Washington Redskins head coach Jay Gruden noted a few injuries during his conference call Monday, but it appears the team avoided major injuries over the weekend.
After two weeks of near full health, the Washington Redskins head into their Week 3 Sunday night matchup with the Oakland Raiders with numerous players on both sides of the football dealing with injury.
In his Monday conference call with local media, Redskins head coach Jay Gruden said that running back Rob Kelley (ribs), tight end Jordan Reed (chest/sternum contusion), cornerback Josh Norman (AC joint sprain), safety Montae Nicholson (AC joint sprain), linebacker Mason Foster (shoulder dislocation/labrum), safety Deshazor Everett (knee sprain/MCL) and tackle Morgan Moses (ankle sprain/shoulder strain) are all currently "day-to-day."
Despite the injuries all seven players are dealing with right now, it appears that Washington avoided major injuries in a 27-20 Week 2 victory over the Los Angeles Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Redskins had yesterday and today off from practice, as the players were able to receive extended treatment.
"We'll put the pads on and practice Wednesday and see how many guys can participate and go from there," Gruden said. "But, you know, obviously Rob Kelley's a tough guy. I think he'll try to play with that thing, but you never know how much pain he's in. We'll see how that rib feels. Same with Jordan, same with Josh, same with Montae, same with Mason, same with Deshazor, same with Morgan. So they're all a concern, but they're all tough guys and hopefully we'll have them."
Kelley was experiencing a breakout game against the Rams before being removed from the game, as the second-year Tulane product had 78 rushing yards on just 12 carries.
Setting the tone on the first drive of the game with six carries for 22 yards, Kelley also ripped off back-to-back runs of 19 and 21 yards on Washington's second drive of the game.
Even with Kelley's injury, the Redskins were still able to rip through the Rams' defense on the ground. In total, Kelley, Samaje Perine and Chris Thompson combined for 222 yards.
It also marked the first time the Redskins had three different players reach 65 rushing yards in a single game for the first time since Dec. 1, 1957, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"I think that Samaje did a good job of stepping in and putting us in good situations," Kelley said. "That's all you can ask out of him back like that to be put in us in situations. I think Chris did an excellent job for capitalizing on the opportunities."
If Kelley can't play this weekend, the Redskins will look to Mack Brown as another running back they can rely on. Brown hasn't been active yet this season, but the second-year Florida product produced last season when his number was called against the Chicago Bears.
Reed, meanwhile, was briefly removed from the game in the third quarter before returning in the final frame. He finished with team highs in receptions (six) and receiving yards (48) on a day in which the passing game struggled at times to be effective.
Defensively, Foster's shoulder dislocation wasn't enough to slow him from making the game-sealing interception off Jared Goff with less than two minutes left in Sunday's matchup with the Rams.
"Very tough individual," Gruden said of Foster. "He's played multi-linebacker, both linebacker positions – been very successful. He's a great leader for us. Does anything he wants – special teams – and it's great when you have a high-character guy like that, have some production so people can start to realize what a great player he is, not just a great guy."
As for Nicholson, the 2017 fourth-round pick made his first career start in only his second professional game, appearing on 26 on the defense's 50 snaps.
Although Nicholson was sidelined for all of offseason workouts and limited for a majority of training camp, he's quickly impressed the coaching staff.
"We started him in training camp – obviously he wasn't on PUP, but he was unable to practice, but he was getting all the walkthrough reps, so he was getting all the mental reps, which is important for him," Gruden said. "Then when he was able to practice, he just got in there and made some plays. He is a big, physical guy that can run and we are excited about his prospects. Nothing against Everett, we are just trying to get him out there and get him some reps. We know how important that position is.
"The last couple years, we have had a lot of injuries so we are trying to get all our guys ready to play. Montae has all the traits to be a great safety, we just have got to get him in there and get him some experience and the more experience he gets, the better he will get."
