The Washington Redskins on Sunday announced their initial cuts to the team's 90-man roster, ahead of Tuesday's 4 p.m. ET league deadline to trim rosters to 75.
Those waived were:
- FB Stephen Campbell
- WR Cody Hoffman
- LB Jeremy Kimbrough
- WR Rashad Lawrence
- S Ross Madison
- DE Jake McDonough
- LB Adrian Robinson
- DE Jeremy Towns
The Redskins also announced that they have released LB Rob Jackson.
The team also placed TE Mike Caussin on its Reserve/Injured list.
UPDATED, 1:45 p.m. Monday:The Redskins announced that they also have waived the following players:
- G Adam Gettis
- CB Bryan Shepherd
UPDATED, 11:50 a.m. Tuesday:The Redskins announced that they have waived the following players:
- WR Rashad Ross
- TE Matt Veldman
In addition, the team released G/C Mike McGlynn.
With the moves, the Redskins' active roster now stands at 75 players.
'Never easy'Asked on Thursday about the roster-trimming process in his first year as an NFL head coach, Jay Gruden said it's "never easy."
"You get to know these guys, they work hard, they come to meetings, they're on time, they've done everything right and then when you tell them it's over, it's very tough," he said. "I think some of the position battles have played themselves out where you know it's pretty simple to see, but still, it's going to be hard to let some of them go."
The Redskins' coaching staff has used performance in both practices and games to determine which players to keep and which players to release. The team has one final preseason game – on the road Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – before facing a 4 p.m. ET Saturday deadline to make the final cuts necessary to get to the 53-man roster.
Asked Thursday if he was leaning towards any players for the final roster, Gruden said he'd rather "let the players play it out."
"(You) let the games take care of themselves and then you try to evaluate after every practice to see who is maintaining their level of play and who is slipping from a day-to-day basis," Gruden said. "So I'm just going to leave it up to that. I don't like to predetermine my roster spots at all. I like to let these guys compete. They deserve that right, they've earned that right."
The Redskins will let their backups play the entire game against the Buccaneers in what is essentially a final tryout for those hoping to make the 53-man roster, as well as the recently-expanded 10-man practice squad.
According to the league rules, clubs must cut down to 53 players by 4 p.m. on Saturday. At that same time, teams with players in the active/physically unable to perform (PUP) or active/non-football injury or illness categories – the Redskins currently have two in the former category (Stephen Bowen and Leonard Hankerson) – must select one of the following options for those guys: place player on the reserve/physically unable to perform or reserve/non-football injury or illness lists; request waivers; terminate contract; trade contract; or continue to count the player on the active list.
The claiming period for players placed on waivers at the final roster reduction will expire at noon (ET) Aug. 31, at which time clubs may establish a practice squad of 10 players. To be eligible for the practice squad, a player cannot have an accrued season of free agency credit, and/or was on the 46-player active list for less than nine regular-season games during each of any accrued seasons. A player cannot serve on the practice squad for more than three seasons, either.
Gruden said he's waiting until after the Tampa game to sit down with President and general manager Bruce Allen, the team's scouting staff and the rest of the coaches to determine how many players they will keep at each position.
"There's a varying number that could be at a lot of positions, whether it's three or four running backs or five running backs, could be six, seven wideouts, nine linemen, 10 lineman, six D-linemen, 7 D-linemen," Gruden said. "We just have to try to do the best we can and pick the best 53 that we think that can help us throughout the season."
Thursday's Redskins-Buccaneers game -- which can be seen on NBC4/Comcast SportsNet -- begins at 7:30 p.m.
(For all the latest roster moves and Redskins news, be sure to follow @Redskins on Twitter and check back with www.redskins.com.)
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