Washington’s injury list from Friday looked ominous for Sunday’s Week 5 game against the New Orleans Saints. Right guard Brandon Scherff and two of Washington’s wide receivers were ruled out, while a host of other starters were listed as questionable.
Washington released its inactive list on Sunday morning and there was good news for the team. Running back Antonio Gibson, wide receiver Curtis Samuel, defensive tackle Daron Payne and linebacker Cole Holcomb are all active. All four starters were listed as questionable on Friday.
The biggest question is how healthy Gibson and Samuel are? Gibson admitted he had a stress fracture in his shin but said it was not painful, and the team sat him for precautionary reasons, per John Keim of ESPN.
Antonio Gibson said he has a stress fracture in his shin, but sense is that it’s a minor one. Was classified as a bruised shin pre-Atlanta. Gibson also said he really doesn’t have any pain and they sits out to give him a rest. Not anything serious. Sense is that he’ll play Sun
— John Keim (@john_keim) October 8, 2021
Samuel was listed on the injury report all week again after returning last week from injured reserve. Early in the week, many were speculating if Samuel re-injured his groin or the team was just taking it easy with Samuel.
For now, it appears Washington is taking it easy with Samuel through the week, but his status remains one to watch.
On Friday, Payne was added to the injury report in a bit of a surprise, while Holcomb was limited throughout the week.
Linebacker Jon Bostic was injured in last week’s win over the Falcons and is out for the season. Washington could not afford for Holcomb to miss time.