The Washington Redskins have not started out the 2015 season like they were hoping to. Their first preseason game came with two season-ending injuries to players who were looking to be potential starters. They have a quarterback controversy cloud the team heading into Week 1. Then on Sunday they fell to the Miami Dolphins while also losing DeSean Jackson who is expected to be a critical target for Kirk Cousins.
Jackson left the game against the redskins in the first quarter after suffering a hamstring injury. According to John Keim of ESPN, the wide receiver is expected to undergo an MRI on the injury as his status remains up in the air. Jackson was originally listed as questionable to return after getting pulled, but the injury appears worse than assumed. This comes after Jackson missed all of the preseason with a separated shoulder. If he were to miss more time, Cousins would be without his top deep threat.
"Any time you lose a guy that runs a 4.25 40, it damages some of your play-action game," Gruden said, via ESPN.com. "The first one we threw to him, he had a step [on the corner] and I believe he would have caught it if he didn't pull his hammy. It's a great throw by Kirk, and that's the last we saw of him -- and we had another seven or eight [plays] built in to clear out and get DeSean across the field. It was a big loss for us."
Losing Jackson means the pressure is on Pierre Garcon to step up. The wide receiver has been playing second to Jackson, but will now emerge as the top target depending on how much time Jackson misses. Garcon had just 74 yards on Sunday against the Dolphins which will need to improve. Andre Roberts was the other top true receiver in the boxscore with just 36 yards off three catches. Jordan Reed stepped up in a big way after the season-ending injury to Niles Paul with 63 yards and touchdown. He could become a new safety blanket for Cousins as he led the team with 11 targets.
The real star of Washington was the running back tandem of Alfred Morris and Matt Jones. Morris stressed he needed a big season as he is in a contract year and he certainly got off to a good start with 121 yards off 25 carries. Jones followed that up with another 28 yards. Morris is clearly being looked at as the workhorse back in the offense after a debated running back battle in the preseason. They will all be critical to help Cousins without Jackson.