Colt McCoy isn’t ready to return to the field. The 32-year-old is still working to return from a broken leg he suffered in December after replacing Alex Smith — who himself suffered a broken leg that ended his season.
The timetable for McCoy’s return continues to stretch as the team awaits his full rehabilitation from the injury. Having already sat out the preseason opener against the Cleveland Browns, the Redskins were hopeful he’d make progress ahead of their battle with the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday, but McCoy has been officially ruled out by the team. Based on current information, his presence for the third preseason game is legitimately in doubt, as well.
“Right now he’s not able to do much,” head coach Jay Gruden said on Wednesday, via J.P. Finley of NBC Sports.
One day prior, Gruden gave more insight into where McCoy is in his recovery.
“It’s just something he’s still dealing with and we will have to deal with,” he noted. “But the main thing is to make sure he’s comfortable back there and has enough strength to push off and throw and feels good about if he does get hit that (McCoy’s leg) is healthy and stable, which it is.”
Case Keenum will get the start against the Bengals, with rookie first-round pick Dwayne Haskins serving as backup — per John Heim of ESPN — with the continued absence of a recovering McCoy making for thin battle at quarterback. Once the Redskins finally settle on who’ll start Week 1, without McCoy in tow, any non-starter named Keenum or Haskins essentially becomes QB2 by default. The team signed undrafted free agent Jalan McClendon on Sunday following their fight with the Browns, a move initially made with an eye on replacing fourth-string quarterback Josh Woodrum, who tore a pectoral muscle in the preseason opener.
The club currently has just three able bodies at QB, and with no definitive date on the return of McCoy, things may stay that way for a while. McCoy has undergone three surgeries to repair his fracture, and Smith remains on the physically unable to perform list.
For now, it’s a two-horse race for QB1 duties, with little competition for the other two spots.
