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Trent Williams heading to Injured Reserve ending his 2017 season

By Jacob Camenker

LANDOVER, MD - JANUARY 10: Tackle Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins covers his face with a towel against the Green Bay Packers in the fourth quarter during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at FedExField on January 10, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - JANUARY 10: Tackle Trent Williams #71 of the Washington Redskins covers his face with a towel against the Green Bay Packers in the fourth quarter during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at FedExField on January 10, 2016 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Trent Williams wasn’t expected to play in the final two games of the 2017 season. Now, it’s confirmed as he will be going on Injured Reserve.

Trent Williams deserves an immense amount of credit for what he has played through in 2017. Dealing with a knee injury that would have kept many players out, Williams was active for most of the Redskins key games in 2017. He played through the balky knee until the Redskins were officially eliminated from the postseason. Now, he’s officially done.

According to Ben Standig of Breaking Burgundy, Jay Gruden confirmed that Williams will be going on Injured Reserve. At this point, this was the logical move for the team.

Williams was already expected to sit out the final two games of the season. As I said when that news first, it’s important to ensure that Williams will be ready to return at full strength in 2018. In the meantime, the Redskins can get a look at Ty Nsekhe in the final couple of weeks. It would also behoove them to bring back Nsekhe, as I pointed out in a recent article.

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"The Redskins have to ensure that they are set up for success on the offensive line in the event that Williams’ injury keeps him out longer than expected. The easiest way to do that would be to bring back Ty Nsekhe. The third year Redskin is actually a restricted free agent despite being 32 years old, so the team can put a high-round tender on him to continue to provide a high quality backup option for the team. Expect them to do just that as an insurance policy."

Missing Williams for the rest of this season isn’t a big deal. In the worst case scenario, Kirk Cousins will be under a lot of pressure. But that seems unlikely given that Nsekhe has played well in the past. This is definitely the right decision for the team and while it’s an unfortunate ending to the season for Williams, his effort didn’t go unnoticed. He managed to make the Pro Bowl, meaning that people acknowledged that he was still playing at a high level despite the injury.

Next: Previewing Redskins free agent rush linebackers

Here’s hoping that Williams is back at full strength in 2018. He’s an important player and is a great example of toughness for the team.

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