The Washington Football Team had high expectations for wide receiver Curtis Samuel this season when they gave him a three-deal in March. In two games played this season, Washington has gotten four receptions for 19 yards from Samuel.
A lingering groin injury has kept Samuel sidelined, for the most part, since June. He missed virtually all of training camp, as he also dealt with COVID-19 in August, and opened the season on injured reserve.
Samuel finally made his debut in Week 4 against the Falcons, where he caught four passes for 19 yards. However, in his first game back, Samuel apparently re-aggravated the nagging groin injury.
He briefly played in Week 5 against the Saints and left the game due to injury. He hasn’t played that time.
After Friday’s practice, Ben Standig of The Athletic questioned head coach Ron Rivera about Samuel’s injury.
“Well, what happened in that game is we had two other guys get hurt,” Rivera said, referring to wide receivers Cam Sims and Dyami Brown going down with injuries in Week 4.
And we had to play him a little bit more than we wanted to, and so, unfortunately, that set him back a little bit more. And because of that, we’ve had to be really careful, because as I said, with this stretch coming after the bye, it’s nine games we have left, we’d like to have him for that. So, we’ve kinda been trying to pace it and see how he’s done each day. Each day we judge it, each day we feel that as we go forward to take our time with him and be smart and get him back for the run.
That’s an interesting answer. Washington is 2-5 on the season, with a trip to Denver in Week 8, before it hosts the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10. Washington will be with 2-7 or 3-6 after Week 10. This isn’t the 2020 NFC East. The Cowboys sit atop the NFC East with a 5-1 record. If he’s not seriously injured, what exactly are you saving him for?
This is a really good question from @BenStandig and a wild answer from Ron.
Curtis Samuel played 25 snaps against Atlanta, a game that took place 26 days ago. pic.twitter.com/4Z5h2taLoe
— michael phillips (@michaelpRTD) October 29, 2021
Washington’s last three losses were all winnable games, despite the final score in each game. Offensive ineptitude crushed any chance of a win last week against the Packers. If Samuel is the impact player you thought you signed, then play him. If he never practices and, through eight weeks has barely played in parts of two games, then put him on injured reserve.
This summer, Washington fans were thinking “oh no, not again,” once Samuel missed training camp. How many times over the years has a prized free agent been injured early and never lived to their potential?
But Rivera insisted all along that Samuel was fine and the team was being cautious with him. That’s good. But, at some point you have to make a decision that is best for the team. If he can’t even practice, why is he taking up a roster spot?
Anything can happen, sure. However, it’s almost delusional to believe this Washington team is going to make a run. And what if you did make a run, what gives anyone the confidence to believe Samuel will make a difference? Washington’s coaching staff is treating him like Jerry Rice or Randy Moss. He had a fine breakout season in 2020, but he has yet to prove he is a difference-maker in Washington.
Perhaps Washington is waiting until the week after the bye to see if Samuel can practice. If so, that makes sense, considering it’s gone on this long.
Washington has gotten next to nothing from its wide receivers not named Terry McLaurin in 2021. That’s disappointing. Outside of McLaurin, DeAndre Carter has been the WFT’s second-most effective wideout in limited opportunities.