Redskins Update: Spencer Long undergoes knee scope, will miss 2 weeks

Spencer Long had locked down the starting center position this preseason for the first time in his career. Could a minor knee injury change that?

One of the biggest stories of the Washington Redskins preseason thus far has been the poor play of their offensive line. In two contests, the starting unit has struggled to get leverage at the point of attack, and as a result, their running game has been virtually non-existent. The unit desperately needs to improve, and Spencer Long was one of the candidates to do so.

In the first two preseason games, Long had been less than spectacular. He was the starting center for almost all of the 2016 campaign, and he fared well for the most part. He was a solid blocker and was really a jack of all trades, master of none type player. It was expected that he would knock off the rust and help the Redskins line to improve in the third week of the preseason.

However, the Redskins got some unexpected bad news about Long this past week. According to Jason La Canfora, the Redskins center is going to be sidelined for the next couple of weeks after having a minor scope done on his knee. This injury shouldn’t be a major issue for the Redskins, provided that it doesn’t linger.

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Last year, the Redskins had as many as three competent centers on the roster. Long was the backup, Kory Lichtensteiger was the starter, and Austin Reiter made the 53-man roster as a young guy with upside. Midway through the season, they added veteran John Sullivan to be the top backup after Lichtensteiger was placed on IR. This year, things are a bit more questionable.

While the Redskins did use a sixth round draft pick on Wyoming’s Chase Roullier, there is no telling if he would be ready to step in for Long in the event of a lengthy absence. Roullier was a solid player throughout his college career, but he definitely needs some time to develop into the NFL. He needs to build up a little bit of extra strength just to ensure that he is ready to take on the league’s bigger blockers. In the NFC East, it is especially critical to have a strong center due to the talented nose tackles in the division.

Also, having a change at center would impact chemistry with Kirk Cousins. The center is responsible for line calls and for delivering quality snaps to Cousins. Given the struggles Cousins has endured throughout the first couple of preseason games, a change at the position is bad news for the team. Even if it is only for the next two weeks of the preseason, it could impact Cousins’ ability to get into a rhythm with the offense. And if that lingers, then the team could be trouble early on in the season.

If Long struggles to get healthy or if Roullier struggles in limited action, they may want to contemplate adding another center to compete for a roster spot. The team already has depth issues and talent issues on the interior offensive line, and Lichtensteiger is retired and Sullivan is gone, so they would need a veteran. Perhaps adding a guy like Nick Mangold could help the Redskins stay competitive in the short term. That would allow Roullier to be the primary backup at guard and the team could move on from Arie Kouandjio.

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At the end of the day, this injury really isn’t that big of a deal. It is only going to shelf Long for a short time, and it will get Roullier some needed experience. At the same time, the Redskins have to keep an eye on the position and how it impacts Cousins.

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