Jay Gruden pleased with Josh Doctson’s progress

INDIANAPOLIS - While Redskins coaches and talent evaluators comb through this year’s draft prospects, they’ve also received good reports that their top pick from last year, wide receiver Josh Doctson, is making strides in his recovery from injuries to both of his Achilles tendons.

Doctson, who was able to play in only two games last season, has been running drills on the field at Redskins Park as part of his workout routine for two weeks. Redskins coach Jay Gruden, who was frustrated about Docton’s recovery throughout last season, said earlier this week at the NFL Draft Combine in Indianapolis that he’s confident Doctson has been making good progress toward recovery. Doctson was placed on injured reserve in Week 7 of last season.

“I’ll tell you what, Josh is really working hard man and that’s half the battle. And we fully anticipate him being healthy,” Gruden said. “And that’s obviously out of our control but he is going to have a major impact on this offense once he gets healthy. And that’s the biggest thing for him, is can you be taking the strides necessary to get healthy, not overworking it but continuing to push himself, which I see him in the weight room all the time working hard.”

With Doctson having been cleared by trainers to run on the field, Gruden said he was happy with how the second-year player’s rehab timeline seems to be going. Receivers DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon are both about to enter free agency, so Doctson could become one of the team’s top receiving options next season.

“Yeah I think the progress is being made that we wanted to see, really. But obviously there’s still a long way to go,” Gruden said. “You know, but I just wanted to make sure that he’s not in a boot in February still.”

While providing the update, Gruden also worked in a quip about Doctson’s social media presence.

“I think now we’re seeing him do some things on Snapchat. Heck, I follow him! No. I don’t even know what that is,” Gruden said. “But it’s good to see him out there running football drills.”