Washington Roster Moves: Benjamin St-Juste to IR; Darryl Roberts activated; a FB signed to the practice squad

Benjamin St-Juste’s concussion issues send him to IR

Ron Rivera told reporters yesterday that Benjamin St-Juste was in the concussion protocol, but wouldn’t answer any other questions about his situation. This is the rookie CBs third time in concussion protocol, which is a big concern for his health and future in the NFL. St-Juste began the year getting significant playing time. He missed the Week 4 game dealing with his first concussion of the season. He missed the Week 10 game after the bye dealing with concussion symptoms from practice. The last two weeks he didn’t play a single snap on defense, and only played 20 special teams snaps total.

It was reported earlier today that St-Juste was going to injured reserve, and now the team has made it official. There have been no reports if the team plans on bringing him back after the 3-game minimum, or if they are simply shutting him down for the season to assess the severity of his injury. Best of luck to the rookie as he deals with an injury that could affect his health for the rest of his life.

Washington replaced St-Juste on the roster with CB Darryl Roberts who has been on IR since suffering a quad injury in Week 5. Roberts was only active for two games this season, and will return to his depth role on the defense.

And the final announced move is an interesting one, and will please some fans. Washington signed FB Alex Armah to the practice squad. Antonio Gibson has been the workhorse since after the bye when he said he felt better after dealing with a stress fracture in his shin all season. J.D. McKissic suffered a concussion and hasn’t practiced all week. The team also has Jaret Patterson who will see more playing time, and Wendell Smallwood who was re-signed to the practice squad last month. If McKissic isn’t cleared, which seems highly likely, one of the practice squad backs will be elevated on Sunday.

Alex Armah is very familiar with Scott Turner’s offense after being picked in the 6th round in 2017 by the Carolina Panthers. He played in Carolina from 2017-20. Armah was with the Saints last season, and wasn’t picked up by a team this year. Wendell Smallwood still seems like the safe bet to get elevated Sunday.