EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The right side of the offensive line was the question when the season started. How would Morgan Moses play at tackle in his second season? How would rookie Brandon Scherff perform at guard, where he was not expected to play when drafted?
Those questions flipped on Sunday during the Washington Redskins’ 34-20 loss to the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Without Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams and starting center Kory Lichtensteiger, the only stability on the Redskins’ line was with the youngsters on the right.
Josh LeRibeus made his first career start at center. Ty Nseshke, also making his first start, filled in for Williams at left tackle.
Sacks were limited. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was taken down once in what was a rough day on the whole for him, and the sack was allowed by the right side of the line. Coach Jay Gruden lamented the inability to rush the ball with the new offensive line.
“I thought Nsekhe played well for his first time,” Gruden said. “I think Josh LeRibeus, he took control of the game, got the calls out there, which is half the battle. Snaps weren’t bad. I think there were some positive things. I’ll check out the film, but overall, when you only run the ball for 20-something yards, obviously, the standard is not that low. We obviously set the standards high, and we didn’t do a good enough job in the running game getting lanes for our backs.”
The Redskins ran for 34 yards on 17 carries without running back Matt Jones, who was inactive because of a sprained toe.
LeRibeus felt he “held up,” though he struggled at times with the accuracy of his snaps. Three were late, one of which resulted in a delay of game penalty, and four were high. Two of the high snaps foiled plays, forcing Cousins to lunge and not deliver the ball with precision.
Nsekhe has played in the Arena Football League and the Canadian Football League. His first start in the NFL was against one of the league’s best defensive lines. The night before the game, he thought about two keys: Stop the bull rush and minimize mental errors.
Afterward, he was satisfied with his work in both areas.
“I would have loved to come out with the win,” Nsehke said. “But, I think I played pretty well. I’ll have to look at the film to dissect and tell. Overall, it felt good to be out there.”
During training camp and preseason, this inexperienced offensive line spent time together, though it had combined for only 14 career total starts entering Sunday.
“The common misnomer is we didn’t have rapport, but we played together all preseason,” Nsekhe said. “So, we had a little rapport together.”
The Redskins would ideally break the group up next week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Williams missed Sunday’s game because of a concussion, and Lichtensteiger had weakness in his left shoulder.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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