Commanders’ Jahan Dotson seemingly reaggravates hamstring injury at practice

The Washington Commanders’ passing attack has come crashing back down to earth after a scalding hot start. In the first two games, the offense totaled 57 points, 650 passing yards and seven passing touchdowns, six of which were caught by Terry McLaurin, Curtis Samuel and rookie star Jahan Dotson.

While McLaurin and Samuel are proven commodities — Samuel has done incredible to ease concerns after his injury-marred 2021 — Dotson storming out of the gates as a rookie has served as a pleasant surprise for the offense.

Not all first-year WRs enjoy instant success in the NFL, but the 2022 class has been an extreme outlier in that regard. Dotson has epitomized that with four touchdowns in four games, including the game-winner in Week 1, before he missed the last two games with a hamstring injury suffered vs Dallas in Week 4.

Dotson might’ve returned in Week 6 if not for the quick turnaround Thursday night against Chicago, but the No. 16 overall pick returned to practice this week, putting him on track to suit up Sunday against Green Bay.

And then this happened.

Practice footage shows Commanders WR Jahan Dotson might’ve reaggravated hamstring injury Thursday.

Just a terrible sight.

Dotson had looked great in practice footage tweeted out by team reporters all week, indicating he was fully recovered from the hamstring injury. We all know soft-tissue injuries have a propensity to irritate easily and that appeared to happen to Dotson on this route. You just never want to see a player pull up lame like this mid play. More often than not, a muscular/soft-tissue injury is the diagnosis.

In visible frustration, Dotson tossed the ball to the ground before chatting with Ron Rivera and walking off with athletic trainer Al Bellamy.

We’re still awaiting an update from Rivera, but Dotson’s body language suggests his status for Sunday against the Packers is in doubt. It’d be a huge blow to a passing game that’s managed three passing touchdowns in the last three games. McLaurin and Samuel have zero scores during that stretch and have just one game each north of 65 receiving yards; both against Tennessee in Week 5.

Despite the inconsistent production, McLaurin and Samuel should see plenty of targets this weekend, as tight end Logan Thomas (calf) and Dyami Brown (hamstring), who erupted for two touchdowns against the Titans, were restricted to the side field and listed as DNPs on Wednesday.

Dotson was only set to be a limited participant, which just emphasizes the unpredictable nature of hamstring and soft-tissue injuries.

Hopefully it’s nothing serious for the budding 22-year-old.