Jordan Reed Injury: Washington Redskins TE cleared

Washington Redskins star tight end Jordan Reed will likely take a backseat to Niles Paul, who leads TE qualifiers with a whopping 10.6 yards per target, going forward, but he is still an excellent TE in his own right and should still be a key part of the Redskins gameplan. The uber-athletic “move” TE, however, is also one of the NFL’s most injury-prone young playmakers, as he has only appeared in one game this season due to a hamstring injury. That said, he has been expected to make his return today against the Arizona Cardinals, and he is no longer even a game-time decision.

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According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Reed has already been cleared to play today, and Rapoport adds that the Redskins actually held him out of last week’s Monday Night Football game against the Seattle Seahawks as a precaution. Of course, that probably wouldn’t have happened if the Redskins didn’t have Niles Paul at their disposal, though the counter to that is that Paul had to get past a concussion in order to receive clearance (and he was a non-factor with just one reception with some awful blocking thrown in against a team notorious for shutting down TEs…Antonio Gates was the exception).

Unlike the Seahawks, the NFC West’s Cardinals are atrocious at stopping tight ends, so Reed could have a huge performance if he gets the targets. He isn’t expected to see his snaps limited, so it’s definitely worth watching him closely this afternoon (4:25 p.m. ET kick-off).