The minute a rookie bursts out to a hot start to begin a career, the question inevitably becomes: How long will he last before the "rookie wall" hits? And usually the "rookie wall" hits hardest for an NFL running back taking a beating against bigger, faster, and stronger men than those in the college ranks.

Alfred Morris would seem to be an obvious victim of this proverbial roadblock. The sixth-round pick out of Florida Atlantic has 208 carries for 982 yards and six touchdowns this season. The yardage total ranks fifth in the NFL. The 208 carries is just 28 shy of setting the Redskins rookie single-season record. Yet, Morris doesn't envision a wall to worry about.

"I was built for this," Morris said via Rich Campbell of the Washington Times. "I was made for this. It's just the truth. I can take a lot of beating. I don't think I'll ever meet the rookie wall."

Morris has numbers to support the confidence. He finished his career at Florida Atlantic with 263, 227 and 235 carries each of his last three seasons, respectively.

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Outspoken Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall didn't have a problem with Victor Cruz saying Washington was "a couple pieces" away from contending earlier in the week.

"In this league, you've got to prove it. We haven't proved it," Hall said Thursday, via Mike Jones of the Washington Post. "Even though we've beaten them two out of the last three times, you still got to prove it. You've got to prove it. Even though we've matched up well against them, we haven't matched up against other teams in this league. I can't argue with him right now. They won the last one, and they've got two Super Bowl rings over the last [five] years. So, we've got to keep working. We've got to keep working, keep grinding. We'll see what he says after the game."

COWBOYS

The Cowboys gave wide receiver Miles Austin a six-year, $54-million contract extension in September 2010 and they might regret it, writes Rainer Sabin of the Dallas Morning News. Austin is on pace for another 1,000-yard season, but Sabin believes Austin went from overachiever out of small-college Monmouth to injury-prone underachiever.

EAGLES

Until further notice – likely until New Year's Eve, the day after the Eagles finish their season against the Giants – Andy Reid is the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. But his dismissal is all but inevitable and linebacker Casey Matthews offered his opinion when asked if a certain possible candidate named Chip Kelly, currently the head coach at Oregon, would be a good fit in Philadelphia.

"I think the fans here would love him. They would love his attitude, his go-get-it mentality," Matthews said, via Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Matthews played under Kelly at Oregon.



GIANTS



Giants hope familiarity with Robert Griffin III provides edge



Justin Tuck would pay to see race between Robert Griffin III, Michael Vick

Giants also wary of another Redskins rookie: RB Alfred Morris



Giants' new additions, Kregg Lumpkin and Ryan Torain, have plenty to learn



Tom Coughlin has talk with David Wilson as rookie prepares for bigger role

Jorge Castillo: jcastillo@starledger.com; twitter.com/jorgeccastillo

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