A lot of the talk surrounding the Washington Redskins over the past two weeks has been the health of several of the team’s front-line players. The Redskins have had to endure a season-ending ACL injury to rookie running back Derrius Guice and early injuries, albeit, not as serious, to defensive lineman Daron Payne and wide receiver Josh Doctson in training camp.
Redskins Coach Jay Gruden has brought along several important players such as Trent Williams, Morgan Moses, Chris Thompson and Jordan Reed slowly since they are coming off of injuries that required surgeries.
Defensive lineman Stacy McGee has been out of action all of training camp and preseason with a core injury.
Tomorrow night, the Redskins will play the Denver Broncos in the all-important third preseason game which serves as a ‘dress rehearsal’ for many teams.
According to Gruden, however, the Redskns will still play without a few of their top contributors.
While speaking with the media from the INOVA Sports Performance Center at Redskins Park, Gruden addressed the injuries and playing time situations.
“Chris Thompson will be out for sure,” Gruden said. “Stacy McGee will be out for sure. Trent [Williams], I don’t know yet. Jordan [Reed] will be out for sure.”
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The fifth-year coach didn’t make the decision to sit a few of his core players this week but had a plan in place all along.
“No, it’s been the plan,” Gruden said. “Yeah, we’ve got to get them ready [for the regular season]. They’re practicing more. Chris is doing more and more [and] Jordan is doing more and more. They’re getting themselves ready.”
Despite being held out for their third straight preseason game, if the contest were a regular season matchup, Gruden thinks they would have been able to play which is a good sign for Redskins Nation.
“I believe so,” Gruden replied when asked if Thompson and Reed could currently play in a regular season game. “I believe so, but luckily, that’s not the case and we’ve got another two and a half to three weeks for them to really, really, get some good practice sessions in, get with Alex [Smith], and get quality work in, not only for them, but for Alex, but also for their bodies to get them in shape.”
Gruden’s focus at the moment is the overall health of the team and cautiously getting them ready for their first regular season game against the Arizona Cardinals. This has been the way he has managed the Redskins since his arrival in 2014.
“I think we are just getting healthier really,” Gruden said. “I think there [have] been some guys with some nagging injuries, not too serious of injuries; they just need a couple days here and there. I think there are a few other guys who could probably play, that won’t play. Just keep them out because we have a few weeks before our first regular season game. So, we’ll be a little bit more careful now than we would be in the regular season, but it is good to see pretty much a full roster out there practicing for the first time in a while.”