Some believed the Washington Commanders would release tight end Logan Thomas in the offseason to create additional salary cap space. After all, Thomas had missed a combined 14 games over the past two seasons with multiple injuries and had just 57 catches since 2020.
The Commanders viewed Thomas differently than most. Washington knew what a healthy Thomas could bring to the table. Now 32, Thomas tore his ACL in Dec. 2021 but recovered in time to play in Week 1 last season. But Thomas was never fully healthy. Sure, his knee was sound, but he hadn’t regained his explosiveness from before the injury.
Then, there was a calf injury that robbed him of three games last season,
Under new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, the tight end position is a critical part of the offense. And Washington believed Thomas would benefit from being another year removed from ACL surgery and playing in a tight end-friendly offense.
Thomas developed a solid rapport with young quarterback Sam Howell in OTAs. That connection continued in training camp until a calf injury slowed down his progress last week.
After Thomas missed Tuesday’s practice, that was four days of missed practice in a row. How concerned should the Commanders be with Thomas considering their lack of tight end depth?
Head coach Ron Rivera said Thomas’ calf injury isn’t as severe as the one in 2022, and Washington is taking a cautious approach with the veteran.
“I think the biggest thing with Logan is we are gonna be really smart about that,” Rivera said of the injury. “This is not close to what it was last year, but the thing that we are concerned with is, is we don’t want it to have it exacerbated by going out there too soon. So, we’ve really done a lot in terms of work on the inside. The work on the bikes and stuff like that to avoid that type of situation until they feel comfortable with him in the next few days.”
There is no reason for Washington to rush Thomas. Sure, you’d like to see him in the preseason, getting valuable reps with Howell in a new offense, but it’s not the end of the world.
Rivera doesn’t think Thomas’ calf injury is at all related to his recovery from the ACL.
“No, I think this one, more than anything else, is just a couple weeks ago or a week ago was the hottest week we’ve had,” he said. “And I think because as much running as he does as our tight ends do in this offense, I think it caught up to him a little bit. He is a little bit older guy, so, you know, we just got to be aware of that. Be a little more careful.”
There’s never a time not to be concerned about a player over 30 missing multiple days of practice during training camp. Especially one coming off multiple injuries.
However, Washington does seem to be wisely taking a cautious approach with Thomas. But if he’s on the injury report in September, then it becomes a major concern.