On Sunday against the Eagles, the Skins managed to turn a 1st and goal on the Eagles 3 yard line into 3 points, thanks in large part to a 12 men on the field penalty on 3rd down. The reason? Center Casey Rabach broke his left hand (fortunately not his snapping hand) and had to be run off the field in favor of replacement Joe Molinaro. The man weighs 300 pounds, so running off the field quickly is no easy task.
Rabach had surgery yesterday to insert 3 pins into his left wrist. That could make it difficult for him to start this coming Sunday against the Saints. So you're saying there's a chance?
Coach Joe Gibbs said Monday it is too early to know if Rabach will be ready. Because he snaps with his right hand, there is a chance that Rabach could start, and probably wear a soft brace on his left hand. Gibbs suggested Rabach's availability might be a function of pain tolerance.
Yea, that would kind of sort of maybe hurt a bit. I predict he sits, though a less speculative opinion will come later this week as we gather additional information on...
The Hand.
By the way, the Redskins are one of four teams in the entire league to start the entire year with the same line. The other three? Dallas, Philly, and Chicago. Continuity is great, but results are better.
Jon Jansen is also "uncertain" for this Sunday's game as he has been playing through a calf injury for some weeks now. And now I'm a bit concerned about it:
"It's not next game or anything," Gibbs said. "I just think the fact that it's gotten worse each week has really bothered us."
So, like, there's no chance you'd play him this Sunday and risk injury, right?
Asked if he would consider resting players with injuries due to the team's record, Gibbs replied sharply: "No. Let me say this: Every one of these three last games will be critical for us. Everybody who can play is going to play. There's no experimenting. We're not taking any approach except that the next game is critically important for us."
That kind of reckless disregard for one's record is endearing, though we'll see how well it flies should Jansen suffer a serious injury. Still, I think Gibbs is telling the fans what they want to hear and if there is a legitimate concern that Jansen's injury is getting worse, we won't see him against the Saints. Seven year Veteran Todd Wade would replace Jansen in that scenario.
From the same article, Chris Samuels wants Derrick Dockery back (that's cute):
On Monday, Samuels said he hoped the team is able to re-sign Dockery.
"I think they need to bring Derrick back," Samuels said. "We have been together for a while. We've had our growing pains, but I think we're playing real solid football together.
"I really don't want to spend time learning to play with somebody else. Derrick has worked really hard and he got his weight down. He's playing extremely well. Hopefully they'll bring him back. I think everything will work out."
The reality is that Derrick Dockery is the
cheapest starter on our line and will likely ask for a pay increase. After the Ladell Betts signing, his is the next contract to get a serious look. The disadvantage of having exactly one offensive line throughout the year is that we have not had any opportunities to evaluate our depth at that position, giving us little room to negotiate with Dockery. Methinks he'll be signed.
Readers, your thoughts on the State of our Offensive Line?
