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DeAngelo Hall, Houston Bates open training camp on PUP list

By Jacob Camenker

LANDOVER, MD - SEPTEMBER 18: Wide receiver Cole Beasley #11 of the Dallas Cowboys is tackled by free safety DeAngelo Hall #23 of the Washington Redskins in the first quarter at FedExField on September 18, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - SEPTEMBER 18: Wide receiver Cole Beasley #11 of the Dallas Cowboys is tackled by free safety DeAngelo Hall #23 of the Washington Redskins in the first quarter at FedExField on September 18, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /
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Training camp is rapidly approaching for the Washington Redskins. Once it gets started, they will be without DeAngelo Hall and Houston Bates as they recover from injuries sustained last season.

One of the biggest storylines of the 2017 offseason was what the fate of DeAngelo Hall might be. The longtime Redskin has only played in a grand total of 17 games over the past three seasons due to various injuries, and some thought he could be a cap casualty. Instead, the Redskins have held onto Hall in the hopes that he can be one of the team’s top backups at the safety position.

However, Hall is not going to be ready for the start of training camp as he recovers from an ACL tear he suffered last September. Per ESPN’s John Keim, both Hall and special teams ace Houston Bates will begin the season on the PUP list as they continue to try and get healthy. Bates had torn his ACL in December, so it is likely that his recovery may take long than that of Hall’s.

This is a relatively unsurprising move. Hall was going to need some extra time to recover from his ACL tear, given that he is a 33-year-old veteran who is a highly injury prone player. The Redskins should not try to rush him back as that will only cause him to get injured again or worse, play below 100 percent. They learned their lesson after Josh Doctson’s struggles to get healthy last year, and they should be even more cautious with a veteran trying to recover.

At the same time, training camp could be a critical time for Hall to try and hold onto his job. The Redskins have gotten younger at the safety position, but they have a logjam at the position in terms of veteran backups.

With Will Blackmon, Deshazor Everett, and Hall all set to fight for spots, it may be hard for Hall to gain an upper hand if they battle for the primary backup jobs. In the event that Hall became the fifth safety for the team, the Redskins may elect to part ways with him to save some money. He did restructure his contract this offseason, but even that will not protect him from becoming a cap casualty.

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At the end of the day, this news could be a lot of nothing for Hall. He still has a good chance to make the team, but being out of training camp may hurt his chances a bit. As for Bates, he may end up spending the year on injured reserve depending on how his recovery goes. He is mostly a special teams player anyway, so losing him for a year would not be a major deal.

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