WASHINGTON — It was already going to be a tough task for the Redskins to go on the road against a 3-1 football team that’s coming off of a bye. The injury bug just made things that much tougher for Washington against the Jets on Sunday. Here are a few things to watch for.
Injuries
Perhaps the biggest news of the week at Redskins Park was the injury report. Jay Gruden has ruled starting offensive linemen Trent Williams (concussion) and Kory Lichtensteiger (broken finger and shoulder) out for Sunday. Cornerback Chris Culliver (knee) is out along with tight end Jordan Reed (concussion) and cornerback DeAngelo Hall (toe).
Williams is the guy that this offensive line can’t afford to lose. Williams had what was classified as a neck injury this week, then Gruden said he developed a few headaches after Wednesdays practice, so they played it safe with him. He’s now in the concussion protocol. Talk about a change of events. With Williams out, first-year tackle Ty Nsekhe will be making his first career NFL start this week.
Wide Receiver DeSean Jackson, running back Matt Jones and defensive end Stephen Paea are all listed as questionable. Getting Jackson back would be a huge lift to this offense. He’s been out since Week 1, and with all the other injuries along the line and with Jordan Reed still out, Cousins could use a threat like him in the offense.
Jackson had a little setback with his hamstring on Thursday during practice, so his status is “up in the air” according to Gruden. We’ll see how he feels on Sunday.
Return of Sheldon Richardson
The Jets defensive line was already one of the best in the league and now add Sheldon Richardson to that mix, which could be a long day for the Redskins offense. The Jets defense is tops in the league, giving up just 280 yards a game and 13.8 points per game. The Redskins will have Josh LeRibeus under center and Nsekhe in place of Williams. With Jones questionable after injuring his toe on the last play of the fourth quarter last week, they will need to rely a lot on Chris Thompson out of the backfield this week.
Jets running game
The Jets like use a power run game and with Chris Ivory it’s worked pretty well thus far. He’s averaging 5.0 yards a carry this year to go along with three touchdowns.
The Redskins defensive line gave up its first 100 yard game to a running back last week. The group took it personal. Terrance Knighton and Jason Hatcher each took the blame for that and vowed to be better.
“They’re a prideful group,” defensive coordinator Joe Barry said this week.
Their hands will be full once again on Sunday.
Turnovers
The Redskins defense finally notched an interception last week, two of them to be exact. All in all though, after forcing three turnovers, the Redskins could only muster three points off them, something that every player to a man said has to be better this week. The Redskins have scored just three points off six turnovers and have allowed 34 points off of nine turnovers on the season. The Jets, on the other hand, know how to take care of business when they force turnovers. They have scored 31 points off 13 turnovers while allowing only seven points off of seven giveaways.
Cousins
We’ve seen the ups and downs this year from Cousins. We’ve seen the 90-yard drive to beat Philadelphia and the 24-second drive last week to set up the game-tying field goal and force overtime, but we’ve also seen the pick-six that ended that game. With a very green line in front of him, it will be important to see how he reacts this week if he is forced to make quick decisions and lead this offense that will be missing a number of key pieces.
On the road again
This is another important game on the road for this team, a place that hasn’t been kind to the Redskins. They have lost 15 of their last 16 away from FedEx Field. With Tampa Bay coming to town next week before the bye, this is a great opportunity for Washington to get back to .500 and put together a little streak. It’s not going to be easy.
