In a sign the worst of the Washington Football Team’s coronavirus outbreak may be behind it, the team activated starting cornerback Kendall Fuller, starting safety Kam Curl, backup quarterback Kyle Allen and backup linebacker Milo Eifler from the covid-19 reserve list Friday while placing defensive end Nate Orchard on it.
In a blow to the defense, the team also placed safety/linebacker Landon Collins (foot) and reserve defensive lineman Daniel Wise (knee) on injured reserve, meaning their regular seasons are over.
Washington also placed reserve safety, special-teamer and team captain Deshazor Everett on the non-football injury list after he was hospitalized Thursday night following a fatal car crash, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Department.
Washington’s covid list, once at 26 players, is down to six — though two of the players who remain on it, right guard Brandon Scherff and linebacker Cole Holcomb, are starters.
The team also announced five coaches would miss the game at Dallas on Sunday night because of covid protocols. Four of them — Chris Harris (defensive backs), Brent Vieselmeyer (assistant defensive backs/nickel), Vincent Rivera (defensive quality control) and Cristian Garcia (defensive coaching intern) — missed the loss at Philadelphia on Tuesday, while Jim Hostler (senior offensive assistant) was a new addition.
On defense, Fuller and Curl returning is important because Washington, which is on a two-game skid, ruled out top cornerback William Jackson III (calf) and Collins (foot). Coach Ron Rivera said Jackson “could be out a little bit longer” than just Sunday night’s game.
Washington also listed running back Antonio Gibson (toe) and wide receiver Curtis Samuel (hamstring) as questionable. Rivera said even though Gibson’s injury is similar to the turf toe that forced him to miss two games last year, the running back seems better prepared to handle it this year.
“He says that it doesn’t feel like it did last year,” Rivera said.
In Jackson’s absence, Fuller probably will step into the top cornerback role, which he held last year, though for a zone-heavy defense such as Washington’s, it probably won’t mean shadowing the opponent’s top wide receiver. The wide corner opposite him probably will be Darryl Roberts, a veteran who hadn’t played a defensive snap this season until he took all 71 in Tuesday’s loss to Philadelphia. The nickel corner probably will be Danny Johnson, and Corn Elder probably will be the team’s top reserve.
“We like what we got from Darryl Roberts last week,” Rivera said. “We feel that we’re in a good spot now that we got Kendall Fuller back as well in our secondary.”
Fuller said he felt weak and “achy” during his stint on the covid list and that it was frustrating to watch the loss in Philadelphia from home on his couch. He texted with Curl during the game and was excited to return to practice Friday. He said he wasn’t worried that the time off would affect his stamina.
“You got to play a full game,” he said. “It’s end of the season. We got to win.”
Curl, a versatile safety, could replace Collins. In Week 13 at Las Vegas, the only game Collins has missed this season, Washington opted not to move Curl and instead use two players to fill Collins’s hybrid role, known as the “Buffalo nickel.” But neither of those players, linebacker Khaleke Hudson or Everett, the hospitalized safety, will be available Sunday. Hudson is on injured reserve with an ankle injury.
Before the team changed Collins’s role this season, Curl regularly played Buffalo nickel. Even when Collins, Curl and free safety Bobby McCain are on the field together now, the trio can disguise coverages and switch into one another’s positions, so it would be a natural transition for Curl — especially because the safeties behind him, Jeremy Reaves and Darrick Forrest, haven’t shown the same position flexibility.
Allen’s return, one day after starter Taylor Heinicke came off the covid list, means Washington probably will carry three quarterbacks for at least the next two games. If a team signs a player off another team’s practice squad, as Washington did with Garrett Gilbert, it must keep him on the roster for three weeks.
After practice Friday, Rivera said he thought Heinicke “looked fresh” and had only one regrettable pass.
“I thought he looked good and crisp in practice,” Rivera said. “I thought Kyle looked good in practice as well. Getting those guys back and getting it back out there, I think, brought a little energy to both sides of the ball.”
