News broke Monday afternoon that Jonathan Allen is likely lost for the season, as the fear is he suffered a torn pectoral muscle Sunday and will miss the remainder of the year.
That likely leaves either Johnny Newton or Phidarian Mathis as the starter next to Daron Payne, the other as the third DT, and…then what?
“It’s damaging because of the rotations; Jonathan has been coming out, they've had a really good rotation on their front, keeping those guys fresh, and now all of a sudden your backup is your starter,” Jay Gruden told Grant & Danny Monday. “Now, who's going to be the backup for that guy's rotation? That's where the issue comes in: depth is critical on that line. You’d love to have Allen and Payne play most of the time, but they get tired, so they have to come out. When Derrick Henry's pounding the ball, guys are running the ball, and they're out on the field a long time, you gotta have a great rotation, and when you lose a guy, it damages your rotation.”
G&D had been floating the idea of the Commanders being a little more aggressive than expected at the trade deadline, especially now with Allen reportedly sidelined – so what does Gruden think of that?
“I'm on the phone right now trying to find another corner, maybe another defense lineman now that Jonathan's out for the year – you gotta add to the depth, so they're gonna have to add somebody,” Gruden said. “Whether or not they can get somebody via trade, I don’t know, but I would definitely be on the phone checking out every opportunity I could to upgrade my depth on the defensive line and get another possible cover corner in there. If you don’t, then you have to play Cover 2 and all that stuff, then you're gonna put your defensive front in jeopardy, and they're not good enough upfront to stop. So they gotta do something, hopefully they can, but if not, if they want to go with the guys they got, they gotta play with great effort and figure out ways to get turnovers.”