The Washington Redskins have been playing without their No.1 guy for the entire season so far and they would love to get back some offensive firepower heading into Week 4. DeSean Jackson has yet to be seen this year. He missed the entire preseason with a shoulder injury and has been sitting out since Week 1 with a hamstring injury. Having yet to be at practice with the team yet, the receiver's status remains up in the air heading into the matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Jackson has been ruled day-to-day with a hamstring problem. The receiver was seen jogging this past week which led many to believe he could get on the field sooner rather than later. However, head coach Jon Gruden is not sounding overly optimistic about the receiver's chances of playing.
"[Jackson is] day-to-day," Gruden said, via CBS DC. "He didn't do anything out there today so we'll have to see what he does out there tomorrow, if he's gonna run any tomorrow."
Kirk Cousins would certainly love to get his top deep threat back on the field. Without Jackson the field, the Redskins have been running the ball more which works until the opposing defense stuffs the box and forces Cousins to throw and make mistakes. Getting Jackson back on the field opens the play book up more than Pierre Garcon and Jordan Reed are allowing. They are the majority of the passing game with Andre Roberts and Ryan Grant getting some action, but not enough to fool a secondary.
For now, Alfred Morris and Matt Jones continue to be the stars of the show despite their lack of consistency as a tandem. The Redskins have now been giving Chris Thompson more carries. He had 40 yards and a touchdown in the last game which means the running attack is now a three-man job. That will be a headache for fantasy owners. Investing in either Morris or Jones could be risky since neither have been a constant threat each week.
After a poor performance against the Giants, Cousins has a lot of work to do and facing a tough defense like Philadelphia is not going to make improvement easy. The quarterback has to step up or questions will get asked about whether he is the right man for the job. Gruden is sticking by the quarterback for now, but Robert Griffin III and Colt McCoy are waiting in the wings. Another bad outing and Gruden might have no other choice but to replace Cousins at quarterback.
"Frustrating, because we felt like there were plays to be made and we didn't make them," Cousins said, via 106.7 The Fan's Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier. "And I'm going to look at what I could have done better. I know all 11 of us is what it takes, and you've got different things going on, but I felt like two passes to Jordan Reed both could have/should have been touchdown passes, and I didn't make the throw. I didn't make the play that needed to be made."
