In the first quarter and second possession of Friday’s week two-preseason game against the New York Jets, Matt Jones was forced to leave the game after coming down hard and hurting his left shoulder on a run. He went right to the sideline after the play and sat with the training staff before eventually departing for the locker room. Prior to the injury he racked up 31 yards on seven carries and finally looked explosive on multiple runs.
Besides for Jamison Crowder, Jones was the only other starting skill position player in the game tonight. Kirk Cousins along with receiving targets Jordan Reed, Desean Jackson, and Pierre Garcon did not take the field.
To add insult to injury, former Redskins running back Alfred Morris was in the back of the end zone celebrating a 15-yard touchdown run while Jones was heading to the locker room. Alfred finished with 85 rushing yards on 13 carries as the Cowboys’ second string back.
Boy do the Skins regret letting him go!
Jones received X-rays and then returned to the sideline in the second half with a jacket and his left shoulder in a sling. The team announced that he has an AC Sprain. To what extent? That is still unknown.
His recovery time will depend upon the grade of the sprain. Typically the recovery time for a Grade one AC Sprain is any where from a few days to a few weeks. A grade two sprain ranges from two to four weeks, while a grade three sprain could require surgery.
What’s next?
Like discussed in last week’s article (https://www.theodysseyonline.com/washington-redskins-running-game), the depth at the position is very thin. Prior to the injury many believed that they would look outside the organization to pickup a running back. If Jones is out for any amount of time, the team might look to add a veteran option sooner than later. Pierre Thomas has not signed with another team and would seem like a viable option after appearing in four games with the Redskins last season.
On the roster they have Chris Thompson, but I consider him a 3rd down back and an unlikely realistic replacement. He is solid, but a "workhorse" role is not in his future.
Robert Kelley was the third running back to enter the backfield but only received three carries. I do not know what to think of this, but it is an interesting development with Keith Marshall not playing until the third quarter.
Marshall did not run well in the first preseason game versus Atlanta. Both Kelley and Marshall faced backfield pressure but Kelley had the better vision/patience and made it work while Marshall did not.
This week against the Jets, Kelley got stuffed on a fourth and one, and needed to make a play on another carry and didn’t. He did take a few hits but looked great in pass protection while picking up blitzes. Marshall played the entire third quarter and had 26 yards on seven carries. He finished with ten carries and had a couple of nice runs and one catch for negative yards.
The bottom line is that Washington should not feel comfortable about their third RB and maybe second if Jones is out for an extended period of time. Matt Jones clearly has durability issues and they need a stronger backup. The young kids are interesting, but they will not return to the playoffs if they enter the gruesome season with one of the rookies as their main starter.
#HTTR
