The Redskins enter Sunday's game against the 49ers with starting tackle Trent Williams questionable with a knee injury and two others listed as doubtful.
This week's injury report is brought to you by Inova, the Official Health System of the Washington Redskins.
The Washington Redskins head into Sunday's game against the San Francisco 49ers with two players ruled out for the contest as well as two doubtful and one questionable.
Tackle Ty Nsekhe (core muscle), and cornerback Josh Norman (rib) are out for Washington's Week 6 matchup with San Francisco while running back Rob Kelley (ankle) and safety Deshazor Everett (hamstring) are doubtful and tackle Trent Williams (knee) is questionable.
Kelley did not practice this week after originally suffering an ankle injury in the Redskins' Week 4 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The second-year Tulane product carried the ball seven times for 23 yards against Kansas City before being removed from the game in the second quarter.
He was replaced in the lineup by rookie Samaje Perine, which is something the Redskins may have to do again this week. Perine started against the Oakland Raiders in Week 3 when Kelley was dealing with a rib issue.
While Perine has had some tough moments early in his career including a fumble against the Raiders and a toss play against the Chiefs that he couldn't secure, Redskins head coach Jay Gruden remains high on the 2017 fourth-round pick.
"I think he's still in the process of developing, like all young running backs are. The kid for Kansas City is a special guy – [Kareem] Hunt – but Perine is in a spot right now where he's just continuing to get the workload, especially if Rob Kelley has got an ankle injury for any due time," Gruden said last week. "He's going to get more and more reps and he's going to get better and better."
With Nsekhe already ruled out and Williams' status uncertain, the Redskins may have to look to T.J. Clemmings to either start at left tackle or be the swing tackle.
The former Minnesota Vikings draft pick made his Redskins debut against the Chiefs – appearing on four offensive plays – but could have an increased role this week.
"We just picked up T.J. and now he is our third, he could be our second," Gruden said. "That's just the way it is in pro football and that's why it is important we continue to work with our practice squad guys, our seventh and eighth offensive linemen, make sure they get the reps so when their number is called, they can perform.
"But when you're talking about possibly taking Trent Williams out of the lineup, I don't care who you put in there, you're going to have a drop-off. That's just the way it is because he's the best in the league. But, we expect [Clemmings] to step up and play well and do the job."
Check out these photos of the Redskins' past matchups against the 49ers through the years.
As for Norman, he could be out a few weeks after he also suffered his injury in the second quarter against the Chiefs two weeks ago.
With Bashaud Breeland sliding into the No. 1 cornerback role, the Redskins will look to Quinton Dunbar and Fabian Moreau to replace Norman in the lineup for now with Kendall Fuller continuing his presence against slot receivers.
In his third season with the Redskins now, Dunbar has appeared in 29 regular season games with four starts. While he's only appeared in relief this season, Gruden believes the former college wide receiver has the right mindset when taking on some of the NFL's top receivers.
"He thinks he can cover anybody, anytime, anywhere," Gruden said. "And that's a great mentality to have as a corner and that's the way he feels. He's been out here at practice covering DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garçon last year, and this year with all these other guys.
"He's just, 'Line 'em up,' he's just bump and run. That's the mindset that he has and that's a great mindset to have. He's got a short memory. If he does get beat, he'll come right back up and play bump and run and cover you. We're excited to watch him play."
With Everett listed as doubtful, the team could ask Kendall Fuller to play some safety if absolutley needed.
"Kendall has been schooled a little bit at safety," Gruden said. "[Joshua] Holsey would probably be up and he can play obviously nickel and corner, so the fourth safety would probably be Kendall if we needed to."
