The Redskins hit a sad milestone in their season Wednesday when they placed rookie defensive back Danny Johnson on injured reserve, the 20th player Washington has put on IR this season.
Danny Johnson’s season is over. https://t.co/q1Ea6uBbZQ
— Craig Hoffman (@CraigHoffman)
December 19, 2018 Johnson followed in the footsteps of fellow cornerback Josh Holsey, who was placed on IR earlier this week with a partially torn ACL.
#Redskins replenish their practice squad and sign a DB. pic.twitter.com/o4tLyGGbow
— Craig Hoffman (@CraigHoffman)
December 18, 2018 In their place, defensive backs Harlan Miller and Jeremy Reaves have been added to the active roster.
The Redskins' IR list is approaching the size it was last season, when 23 players were placed on injured reserve. Many assumed such bad injury luck was an anomaly, but this season proves that is not the case.
Danny Johnson is the 20th player placed on IR this season. The #Redskins had 23 players on IR in 2017. https://t.co/5XY7ax7iZH
— Tarik El-Bashir (@Tarik_ElBashir)
December 19, 2018 This year's injured reserve group includes five defensive players, 14 offensive players and starting long snapper Nick Sundberg. Among those officially done for the season are quarterback Alex Smith, starting offensive guards Brandon Scherff and Shawn Lauvao, starting wide receiver Paul Richardson, starting cornerback Quinton Dunbar and rookie running back Derrius Guice.
The secondary, offensive line and receiving corps have been particularly hit hard, with four defensive backs (Johnson, Holsey, Dunbar and safety Troy Apke), six O-linemen (Scherff, Lauvao, tackle Geron Christian and guards Tyler Catalina, Jonathan Cooper and Arie Kouandjio) and four wide receivers (Richardson, Trey Quinn, Cam Sims and Robert Davis) on IR.
With these significant losses in mind, it's somewhat remarkable the Redskins have remained in contention for a playoff spot. It's now up to Josh Johnson and the rest of the roster that's still standing to prevent Washington from missing the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five years.
