After suffering an injury that originally looked worse than what it turned out to be vs. the New York Jets, Chris Thompson said his back is feeling better every day.
Chris Thompson refused to let a back injury suffered during the first quarter of last Sunday's game against the Jets stop him from playing, but the third-year running back was feeling the effects of his decision on Monday.
On a 3rd-and-2 play late in the first quarter, quarterback Kirk Cousins tried to find Thompson down the field with the running back having a step on Jets linebacker Demario Davis.
As Thompson went up to try to grab the ball in the air, a difficult catch had he completed it, he landed awkwardly on his back.
"It was pretty sore, pretty swollen, but it's gotten better every day," Thompson said on Wednesday. "So I'm just steady trying to get my treatment and getting as much as I can before Sunday comes." The concern at first was that he had suffered a broken back for the second time in his career (the first happened in 2011 when he was at Florida State).
"It happened so fast," Thompson said. "Initially …it kind of felt like my back went numb and I thought I had broken it again. But as I was laying there, even as the seconds went by, I kept feeling better and better, I started kind of moving around a little bit on my own and I was like I'm fine, and as I got up I just felt my back just spasming a whole lot, and I just had to keep walking throughout the game, I couldn't sit down."
Because of his previous back injury, Thompson admitted he was scared about the possibility of another long-term injury.
That, of course, wasn't the case as he was back in on the Redskins' next drive.
A countdown of the Top 10 images of Redskins running back Chris Thompson during the 2014 season.
"They helped me, but I was able to sit up on my own," Thompson said. "So I knew from there it was nothing real major."
Thompson would soon return to the game, finishing the day with five carries for 12 yards along with six receptions for 26 yards.
Announced as the team's third-down back by Redskins head coach Jay Gruden during training camp, Thompson has thrived in the role this season.
He recorded a 42-yard run on a draw play on a third down against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4, and several of his 23 receptions have come in key passing situations on third downs.
As the team starts to see the return of some of their skill players like Jordan Reed and DeSean Jackson, and Trent Williams and Kory Lichtensteiger finding their way back to the field, it could potentially open up more opportunities for Thompson.
"It would be good to have everybody out there, DeSean included," Thompson said. "Jordan and all the guys to be out there on third downs cause I think for us that could possibly make everything a lot easier."
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