On Monday, May 20th, 2019, the Washington Redskin’s held their first day of voluntary organized team activity (OTA’s). During the third snap of the day, linebacker ,Reuben Foster, was rushing a gap at 3 quarters speed when he awkwardly stepped on the foot of the team’s offensive lineman, Tyler Catalina.

Foster immediately went down in pain, and it did not look good for this defensive stand out of Washington. He was pounding his fists on the ground, and reportedly crying while his teammates, coaches, and team officials surrounded him on the practice field, before being carted off the ground and brought into the facility for an MRI scan.

The MRI revealed that Foster tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on his left knee ending the 2019-2020 NFL season for the 25-year-old linebacker. He will see a specialist in order to determine the severity of the tear and see if there is any other damage to that left knee.

Reaction from Head Coach, Jay Gruden:

“I don’t know how to process it. We’ve had some bad luck over here for the last couple years, but this one here takes the cake because this was a non-contract drill and there was no contact involved in it. He just landed funny. But we have to move on. We have to get guys ready to play that are here. We’ve got to do the best we can to get Reuben healthy again and move on.”

“Sometimes I wish we’d do just all walk-throughs and then go play on Sundays, but we’ve got to practice.”

“I love the energy he brings to this team … I was excited to see him, for sure. He’s devastated; he felt something happen in his leg. We’ve got to get all the tests back, but he’s very upset about it. He was pretty hurt,” said Gruden.

Struggling to Stay on the Field:

During his first NFL season with the San Francisco 49ers, Reuben missed 5 games due to an ankle injury. Then in 2018, he was suspended for the first 2 weeks of the NFL year for weapons and drug offenses, which led to a misdemeanor. Most recently, he also faced a domestic violence charge that was subsequently dropped, but he was not suspended for that issue, although he most certainly could have been. Now he will miss the entire 2019-2020 NFL season due to the ACL tear he suffered this week.

Redskins Injury Prone as of Late:

Over the last 2 seasons, the team has lost some very valuable players. Starting Quarterback, Alex Smith, suffered a compound fracture in his right leg, which required multiple surgeries due to infections in that right leg. They are not sure when or if he will return to play this year.

Running back, Derrius Guice, tore his ACL during a preseason game in his rookie season last year. He is still recovering from that injury, but the Redskins are not sure when he will be able to return to game action. This is what the young running back had to say about his torn ACL rehab:

“I had to play catch-up, so I had to work a lot harder and spend a lot more hours here, getting rehab in the weight room, catching up on my running and stuff. It was tough, when I already started over in August, and then I had to start over again in December. It was kind of like, what’s going on?”

“We’re right there. We just take it week to week. I’m still strong as an ox. We’re getting it back.” 

In 2017, Chris Thompson, who is also a running back, broke his fibula and required surgery. Then in the 2018 – 2019 NFL season, he missed an additional 6 games with a bruised chest/ribs injury that lingered on and on.

Jordan Reed, considered to be one of the biggest offensive threats for Washington, has also been hurt frequently over the last few years. He has been dealing with toe fractures and sprains, which have resulted in several surgeries, and missed games due to a hamstring tear and a chest contusion suffered in 2017.

Over the last 2 seasons, the Redskins have placed 52 players on the injured reserve (IR) list, which is detrimental to a football team. This may be part of the reason the Skins have went 7-9 both of the last two seasons. Hopefully Washington gets players back from injury and keeps players healthy this year if they want a chance at winning the competitive NFC East division.