Washington Redskins: Trent Murphy’s injury a blow to pass rush

The Washington Redskins lost one of their top pass-rushers for the season due to a knee injury in Thursday’s preseason opener.

When Washington Redskins‘ linebacker Trent Murphy was helped off the field in the first quarter of the team’s preseason opener on Thursday, his prognosis didn’t look good. You could see it in Murphy’s face. After the game, he declined to speak to reporters.

On Friday, the worst was confirmed: Murphy is out for the season with a torn ACL and MCL.

While Murphy was scheduled to miss the team’s first four games for a violation of the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs, he will be tough to replace. The fourth-year linebacker from Stanford has a career year in 2016, finishing second on the Redskins with nine sacks.

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Losing Murphy is certainly a blow to Washington’s depth, however, the team is more prepared this season. In addition to Ryan Kerrigan, the Redskins have Preston Smith, Junior Galette and Ryan Anderson.

The last two years, when Galette went down before training camp, the Redskins were in a bad position. Now, Galette is healthy and a pair of young players — Smith and Anderson — are on the roster and the Redskins are in a much stronger place.

The loss of Murphy still stings, though. Not only has Murphy has improved as a pass-rusher since being drafted in 2014, he’s also stout versus the run. Murphy struggled his first two seasons before breaking out in 2016. In more than one Washington game, Murphy had a key sack to either clinch a win or get the ball back in the hands of the offense.

Will the Redskins just keep Kerrigan, Galette, Smith and Anderson? Or, do they keep a fifth outside linebacker? Someone like Lynden Trail could benefit from Murphy’s injury if Washington keeps five outside ‘backers.

Either way, the Redskins can handle Murphy’s loss. Losing solid pass-rushers is always a blow to a team’s depth. Fortunately for the Redskins, they can survive this. Smith needs to bounce back from a down year, and the presence of Anderson should push him.

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For Murphy, it’s a difficult blow because he was scheduled for unrestricted free agency in 2018. Now, with a suspension and a season-ending injury on his resume, he’ll likely be forced to play on a one-year prove-it deal next season.