Young may practice soon if Sunday meeting with doctor is smooth originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Commanders‘ matchup with the Packers isn’t the only crucial get-together involving Washington this Sunday.
Following Friday’s practice, Ron Rivera explained to reporters that Chase Young will meet with Dr. James Andrews on Sunday, and should the pass rusher’s examination go well, his return to the practice field could soon follow.
“I will tell you, he had a preliminary report that was pretty good, so we’re pretty excited,” Rivera said of Young. “Now, if it follows up on Sunday, there’s a good chance for next week, so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”
The franchise placed Young on the Physically Unable to Perform list back in late August, and he’s remained there ever since. The former second-overall pick is making his way back from a torn ACL that he suffered last November in a Week 10 showdown against the Buccaneers.
Young has recently been spotted upping his workload both at practice and before games, and Jonathan Allen told 106.7 The Fan’s Sports Junkies a month ago that Young looks “phenomenal” in his eyes.
Washington is fortunate, though, because its backup defensive ends have performed admirably in Young’s absence.
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Free agent signing Efe Obada has logged three sacks thus far, while James Smith-Williams has two and Casey Toohill is contributing in his own right. On the other side of the line, Montez Sweat is surging after a quiet-ish opening month, while Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne are dominating along the interior.
“The last two weeks have been very good for those guys,” Rivera said of the defensive front.
Rivera shared that, thanks to that group’s overall performance in 2022, he feels like the club can maintain its patient approach with Young if needed.
“If they continue with that, yeah, you say, ‘Wow, we do have something there,'” the coach said. “It takes a lot of pressure off. It does.”
Even so, Young is someone the organization can really use. If he’s able to put the ACL recovery behind him and further develop on the edge, he’ll elevate the line to another level. Then there’s his appeal among fans; for a team with few marketable superstars, Young showed in 2020 that he can be a prominent player across the NFL.
Before discussing all of that, however, Young first must be cleared for basic action and, eventually, meaningful action. With how things are trending, those moments might be fairly imminent.
