Will Antonio Gibson play special teams as punishment vs the Chiefs?

The Washington Commanders head into their second preseason game with several burning questions.

While it ultimately doesn’t matter if they beat the Kansas City Chiefs, the health of the interior offensive line and tight end room has fans concerned, as does the current confidence level and role of Antonio Gibson after his widely-panned preseason debut and chaotic week of practice.

Of course, Gibson fumbled on his second carry vs Carolina and got demoted to the second-team offense as a result, all the while third-round rookie Brian Robinson worked with the starters and created headaches for Carolina’s defense.

Following the letdown performance, Gibson found himself in Ron Rivera’s doghouse this week as training camp resumed. Part of his punishment, though Rivera and Co. would never call it that, was playing on special teams.

On Tuesday, Gibson operated as a slot blocker for the punt team.

Will Commanders running back Antonio Gibson play special teams as punishment against the Chiefs?

Tuesday was a rollercoaster practice for Gibson. After blocking for the punt team, the third-year running back practiced with the third-team offense before closing the session with the first team during install.

Wednesday was much of the same, though Gibson’s special teams role transitioned to a kick and punt returner.

Rivera threw cold water on the development by referencing Gibson’s days as a return specialist in college (he averaged 28.0 yards on 23 kick returns for Memphis), but it became a talking point for a reason; three actually.

Gibson never played special teams over his first two seasons and he’s only now working with Nate Kaczor’s group after he fumbled vs the Panthers, Ron Rivera critiqued his running style and Robinson stood out in the loss.

It might be true that Gibson is Washington’s most gifted return specialist, which opens another can of worms in terms of why they didn’t re-sign DeAndre Carter, but no team should want its supposed starting RB returning kicks.

The bottom line is Gibson wasn’t practicing with Kaczor’s unit until his fumbling issues resurfaced in the Commanders’ first preseason game. That’s not just a coincidence and it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to read between the lines of Rivera’s sugarcoated comments.

Will Washington give Gibson a test run returning kicks vs Kansas City? That remains to be seen, but that would certainly paint a clearer picture in regard to whether Robinson has leapfrogged him on the depth chart.

There’s a way out of the doghouse for Gibson, and it all starts with protecting the football and producing for the offense. We’ve seen him do it before, but it’s anyone’s guess how this all ends by the end of camp and preseason.

Saturday will be a strong indicator, that’s for sure.