Redskins to sit D.J. Swearinger, Jamison Crowder in first preseason game
By Ian Cummings
After 2017, the Redskins know better than anyone that staying healthy is a priority in 2018. They’re trying to get an early start.
Concurrent with last year’s injury debacle is the trove of Washington Redskins players still recovering. The offseason is long, but sometimes, it isn’t long enough for players to reach one-hundred percent.
Luckily, the offseason isn’t over just yet. The regular season doesn’t start for another four weeks, when the Redskins travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals. Until then, preseason will try its best to pass off as real football. But don’t expect the Redskins to play all their starters if they don’t have to.
The Redskins had already announced that Chris Thompson would not be ready for Week 1 (and further reports insinuated that he might not play at all in preseason), and now, the Redskins have doubled down on that statement, adding two more players to the list. According to ESPN’s John Keim, Redskins wide receiver Jamison Crowder and safety D.J. Swearinger will both sit in Thursday’s preseason opener.
DJ Swearinger and Jamison Crowder won't play Thursday.
— John Keim (@john_keim) August 7, 2018
The move isn’t a cause for major concern; Crowder and Swearinger are both seasoned veterans who don’t need preseason reps as much as the guys below them on the depth chart. The move is notable, however, because it infers that more names could fall onto the inactive list.
Players such as Jordan Reed, Josh Doctson, Trent Williams, Shawn Lauvao, Morgan Moses, Matt Ioannidis, and Zach Brown have all either entered training camp still healing from injuries suffered last season, or dealt with minor injuries during training camp. After last season, Washington will undoubtedly take the safe route when it comes to injuries. We could see plenty of these players either coming out early against New England, or not playing altogether.
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To put things in perspective, Washington has been relatively lucky this offseason, in terms of injuries (knock on wood; don’t want to jinx it). Some teams, a la the Los Angeles Chargers, have lost two starters for the season already. The Redskins, meanwhile, have a squad that’s still in tact, and competition ready. It’s the little victories that matter in the offseason, and soon, they might lead to bigger ones.