There was doom and gloom in Washington when it was announced that the Redskins star linebacker Ryan Kerrigan would miss the remainder of the season as he was being sent to the injured reserve list following a Week 14 calf injury.
However, with all due respect to Kerrigan, he wasn’t missed much on Sunday, as the Redskins fell to the Eagles 37-27 at home. In his absence, third-year linebacker Ryan Anderson stepped up, and he put on a career performance that nearly aided Washington in a victory celebration at home.
“The main thing today was I just really didn’t want to let [Kerrigan] down,” Anderson said, via The Washington Post. “He’s been talking to me all week, helping me out with the scout and personnel stuff. That game, I played for him. He’s been awesome since I got here. I couldn’t ask for a better guy to mentor me and show me the ropes.”
The five tackles, two sacks and three forced fumbles from Anderson on Sunday were better than any single game performance that Kerrigan has had this season, and it came at a great time for the 2017 second-round pick, as the team may start to look for younger options on their roster with an eye towards the future. The 31-year-old Kerrigan is entering the final year of his contract in 2020, where he is due to earn just under $12 million. On the flip side, Anderson’s deal doesn’t expire until 2021, and he’s set to make just under $1.7 million next season.
It’s too small of a sample size to make any major decisions just yet, but if Anderson can keep up the type of play he showed on Sunday, it could be his job to lose going forward, as the team may decide to move on from an aging Kerrigan.
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