Redskins Gruden, Allen deal with Reuben Foster injury very differently

How badly the injury bug has bitten the Washington Redskins over the last several years has been well-documented. From the offensive line to the quarterback positions, the ballclub cannot seem to catch a break. It is amazing that, as if on que, LB Rueben Foster rolled up on a teammate’s ankle today during simple team drills and went to the ground in obvious pain. As of this writing, the team is awaiting news of LB’s status from the medical staff but it looked bad at the time.

Foster was carted off the practice field and the drills continued but afterward, the former San Francisco 49er was on everyone’s mind. It is interesting how differently two particular people on the team – namely teammate Jon Allen and head coach Jay Gruden – reacted. Allen seemed pragmatic and mostly upbeat. Gruden seemed shell-shocked.

Gruden is clearly at a loss with this Rueben Foster injury. They were doing simple naked & boots & the LB just went down & got his knee tangled up in a non-contact drill. It really does boggle the mind #Redskins

— Diane Chesebrough (@DiChesebrough) May 20, 2019

“Personally, I feel like everything happens for a reason,” Allen said after OTAs. “You know, God has His plans. You don’t always know what He’s going to do but you’ve got to have faith. And like I said, we don’t even know what happened yet. We’ve got to wait for the MRI. But he’s in my prayers and, trust me… Reuben’s going to be fine.”

Allen and Foster played together at Alabama all four years they were both there. The two first-round draft picks know each other well.

“I mean, he’s going to work his ass off to recover and get back and help this team,” Allen went on. “He just wants to win.”

Short and to the point… that’s Allen.

Then there is Gruden, about whom it is almost hard not to feel sorry. He is very obviously frustrated at this latest turn of events and, in typical fashion, the head coach wore his heart on his sleeve during his presser today.

“When you see, especially, Reuben [and] the type of player that he is, the energy he brings… he wouldn’t be laying down unless something was wrong,” Gruden said. “But we’ll hope for the best right now until we get the results. But it’s very concerning for sure. I’ll just have to wait and see before I get too emotional.”