In the week leading up to Thursday night’s game against the New York Giants, the Redskins at one point had 17 players listed on their injury report. And in the game itself, they didn’t fare much better.
Tight end Niles Paul, left tackle Trent Williams and defensive lineman Jarvis Jenkins each left Washington’s 45-14 loss with an injury and did not return. Paul suffered a concussion, Jenkins sustained a rib contusion and Williams exited with what coach Jay Gruden called a right knee strain.
Jenkins was the first player to leave the game in the second quarter. He was down on the field for several moments before walking off under his own power. He later tried to return to the game but said he was having trouble breathing. An X-ray on the knee did not show signs of a fracture, he said.
Moments later, Paul ran a seam route straight up the middle of the field and was crunched between three Giants defenders. He remained on the ground for several minutes, surrounded by his offensive teammates, until being helping up by members of the training staff. Rather than return to the sideline, he walked slowly across the field and directly into the locker room with trainers.
Because of the league’s concussion protocol, Paul was not allowed to speak to reporters after the game. Logan Paulsen, who stepped in at tight end, said he spoke to Paul following the game and he seemed okay.
“Obviously he’s a little dazed, but I don’t think it’s anything too, too, serious and I think he’ll be back relatively soon,” Paulsen said. “That’s really scary when something like that happens. He’s a good friend of mine and a guy that I have a ton of respect for as a football player and as a man. I’m really thankful that it wasn’t more serious.”
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The Redskins were already thin at tight end before Paul’s injury. Starter Jordan Reed has missed the previous three weeks with a hamstring strain. Paulsen was the only available tight end after Paul’s departure.
Williams, meanwhile, was scheduled to have an MRI on his right knee on Friday. He said he was not sure exactly what is wrong with the knee, or how he sustained the injury, but that it might be an issue with his knee cap.
Orakpo makes last-second switch to thin cast
Outside linebacker Brian Orakpo said he decided not to wear the exterior hard cast on his injured left middle finger that he had planned to wear this week. Instead, he wore a small cast and heavily bandaged the finger.
“I at least wanted to have some freedom,” Orakpo said.
The Redskins’ defensive line did not get adequate amounts of pressure on Giants quarterback Eli Manning on Thursday, Orakpo included. When asked if the finger affected his ability to disengage with blockers, he refused to cite it as an excuse for his play.
Trent Murphy rotated with Orakpo at outside linebacker more frequently than usual. Orakpo said the torn ligament in the finger is something he will have to deal with, and will probably not be fully healthy until the offseason.
“It’s one of them injuries, one of them nagging type of deals that you just got to endure until this gets completely healed,” he said. “I don’t know. We’ll see. Hopefully I can get it fixed in the offseason, but right now I’ve just got to endure it and keep trucking, keep rolling with it.”
Penalties pile up
The Redskins committed 11 penalties for 88 yards on Thursday night, another chapter in their dismal season in that department.
Entering Thursday’s game, Washington had committed more penalties than all but three teams in the NFL. Williams was among the most notable offenders, getting flagged for holding and offsides before leaving the game because of injury.
Paulsen said many of the penalties were mental errors and could be corrected with a heightened focus and additional preparation during the week.
“I think you can prepare your focus,” Paulsen said. “We can prepare, listen to the snap count, make sure we’re on the details and the more confident you are in the gameplan, the more dialed in you are overall during the course of the game, in my [findings]. So that’s kind of one thing I would do. I’m not sure how everybody else handles it, but from my experience, that seems to work.”
Extra points
Safety Trenton Robinson was seen leaving the locker room in a walking boot on his left foot. He was limited in practice this week with an abdomen injury, but it was not clear how or when he injured the foot. … Andre Roberts caught Washington’s only touchdown pass Thursday night. It was Roberts’ first score with the Redskins. … Josh LeRibeus made his first start, in place of Shawn Lauvao at left guard. Lauvao, defensive lineman Kedric Golston, wide receiver Santana Moss and nose tackle Robert Thomas were inactive. … Tracy Porter was active and played limited snaps at cornerback. … Kory Lichtensteiger, Ryan Kerrigan and Ryan Clark joined regular captains Adam Hayward and Williams and midfield before the game.
• Tom Schad can be reached at tschad@washingtontimes.com.
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