on the Washington Redskins' offseason roster, hoping to win a spot on the regular-season roster. The odds are long. Neither is giving that too much thought.

"If you start counting the numbers, you're not going to perform," McMullen said. "When your name is called, you have to go out and make plays."

McMullen, a graduate of Henrico High School, the post grad program at Fork Union Academy and the University of Virginia, heard his name called in the third round of the 2003 draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Mathis, 5-11 and 184, was one of the surprises of the 2005 draft. The Houston Texans picked him in the fourth round, out of Hampton University, and the Texans looked smart when Mathis became a Pro Bowl kickoff returner as a rookie.

After that came the demise.

Mathis, a graduate of Petersburg High School, spent much of the 2006 season on injured reserve with a broken foot. He played in just two games but still managed to return one of the seven kickoffs he fielded 87 yards. In 2007, he played in three games, had 11 kickoff returns for 320 yards and a touchdown.

But he finished the season on injured reserve, again with a foot problem.

"You don't reflect on the past," Mathis said after a Redskins minicamp practice. "I've got a fresh start. I'll see where it goes from here."

Mathis was the state champion in the 200 meters during his senior year at PHS, running a 19.98. At the NFL combine, he logged a 4.28 40-yard dash and probably jumped several rounds in the draft because of that.

Teams tend to run out of patience with players who are constantly injured. Mathis' cause was not helped by some off-field problems.

He received a misdemeanor citation when his pit bull escaped from his fenced yard and harassed a woman who was walking her dogs.

In February, he was charged with hitting his pregnant girlfriend. Those chargers later were dropped, but not before the Texans decided Mathis no longer fit into their plans.

"Those things are part of life," Mathis said. "Everything has been straightened out.

"Getting released by the Texans is part of the business. Only certain players are going to stay with one team for their entire careers. You have to be flexible."

McMullen and Mathis need to be flexible and patient with the Redskins. Both are with the third string on the depth chart. But the Redskins drafted two wide receivers in the second round last weekend, Devin Thomas and Malcolm Kelly, and neither is likely to stay with the No. 4 group for long.

Mathis, 24, has a career kickoff return average of 28.5 average with three touchdowns. The Redskins will give him an opportunity to unseat Rock Cartwright, who averaged 25.8 per return in 2007. Cartwright has one touchdown return in his career.

"With Mathis, we're talking about a guy who has played six games [five] in the past two years," said special-teams coach Danny Smith. "Maybe he's got it, maybe he doesn't. He's going to have to do some other things, because we're not in the situation where we can have a guy who just returns kickoffs.

"Rock does a lot of other things."

McMullen, 6-4 and 215, is in a particularly challenging position. The Redskins wanted a big possession receiver, which McMullen is. But Thomas (Michigan State) and Kelly (Oklahoma) are big receivers. Thomas also has above-average speed.

"I think I had a label put on me when I came into the league," McMullen said. "Rookies sometimes have a rough first year trying to adapt to the game, and some coaches and GMs look at you a little different. Then, I started making plays at the end of things in Philadelphia."

The Eagles, however, traded McMullen to Minnesota for wide receiver Hank Bassett.

"I made plays in Minnesota, when I was given the opportunity," McMullen said.

He was released on the last training camp cut in 2007 and went unsigned. He returned home with his wife, Lauren, also a native of Richmond. McMullen worked out regularly, and five teams called him in for workouts, but still he endured his first season without a team since he began playing in the sixth grade.

"That was tough," McMullen said. "But I watched all the guys I came in with who were still playing, and that motivates you.

"I found strength. I kept moving and believing I'd get another opportunity in the NFL. This is the highest level. You want to fight for everything you get."

IN OTHER NEWS: Backup defensive tackle Kedric Golston sprained his lower right ankle in the morning workout, did not practice in the afternoon and will not practice today. Backup safety Vernon Fox had swelling on his knee and left the afternoon workout. Thomas was excused to attend his grandmother's funeral. . . . For now, the backup center is Jon Jansen, the starting right tackle.