Could the Washington Commanders finally receive some positive injury news for the Week 5 game against the Los Angeles Chargers?
Head coach Dan Quinn opened his Monday press briefing with more bad news: second-year defensive end Javontae Jean-Baptiste tore a pectoral muscle in Sunday’s loss to the Falcons, meaning he’ll be out for a significant period of time.
As for the good news, quarterback Jayden Daniels and wide receiver Terry McLaurin appear to be trending toward a return. But how soon?
On Daniels:
“He had a strong workout here Saturday, and we’ll take today and tomorrow and work out his practice plan,” Quinn said. “We’ll go through the whole process with him this week, medically, how he feels, how he practices, and give you the updates Wednesday, as I know them and I thought just from a team standpoint.”
So, what about some of the other injured offensive players, such as McLaurin, John Bates and Noah Brown?
“I would say we’re all trending in the right space on there,” Quinn said of the three offensive starters. “We will have a better update on Wednesday in terms of practice planning and that, but arrows are heading up for a number of the guys. The big news today was Javontae with the game, but for the guys that have missed some, we’re making progress.”
Bates and Brown suffered groin injuries in the Week 2 loss at Green Bay and have missed the last two games. McLaurin is dealing with a quad injury he sustained in the third quarter of the Week 3 win over the Raiders. Quinn called him “week to week” on Friday. After the injury, McLaurin reportedly visited several specialists, including an expert on sports hernias, with surgery ruled out for the time being.
Quinn had one more bit of potentially good injury news, regarding right guard Sam Cosmi.
“We’re going to huddle up here soon, but he’s getting closer for sure for being in his window to begin practice,” Quinn said of Cosmi. “We’re going to, we’ll give you a definite answer on that on Wednesday, but he’s really put in a lot of work to begin that window to begin the practicing. So, we’ll huddle up on that tonight and tomorrow, but I’ll give you an answer for that Wednesday. But it’s definitely trending in the right spot.”
Cosmi suffered a torn ACL in the Commanders‘ January NFC Divisional Round Playoff win over the Lions and has been nearing a return for weeks.
Washington has lost other players, such as Deatrich Wise, Austin Ekeler, Will Harris, and Jean-Baptiste, for either the season or for a significant period. The Commanders are looking for their first road win of the season in Week 5 with a cross-country trip to Los Angeles.