Right tackle Jammal Brown will not have surgery on either of his hips, but he is out indefinitely as he tries to overcome the pain that has sidelined him for the first six practices of training camp, Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said Wednesday.
Brown on Wednesday was in New York to visit a doctor, who determined he does not need surgery. He recommended anti-inflammatories and rehabilitation, leaving Brown’s return to football open-ended.
“I can’t tell you if he’s going to be healthy or not until he comes back here and he gets the anti-inflammatories and we see how it reacts going through the workout,” Shanahan said. “If he’s able to go and we feel like there’s a good chance he can stay injury-free, he’ll be on our football team. If not, obviously he can’t.”
Brown, 31, made two Pro Bowls as a left tackle for New Orleans before missing the 2009 season to recover from surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip. He started 26 games for the Redskins over the past two seasons, but his mobility still was affected by the hip.
Shanahan told Brown on the final day of last season that he had to get healthy and play better in order to remain on the team.
Brown took yoga classes and did pilates in the offseason to improve his range of motion and mobility. Brown and the team believed those measures produced positive results, but he suffered a setback during the team’s conditioning run July 25.
He will remain on the physically-unable-to-perform list while he rehabilitates at Redskins Park, Shanahan said. There is no timetable for his return.
“I don’t think anybody knows until you put him through the conditioning drills, treatment, give him a workout and see how he reacts the next day,” Shanahan said. “Can he practice pain-free? We’re not going to activate him to our normal roster and take him off PUP until he’s ready to go.”
“It’s always going to hurt, we got a Pro Bowler that’s absent,” Redskins left tackle Trent Williams said. “We really need him. But injuries happen, man, and we just pray he has a speedy recovery.”
Tyler Polumbus, a four-year veteran, has been practicing with the first string in place of Brown. He started three games at right tackle for Washington last season.
“He’s a veteran; he’s been around the league for a while,” Williams said. “That alone tells you that he can play. No one sticks around if they can’t play. He can play, and he’s more than capable of doing his job.”
Cousins has Shanahan ’down perfect’ in show
While Robert Griffin III has been the center of attention on the practice field and just about everywhere else with the Redskins, fellow rookie quarterback Kirk Cousins proved to be a star in the team’s rookie talent show.
Rookies have to perform for the rest of the team during training camp, and Cousins and offensive linemen Tom Compton and Nick Martinez put on quite the skit Tuesday night. Cousins dressed up like Shanahan, slick hair and all.
“He did too good. Man, he had me down perfect,” Shanahan said. “He acted just like me, which is a little embarrassing at times.”
It was so good that many teammates fell down laughing.
“I was surprised at how well it was received, and we got a standing ovation at the end,” Cousins said. “Some of the coaches said it was the best they’ve seen in 20 years, so I was pretty pleased with it.”
That was just the first skit of many the Redskins’ rookies will put on for the rest of the group. Following it is not an enviable position. Griffin has said he plans to sing “My Girl” by the Temptations.
Asked if he’d give Cousins two thumbs up, Jarvis Jenkins said: “Oh, three thumbs up if I had a third one.”
Kerrigan, Fletcher, Bowen all sit out
Linebackers Ryan Kerrigan and London Fletcher and defensive end Stephen Bowen got the day off from practice Wednesday, though it was about rest, not injury.
Shanahan said that he wanted Bowen to rest his knee and that Kerrigan might benefit from a breather, even as a second-year player.
“London, he’s 37 years old,” Shanahan said. “Every time he’s on the practice field, he practices like he’s 22, so I’ve got to force him into retirement, at least during practice for a day or two. It’s hard to do without just taking the pads off him.”
Defensive end Kentwan Balmer missed practice, but Shanahan did not have an explanation.
“I’m not really sure what the situation is with him,” he said. “Hopefully, it’s nothing very serious.”
• Rich Campbell can be reached at rcampbell@washingtontimes.com.
• Stephen Whyno can be reached at swhyno@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.