Washington Roster Moves: Two more players placed on IR

More end of season shutdowns.

The Washington Commanders placed RB Antonio Gibson(foot/knee) on injured reserve yesterday, and added two more players to that list today. Starting CB Benjamin St-Juste suffered a “mid-high” ankle sprain against the Houston Texans in Week 11. He missed three games before attempting to return vs the 49ers to weeks ago. St-Juste reaggravated the injury, and missed the Browns game. He has already been ruled out for the season finale against the Dallas Cowboys, and will now end his season on injured reserve for the second year in a row. During his rookie season he suffered multiple concussions before being shut down for the year.

Third-year offensive lineman Saahdiq Charles was also placed on IR today. He suffered a concussion during practice and has missed the last 3 games. Charles has been mostly depth during his NFL career, but did get three starts this season, in additional to four in 2021, and one in 2020. His lone start during his rookie season only lasted two snaps before he left the game after suffering a dislocated kneed cap that landed him on IR.

Washington will be playing a lot of young and inexperienced players on Sunday as they enter evaluation mode after being eliminated from playoff contention last weekend. Head Coach Ron Rivera mentioned practice squad DT Benning Potoa’e as a player they wanted to see, and now he has been signed to the 53-man roster. He played in Washington’s Week 3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, and will now have a chance to get more real game experience. Jonathan Allen has already been ruled out this week with a knee injury.

Washington also signed T Alex Akignbulu to the main roster. He joined the team in late July, three days after training camp started. The 6’5” 300lb rookie from Fresno State has been with the team since then and was signed to the practice squad after final roster cuts following the final preseason game. RT Cornelius Lucas was ruled out for the season finale with an ankle injury.