Doug Free: "time to show I can play''

Doug Free's time in the shadows is over. The third-year pro will make his first career start Sunday against Washington. "It's a great opportunity,'' Free said. "I've been here a couple of years and haven't really had much playing time yet. Now is the time to show I can play. "I've just come every week to work. There was not a time where I said, 'I should be starting. I'm ready.' I just came to work each and every week and acted like I'm a starter in my mind because you never know when it's your time.'' Now is Free's time becasue of the fractured fibula suffered by Marc Colombo. "I never put a timetable on it,'' Free said of getting a chance to start. "When your time is there, it's there. You can never really say this is what I'm going to do. It's not a factor you can control, so you just do what you're do.''