Let me start by saying that James Thrash is one of my favorite Redskins. He is the embodiment of a Joe Gibbs kind of player. He’s smart, tough, and has great character. Thrash may not be the best receiver or athlete, but he works hard and is willing to do whatever the coaches ask of him. And because of his work ethic and willingness to be flexible, he has played more games for us (118) than any other active Redskins player except for Chris Samuels (136) and Ethan Albright (128).

But in case you haven't noticed, Thrash hasn't been on the field during our OTAs this year. Instead, he has been in therapy sessions with trainers because of a neck injury he sustained last season. The injury (and associated pain) is serious enough to have Thrash pondering whether to retire (link to article).

Here are James Thrash's career stats (I didn't include PR stats because they were minimal):

As you can see, Thrash had his most productive seasons in Philly (with the exception of 2000 in Washington). But, over the years since his return to Washington, his numbers have steadily declined. Quite frankly, the only reason we saw so much of him last year was because of the pathetic under-performance of our rookies (Thomas, Kelly, and Davis). Going into this season, Thrash has to know that chances are at least one of the rookies from last year (or this year) will step up and become our #2 and/or #3. With ARE still in the mix, Thrash would pretty much only be used on Special Teams. And it's not like there won't be a ton of competition on STs with all of the LBs and other potential STers we brought in this off-season.

Between the probable lack of playing time and the apparent seriousness of JT's neck injury, I really hope he decides to call it quits and retire with the B & G. The last thing we would want to see is for him to finish his career with another team or to end up ruining his future quality of life, by reinjuring his neck after surgery.