Even as injuries mount, Redskins show they can persevere
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – DeSean Jackson was sitting at his corner locker, chewing on Washington’s improbable comeback win on Sunday, when cornerback Bashaud Breeland came hobbling by on crutches. Breeland’s right foot was in a walking boot. Time for a quick update.
“What did you do?” Jackson asked.
Breeland: “Ankle sprain.”
“Anything broken?”
“Nah.”
Jackson nodded, and Breeland gingerly continued his journey.
That exchange said much about what went down inside MetLife Stadium, when Washington not only rallied from a 12-point deficit to sting the Giants, 29-27, but collectively overcame a rash of injuries that tested its fortitude and adaptability.
Breeland was the first to go, knocked out of the game on the first series with a high ankle sprain. He’ll undergo an MRI on Monday. Jackson, who ignited the comeback with a 44-yard TD catch, went to the locker room just before halftime with knee and ankle injuries. Then he returned. DeAngelo Hall was knocked out, too, with a sprained knee. No crutches.
Offensive linemen Shawn Lauvao and Kory Lichtensteiger went down for the count with ankle and calf injuries, respectively, which led to Pro Bowl left tackle Trent Williams moving inside to left guard for the first time (“Confusing,” he said). The switch helped trigger the return of the long-lost running game that came to life in the fourth quarter. Matt Jones ran eight times for a gritty 37 yards to own the 10-play drive that produced the game-winning points with Dustin Hopkins’ fifth field goal, a 37-yarder.
But this didn’t happen until Jones had returned after being evaluated for a concussion.
“You hate seeing us lose so many guys,” Williams told Paste BN Sports in a near-empty locker room. “But it’s the NFL. There’s a 99% chance that somebody is going to get hurt.”
Yet the defining measure was demonstrated with Washington’s resilience. Staring at the prospect of 0-3, you’re now looking at a team that for as much as one game in September can dictate, may have saved its season. At least that’s how it felt in the jubilant locker room.
“Relief,” coach Jay Gruden told Paste BN Sports, as he made the rounds congratulating players.
Of course, this survival game was headlined by the rematch that pitted new Washington cornerback Josh Norman against star wideout Odell Beckham. Although Beckham, usually covered by Norman, had big numbers with seven catches for 121 yards, Norman’s team won.
When Norman tackled Beckham at the 12-yard line, holding him to an eight-yard gain on third-and-10, it forced the Giants to settle for a field goal. Naturally, the flamboyant cornerback posed to mark the occasion, freezing as he raised his right fist in the air.
Given the winds of protest among us, I wondered whether the gesture was a Black Power salute or the officials’ signal indicating that it’s fourth down.
Maybe it was both? Norman laughed.
“That means I’ll probably get a letter from the league,” he told Paste BN Sports.
Unlike the game last December when the combatants combined for five penalties, one suspension, one huge fine and the inspiration for new NFL rules governing unsportsmanlike conduct, Norman and Beckham played hard and generally kept their heads.
Look at who got ejected: Giants center Weston Richburg of all people, who taunted Norman after a questionable block, his second unsportsmanlike penalty. It was the face of the Giants’ lack of discipline that aided Washington, which was also measured by 11 penalties for 128 yards.
Beckham had a sideline tantrum after the first of Eli Manning’s two picks, but between the lines kept his composure. Maybe the warning from referee John Hussey before the game made a difference.
Norman said that Hussey told him, “We’re not going to make a mockery of the game.”
Even so, there was one moment when Norman almost crossed the line. Way away from the play on Shane Vereen’s one-yard TD run in the first quarter, the two tangled and Norman lifted Beckham off the turf in something of a bear hug. As Beckham raised his arms to express innocence, Norman lowered the receiver back to the turf and released his grip.
“ ‘Should I have a flashback and slam him down?’ “ Norman told Paste BN Sports. “Oh, I wanted to. I thought about it. But I figured, ‘Let me be gentle.’ “
This, from a game that had pretty much everything. Gruden called for a fake punt, and punter Tress Way connected with Quinton Dunbar – a receiver last year, converted to cornerback – for a 31-yard gain in the third quarter that led to a field goal. That’s the same Dunbar who made contact with a loose football (muff, turnover) that led to the Giants’ first TD, then had the one-handed pick that fueled Beckham’s eruption.
Washington bungled the clock management on a third-and-goal from the 4 just before halftime when Kirk Cousins, working with six seconds, held on long enough for Jason Pierre-Paul to slap the football out of the quarterback’s hand. No throwaway. No field goal. No points. Halftime.
But they won anyway, the outcome sealed when rookie Su’a Cravens intercepted Manning’s throw over the middle.
Norman, for one, learned something about his new team.
“We’re fighters,” he said. “We’re scrappy. Gritty…”
Norman had no shortage of words to describe his new band of brothers. They won a game the hard way and survived to keep their hope intact, even if the bodies suggest otherwise.
Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell
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