Washington Football Team DL Matt Ioannidis suffers torn bicep

If there’s one Washington Football Team positional group that can’t afford any injuries, it’s the defensive line.

If the Washington Football Team was going to compete for a playoff berth in the 2020 regular season, it would be behind the powerful surge of their stout defensive line. In the 2020 NFL Draft, Washington selected transcendent prospect Chase Young, effectively competing one of the league’s best units.

By most accounts, Washington’s roster is largely uninspiring aside from their defensive front, and thus, the performance of the defensive line was all but guaranteed to take on added importance in 2020. In Week 1, the unit made a strong impression, walloping the Eagles to the tune of eight sacks.

In the weeks that followed the season debut, however, the line was less consistent, and in Week 3, it experienced a crucial setback, in the form of a long-term injury. Per reports, defensive lineman Matt Ioannidis, who left the matchup against Cleveland in the second quarter, is confirmed to have suffered a torn bicep. The news was first reported by Kevin Sheehan, and then corroborated by several local reporters, including The Athletic’s Ben Standig.

While the term of the injury has not been confirmed, it’s likely that Ioannidis will miss the remainder of the 2020 regular season as he looks to rehabilitate and ready himself for the 2021 campaign. The loss is a crushing blow to a defensive line that prided itself on its depth and playmaking ability.

Ioannidis was on pace to mirror his impact from years past, as he had 1.5 sacks in his first two games of the 2020 season. All of those 1.5 sacks came in Week 1, as Ioannidis terrorized the Eagles offensive line in that contest. Ioannidis had a tackle for loss in both Week 1 and Week 2, but was only on the field for 11 total snaps in Week 3 before he suffered his injury.

Without Ioannidis, Virginia Tech product Tim Settle will presumably see much more on-field action, as he rotates in with Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen. Ioannidis will almost assuredly go on injured reserve, and a roster move to supplement the interior line should come along as well.