ASHBURN — Montae Nicholson won’t play again this season as the Washington Redskins placed the backup safety on the reserve/non-football injury list Wednesday after the 23-year-old was arrested a day earlier for assault.
Shortly before coach Jay Gruden’s afternoon press conference, TMZ posted video of a man identified as Nicholson beating another man unconscious outside a Loudoun County restaurant not far from Redskins facilities.
Gruden said he had not yet seen the video, but added the team would take it into consideration while they investigate the matter.
Gruden spoke before the Redskins placed Nicholson on the list, which gives teams the option to withhold a player’s base salary.
An NFL spokesman told the Washington Times that Nicholson “would be eligible to be restored to the active roster after the Super Bowl.”
Nicholson was charged with assault and battery and being drunk in public. Police also arrested Sydney A. Maggiore, a woman with Nicholson, on charges she joined in the attack and struck another woman with a bottle.
According to the police report, one of the victims said the incident started when Nicholson and Maggiore “pulled up in a vehicle and honked the horn at them.”
The two victims were taken to the hospital for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Nicholson, a second-year safety who had seen his role diminished in recent weeks, was released from Loudoun County Adult Detention Center on a $2,500 bond.
Nicholson has not taken a defensive snap in the last four games and has played just 26 defensive snaps since the Redskins traded for safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix in late October.
The 2017 fourth-rounder was once seen as a promising prospect for the Redskins, starting six of his eight games last year. Just last week, Gruden said that “nobody gave up” on Nicholson, despite trading for Clinton-Dix. Nicholson has 41 tackles this season.
“He’s going through a lot,” linebacker Mason Foster said. “Stuff like that happens. There’s not much more I can say on it, but stuff like that happens. I don’t really know the details. I’ll support him fully and wholeheartedly, man. That’s my brother.”
After playing the Tennessee Titans on Saturday, the Redskins finish the regular season against the Philadelphia Eagles at home in Week 17.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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