Redskins Odds and Ends
With their season effectively over following Thursday’s humiliating blowout in Texas, the depleted and demoralized Redskins practiced yesterday in Ashburn. They have little left to play for right now but there are still some interesting story lines going on with the ball club. Below are today’s Odds and Ends:
Injury updates
Jordan Reed and Morgan Moses were both on the field Monday but did not participate in practice. Moses’ injury seems not to be too severe and he may only miss one or two games before being back on the ravaged offensive line. Reed is another story. His lingering hamstring issue has, well, hamstrung him for a large part of the season. The playoffs are now a distant mathematical possibility and many people are asking if there is any purpose to Reed trying to get back on the field in 2017. The same could be asked of Trent Williams, who needs significant knee surgery but still seems to be planning to play out the year as best he can. How the team will handle those two, as well as many of the other injured players, remains to be seen.
Player Contracts/Extensions
Everyone with any clue about this team knows all about the eternal Kirk Cousins saga, but there are a slew of other players with expiring contracts, including Zach Brown, Shawn Lauvao, Terrelle Pryor, Bashaud Breeland, Trent Williams, and Junior Gallette. Depending on how much salary cap is taken up by the quarterback position (and the $17 million due to Josh Norman), it’s going to be tough to keep everybody the want to. Zach Brown, who has been one of the team’s best defensive players, is likely to command a tidy sum. Breeland is also an important defensive piece, but it will be difficult to commit enough money to the cornerback position to give both him and Norman what they’re worth. A lot will depend on if they can come to terms with Cousins, and if so, how much cap space he occupies.
Reinforcements from the Practice Squad
The offensive line has been a total disaster, staffed by an ever-rotating cast of marginal players. That trend now continues with the team signing Kyle Kalis to the active roster. Kalis attended Skins training camp before being waived and signed to the practice squad. After a short stint with the Colts, he was waived there, claimed by Washington, and added to the 53 man roster. Wideout Robert Davis also attended camp with Washington and wound up on the practice squad, where he has remained since. Given the woeful performance by the Redskins receiving corps on Thursday, he also finds himself on the active roster of this injury-plagued club. Defensive lineman Caraun Reid and linebacker Pete Robertson were waived to create roster space.
Wrap-up
Today is an off day for the team, so we won’t know which injured players are likely to go this weekend until at least the next practice. Gruden has been peppered with media questions about shutting players down for the season to let them get healthy, but he has rather vehemently rejected that idea. It seems like a no-brainer for some of these guys (like Reed and Williams), but no one has ever accused this team of doing things the brainy way. Despite his protestations, it’s likely that a lot of young players further down the depth chart will get a chance to perform over the next few weeks so the team can get a look at what they have in-house before making the crucial personnel decisions for next year.
