Commanders defensive end Chase Young returned to practice at the beginning of November, but still has not played a game.
He was questionable for Sunday’s matchup against the Giants, though was reportedly a “longshot” to play — and he didn’t.
Head coach Ron Rivera was asked about Young’s progress in his return from a torn ACL and seemed optimistic that Young will be able to play after Washington’s Week 14 bye. But there are a few factors that have made it easier for the Commanders to ease Young back into action.
“I think the biggest thing more so than anything else is with the way we’re playing right now, and we’re playing pretty well on the defensive front, the need to get him on the field hasn’t been that you gotta have him out there, we need him, it’s a must,” Rivera said Monday, via Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “This is one of those things that, because our guys are playing well, we can get him back when he’s 100 percent ready to roll. And that’s the biggest thing, is we don’t want to put him out there when he’s not ready and feeling it. I know he’s close, I really do, and, again, I think the big thing for him more so than anything else, is just to continue to do what he needs to do and we’ll see how he is next week.
“But, again, it’s putting the guy out there when he’s ready, 100 percent, or as close as possible as it can be. But I do know, again, we’ve been doing some pretty good things with the guys we have out there. Yesterday we had a couple of guys get nicked up as well, and we’ll see how they are the next couple of days. But I’m pretty optimistic going forward for next week.”
Rivera added that the team wants to make sure Young can properly protect himself on the field after suffering his severe knee injury.
"[T]he only real way for him to get true work on this now is out on the field. And now that we’re in the peak of the season, it’s one of those things that you can’t mimic [in practice] what he’s going to get out there in the game,” Rivera said. “So, he’s just got to continue to work at it and build that confidence and, again, I know one of the things is the severity of his injury wasn’t divulged early, mostly because they didn’t want it divulged.
“But as it got out there, I think people gotta understand that this was more than your normal knee injury. This involved a little bit more. That’s why I think the rehab has been a little bit more. He’s really come a long way, he looks good, and now it’s just a matter of if he’s ready to go, we’ll get him out there.”
Young suffered his injury on Nov. 14 of last year. He required a graft from the tendon in his left knee to repair his right knee, which made his recovery longer.