Josh Doctson’s Rookie Season Officially Ends For Washington Redskins
Josh Doctson had been on the injured reserve for the Redskins since October 21. After activating Kory Lichtensteiger, the Redskins confirmed that Doctson would not make a return until 2017.
Coming into the 2016 season, the Washington Redskins were very excited about the potential of Josh Doctson. The first round receiver was looking good in the offseason and it seemed like he had the talent to break into the rotation at some point. However, an Achilles injury absolutely derailed his season. After suffering tendinitis in the offseason, the Redskins attempted to rush Doctson back, and it cost them.
Related Story: Kory Lichtensteiger Comes Off Of IR For Washington Redskins
Doctson would play in the first two games of the season for the Redskins, catching only a couple of passes. He did not look to be full speed and was obviously hampered by his Achilles problem. Starting in Week 3, the Redskins would put Doctson on the inactives list as he attempted to get up to full speed. One month into the cycle, the Redskins final realized that Doctson needed to focus on his health before playing for the team. That prompted the decision to put him on injured reserve.
Still, the team was holding out hope that the rookie would be healthy for the last month of the season. Before yesterday, they still had their designated for return tag to bring one player off the IR. However, the team opted to use that on Kory Lichtensteiger on Wednesday and that put to bed Doctson’s rookie year. Head coach Jay Gruden had the following to say about the year for Doctson, per Redskins.com’s Stephen Czarda.
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"It is disappointing for all of us. You know, we had high hopes for him coming out of TCU and the talent that he has and he’s disappointed but these things happen. There’s been a lot – if you look around the league, there’s a lot of first-rounders that didn’t get up and running this year for whatever reason and a lot of draft picks. So he’s just one of the guys that we have to take good care of.We have to make sure we get to the bottom of his injury and hopefully this gives his mental state of mind some peace that he can go out and rehab it and get it well for OTAs."
At the end of the day, the Redskins are making the right move. Though they should have sat Doctson earlier in the season, they definitely are making the right decision now. Doctson would possibly improve their offense, but they should focus on getting him healthy for the future. The team could lose DeSean Jackson to free agency so he would be the logical next man up. For the rest of the 2016 season, the Redskins can get by without him. He will be in better shape and ready to make an impact by next year.