Logan Thomas injury update makes Yannick Ngakoue’s dirty hit look even worse

The Washington Football Team rattled off their fourth-straight win on Sunday, as newly-minted kicker Brian Johnson came through in the clutch with a game-winning 48-yard field goal with 37 seconds left in regulation.

Unfortunately, however, it came at a price, as Logan Thomas left the game in the second half with what looked to be a serious knee injury. Based on how he clutched his knee and immediately pointed to the sidelines for assistance, you kind of got the feeling that would be the last we’d see of him for a while.

Well, it didn’t take long for fans’ worst fears to be realized, as it was reported late Sunday night that Thomas tore his ACL. He’ll need an MRI to confirm the extent, but initial tests indicate his season is over.

It’s a gutting blow for Thomas, who had just been activated off injured reserve for Week 12 vs Seattle.

Sure, injuries happen. They’re part of the game. However, this was an entirely avoidable collision, as Yannick Ngakoue, who wasn’t close to making a play on the ball, completely took out Thomas’ knee on a low hit.

Washington Football Team tight end Logan Thomas is feared to have suffered a torn ACL on Sunday.

Thomas’ assignment was to seal the left side in the event Antonio Gibson was trapped and needed to cut back. As you can see, that wasn’t necessary, so Thomas basically had the play off. In these instances, players in Thomas’ and Ngakoue’s positions usually shove each other, but nothing too crazy.

After all, why risk injury when it’s entirely unnecessary?

Someone should have forwarded that message to Ngakoue, because he recklessly decided to dive at Thomas’ knee. Keep in mind Thomas pulled up on the play, too. He wasn’t looking for any contact. His hands were in a blocking position in case Ngakoue or another Raiders defender attempted to stand him up.

Here’s a close-up view of the play.

https://twitter.com/RatedRAustin_/status/1467685039093731328

Again, Ngakoue was three or four yards away from making a play.

Was he trying to end Thomas’ season? Probably not, but he without a doubt has a lot of blood on his hands.

Players know how physically-demanding this sport is. It feels like a player is carted off on a stretcher every week. Yes, the objective is to win the game, but you can do that while also looking out for an opponent’s well-being. Lunging at a defenseless player’s knee with your full body weight tells us Ngakoue had malicious intent.

We’re not sure what the next course of action is.

Ngakoue deserves a multi-game suspension, but the NFL wouldn’t dream of being that iron-fisted. Instead, we’re probably looking at a fine that will ultimately amount to pocket change for the star edge rusher.

Seems like a small price to pay for ending a player’s season. Short of delivering a lengthy apology and showing clear remorse in his next press conference, Ngakoue, a Maryland alum, has made himself public enemy No. 1 in Landover.