Redskins defensive tackle Chris Neild’s season is over before it even started.
The team announced the results of Neild’s MRI Tuesday and they weren’t good. Neild tore his ACL during practice on Monday and will miss the entire 2012 season as a result.
“Chris is a fighter, and this is just a setback,” coach Mike Shanahan said while announcing the severity of the injury.
Losing Neild leaves the Redskins in need of another tackle who can back up Barry Cofield at the nose in the team’s 3-4 scheme. Neild played in every game as a rookie after being drafted with the next-to-last pick in the seventh round, picking up two sacks, and he was being looked at as part of the team’s rotation up front again this season. Chris Baker will likely get that job now.
The news was a bit better for two Redskins receivers who couldn’t finish practice on Tuesday. Shanahan said that both Leonard Hankerson and Josh Morgan had heat sickness and expects both men will be fine after receiving attention from the team’s medical staff.