Washington Football Team: Injury report offers glimmer of hope before Bucs rematch

For as much as fans would’ve loved to see the Washington Football Team take part in the upset palooza that was Week 9 in the NFL, the squad desperately needed to rest up and get healthy for the second half of the year.

After all, the game against Denver went about as bad as you could’ve expected.

Not only did Washington lose the game in humiliating fashion, but it also lost Montez Sweat for the foreseeable future with a non-displaced fracture in his jaw and Chase Roullier for the season with a broken fibula.

If you can believe it, Washington’s bye came at the perfect time, because a myriad of players returned to practice on Monday.

That laundry list included offensive lineman Brandon Scherff and Sam Cosmi, who missed the last few games with knee injuries. Ereck Flowers joined them on the practice field after he went down with a leg injury vs the Broncos.

The Washington Football Team could get a huge boost for Week 10.

Don’t look now, but Washington could have four of its five Week1 starters along the offensive line back for Sunday’s game.

That’s huge given how bleak things looked two weeks ago. While Roullier is a monster loss, Wes Schweitzer is more than a serviceable backup, allowing just 11 pressures over 210 pass-blocking snaps, per Pro Football Focus.

Even better news for Washington? Dyami Brown (knee) and William Jackson (knee) were also spotted at Monday’s practice. Barring any setbacks, the rookie wideout and veteran corner should be on the field against Tampa Bay.

It also seems like Logan Thomas is gearing up for a potential return. The 30-year-old tight end has been on injured reserve since Week 5 with a hamstring injury and could be activated if all goes well this week.

The only piece of bad news from the injury report came in the form of Curtis Samuel, who was limited to stationary bike and side field. This is a big week for Samuel, because he’ll have to go on IR (again) if he’s unable to practice.

So, how are Washington’s opponents holding up?

While Scottie Miller and Sean Murphy-Bunting are poised to return from injury, the likes of Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, old nemesis Jason Pierre-Paul and Richard Sherman were held out.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians didn’t sound too optimistic about Brown’s and Gronkowski’s status for Sunday. In fact, Brown, who’s third on the team in receiving yards and tied for second in touchdowns, is still in a walking boot.

We know Washington will still have to account for Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, two superstars at the WR position, but Tampa Bay’s offense has a different level of energy and big-play ability when Brown is out there.

We hate to read too much into an injury report, but Washington will need every advantage possible against the defending champs.

Based on the boost the WFT is poised to get, it might be able to keep this lopsided matchup competitive.