Do you ever remember an instance where an NFL team couldn’t field a roster? That is exactly the situation that the WRedskins currently find themselves in, coming off a tough loss to the Cowboys this past weekend. Obviously the state of the roster drastically affects the Washington Redskins betting odds this week, and Jay Gruden added a few more critical names to the Redskins unavailable list on Monday at his press conference.
Jordan Reed (hamstring) was the most “marquee” player added to the laundry list of injuries this week, along with fellow tight end Niles Paul who is under the NFL’s concussion protocol after a scary helmet-to-helmet collision against Dallas. Promising defensive lineman Matt Ioannidis will undergo surgery to his hand and definitely will not be available for this week’s matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.
There are 53 players on an NFL roster – each week, the team is allowed to activate 47 of them. Right now, 13 of those 53 Redskins players are injured. The team is literally in danger of not being able to field a full football squad this week against Seattle. And that 13 doesn’t include Morgan Moses somehow, who is playing on two sprained knees.
“We only have seven guys that we can put inactive. That’s the major issue that we have right now,” Gruden said. “We have to try to get six of those guys up — at least — somehow.”
Gruden is pointing out that unless the Redskins can find a way to get six of those 13 players into the game against Seattle on Sunday – they won’t even be able to dress the 47 players that they’re allowed to. It sounds comical, but it’s true.
Washington played against the Cowboys with three missing starting offensive linemen. Redskin rookies Chase Roullier and Ty Catalina got their very first NFL starts, and TJ Clemmings filled in for Pro Bowl tackle Trent Williams. All things considered, they did very well, Catalina especially. He was charged with the task of filling in for Pro Bowl right guard Brandon Scherff, but when Clemmings got hurt in the fourth quarter, Catalina had to move to left tackle! He’d also just come back from a concussion and had little practice time under his belt. Marvelous performance given all of the aforementioned.
Adding to the malaise of the line, Shawn Lauvao left the Cowboys game with a stinger and didn’t return. His status for this week is questionable and Gruden actually inferred that the left guard could miss more than that.
That leaves Morgan Moses as the only “healthy” starting offensive linemen. The quotes used are well deserved, because Moses is actually playing on TWO sprained knees, and to call him healthy could only be relative to his four starting counterparts.
Ty Nsekhe could return to practice this week, but he’s been sidelined for weeks with a core injury, and who knows what kind of shape he would be in for the Seahawks game. Williams might also try practicing this week, but the Pro Bowler categorically should not be practicing or playing. It’s only necessity that would even encourage such a short term awful decision. He’s the absolute best player the Redskins have – it’s not worth risking more serious injury just to get him into a decimated lineup.
The Redskins will likely also increase the practice time for Scherff this week, but like Williams, he shouldn’t be rushed back either. Same logic.
Spencer Long isn’t likely to return this week either because of the tendinitis in his knee.
So it is not only entirely possible, but maybe even probable, that the Redskins will be without four of their starting five offensive linemen against the Seahawks. With Clemmings day-to-day, and Nsekhe only just returning, that puts the “not healthy” count for the line at six guys. Seven if you include Moses. It also means that of the eight guys that made the original 2017 Redskins offensive line roster, two rookie backups (Catalina and Roullier) are the only two that don’t have some sort of injury status.