Outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan (calf) has been placed on Injured Reserve, interim head coach Bill Callahan announced Friday.
Kerrigan suffered the injury in the second half of the Packers game last weekend, and he was already ruled out for Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Friday's news means that Kerrigan, who began his career with 139 straight starts, will miss the final three games of the 2019 campaign.
"He's a consummate pro in every respect," Callahan said of Kerrigan. "I know that he didn't want to finish this year in this fashion, but it's in the best interest of his health obviously to go this route right now."
Kerrigan has been a model of durability and consistency since the Redskins drafted him in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He did not miss a game over his first eight seasons, averaging about 10.5 sacks and nearly 16 quarterback hits per year. And he's been even better in recent seasons three seasons, totaling 37 sacks and 60 quarterback hits from 2016-2018. He made the Pro Bowl in each of these campaigns as well as in 2012.
Kerrigan missed his first-career game against the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 1 because of a concussion, but he was cleared the day after the game and played in the Redskins' 20-15 loss in Green Bay. He recorded a sack before having to leave the game in the third quarter.
Kerrigan is currently second on the team this season with 5.5 sacks, leaving him just 1.5 away from passing Dexter Manley for the most-career sacks in franchise history. But should Kerrigan break that record, it will not come until 2020.
"I can't even begin to express how much he's meant to this organization, what he's contributed, what he means to this teammates and the type of pro that he is day in and day out," Callahan said of Kerrigan ahead of the Panthers game. "He's a consummate pro as you just watch him around the facility, in the meeting room, on the field. There's no better example of what a pro should be in the NFL than Ryan Kerrigan."
In a corresponding move, the Redskins signed tight end Caleb Wilson off of the Arizona Cardinals practice squad.
