Washington Injury Update: Saahdiq Charles to have season-ending knee surgery; Kyle Allen finally goes to IR

Saahdiq Charles has had a pretty rough start to his NFL career. He "fell" to the 4th round after character concerns from multiple failed drug tests at LSU. The Washington Football Team took a shot on him after multiple discussions with his college coaches.

Charles was an early fan favorite, and received a lot of hype. But certain positions will always get hype from different segments of the fanbase. Charles represented hope for either the tackle or guard position going forward. Washington waited until they knew Charles would be available at their pick to pull the trigger on the Trent Williams trade. Was Saahdiq Charles his replacement?

Those hopes started getting dashed early due to a calf injury that forced him to miss most of the this year's COVID-19 modified training camp. Charles started popping up on the injury report with a thigh injury, and was active on a game day until Washington played the Giants in Week 6. He got the start at LG, and it looked like he was ready to make a huge step forward in his career.

Saahdiq Charles was injured on his second snap in the NFL, and was placed on IR that week. He reportedly dislocated his kneecap. The team was reportedly hopeful that Charles could return after their Week 8 bye, but those hopes ended yesterday.

Charles will reportedly have surgery to fix his dislocated kneecap, and will miss the rest of the season. Tom Pelissero, who first reported the news, said the rookie should be on track for mini-camp next year(there will be mini-camps next year...right?).

Charles pushed to return, the person said, but after doctors warned him there was a high risk of re-injury, he decided the smart move long-term was to do surgery sooner. Team doctor Robin West will perform the procedure. The timeline for full recovery is four months, the person added, which means Charles should be ready for minicamp next May, when he will be a candidate to compete for starting jobs at guard or tackle.

The team will have a lot of question marks and possible openings for the offensive line next season. Brandon Scherff is playing on the franchise tag, and will test free agency unless the team can finally lock him up long-term. Center Chase Roullier is also a free agent next year. The left side of the line has seen multiple people start, and there is room for improvement at both spots.

That's a lot of opportunity for Charles to take advantage of if he's capable. Hopefully he can bounce back next year, and live up to some of his draft hype.

Washington also announced a roster move that happened a week later than expected. QB Kyle Allen dislocated his ankle after being leg-whipped by Giants safety Jarrell Peppers two weeks ago. It was clear that Allen would miss time, and likely be out for the season when the injury happened. The news was a little less grim than expected after an MRI, but Allen still required surgery which happened on Monday.

Allen's injury opened the door for Alex Smith to get his first start in 728 days this week. It also put Dwayne Haskins Jr. back on the active roster. Washington didn't promote QB Steven Montez from the practice squad even after Ron Rivera and Scott Turner spoke highly of him. They also didn't sign any veteran QBs last week to be the 3rd QB.

That didn't change yesterday when the move was made, and they instead chose to not fill Allen's spot on the roster for now. The only other move they made was signing DE Jalen Jelks to the practice squad.