The Washington Redskins opened training camp with Jordan Reed on the physically unable to perform list, and they should be worried.
When training camp opens, every team has a surprise injury. Or in most cases, teams generally like to play it safe with star players. For the Washington Redskins, they experienced a little bit of both on Wednesday when players reported to training camp.
Star tight end Jordan Reed was placed the physically unable to perform (PUP) list due to lingering pain and soreness in his big toe, per Master Tesfatsion of The Washington Post. While the team says it’s more of a precautionary measure than an actual injury, it automatically raises concerns due to Reed’s injury history.
Jordan Reed was placed on the PUP list because of a toe injury, per source, but I'm told it's precautionary #Redskins
— Master (@MasterTes) July 26, 2017
Sure, it isn’t a head injury, something Reed has dealt with numerous times in his college and pro career. On that note, it’s a positive. However, nagging injuries always seem to follow the fifth-year tight end.
In four years in the NFL, Reed has yet to play a 16-game season. As a rookie in 2013, Reed missed several games due to the effects of a concussion he suffered. The following season, he suffered hamstring injuries on two different occasions, costing him a total of five games. In 2015, Reed missed two games. Last season, he missed a total of four games due to another concussion and a shoulder injury he suffered in a Thanksgiving loss to Dallas.
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With the loss of DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon to free agency, Reed is crucial to Washington’s offense. Even before the loss of Jackson and Garcon, Reed was quarterback Kirk Cousins’ favorite weapon. Make no mistake, the Redskins passing game goes through Reed and slot receiver Jamison Crowder.
The injury caught the Redskins by surprise. Remember, Reed skipped the offseason voluntary workouts, but did attend the mandatory minicamp in early June. He was a full participant and showed no signs of injury. Something has happened within the past 4-6 weeks to aggravate Reed’s toe.
Perhaps it’s not a big deal and the team, knowing how vital Reed is to the passing game, decided it was best to keep him sidelined until he was 100 percent. That’s actually a sound strategy. However, how many times have we been told an injury isn’t serious yet lingers all season long? Washington went through this last season with wide receiver Josh Doctson.
Head coach Jay Gruden spoke with the media on Thursday and said he felt Reed would be back to practice in about a week, “he hoped,” per Nora Princiotti of The Washington Times:
Jay Gruden says Jordan Reed will be back in about a week – "We hope."https://t.co/ZbimMSXWan
— Nora Princiotti (@NoraPrinciotti) July 27, 2017
That sounded great until the head coach said he hoped. Gruden knows as well as anyone any bump or bruise with Reed must be taken more seriously than, say, Josh Norman. Reed’s injury history dictates that. Some good news for Washington is that Reed did some individual work after practice on Thursday.
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Will Reed be back next week? It sounds like he should, but what if he isn’t? The Redskins will be in full-blown panic mode and rightfully so. This is an offense that can ill-afford to lose Reed for any lengthy period of time.