Donovan McNabb Not Guaranteed to Play in the Redskins Season Opener

The regular season for the Washington Redskins starts on September 12, in a match against the Dallas Cowboys. However, they might have to do without their quarterback Donovan McNabb who suffered from a left ankle sprain. It’s these kinds of injuries that have the whole team preparing for what should most likely be an incomplete lineup by the time they play against Dallas. Preparing for the worst Since his injury in the preseason game against Baltimore, McNabb’s health has been in question. His leg remains too sore for him to even practice. In light of this, he is expected to skip the Redskins’ remaining preseason games and practice sessions in hopes that his injury will have healed itself enough for him to start on September 12, but even that game against the Cowboys is in serious doubt.  Without McNabb in the lineup, the Redskins will have a tougher time beating the Cowboys for sure. The odds of winning the season opener are obviously not all in favor of the Redskins. The Washington Redskins’ head coach Mike Shanahan thinks it’s prudent for his player to stop practicing and to continue recuperating, if only to give the team a fighting chance by the time they meet the Cowboys. Shanahan has also opted to give backup quarterback Rex Grossman some bench time for the Redskins’ upcoming match with the Arizona Cardinals. These are all preseason games after all, and Shanahan is unwilling to risk digging a hole in his team’s lineup come the regular season. This will mean the Redskins will have to do with the services of John Beck and Richard Bartel until the end of the preseason, or until Shanahan is confident that McNabb has recovered fully and can rejoin the game. The perennial problem of player injuries There are other player injuries that Mike Shanahan is concerned about. Fortunately, these injuries aren’t too serious to warrant a change in the Redskins’ game plan. Running back Clinton Portis sprained his right ankle recently, but is expected to return to practice in a few days. Other players, like fullback Mike Sellers and linebacker Perry Riley, continue to nurse some minor injuries. Shanahan feels optimistic that these players will return to his active roster soon. They are all expected to recover in due time, and with no serious repercussions to the Redskins’ game. When asked about the condition of Donovan McNabb, Shanahan pointed out, “I really don’t know for sure.” The Redskins’ head coach surely has the same sentiment regarding the other injured players on his team. Fans can only hope that he already has a backup plan in case all of these players will still be unfit to play when the regular season starts rolling. Making do with what they have Mike Shanahan understands that injuries are a regular occurrence, considering the nature of the game. He can only hope that all of these problems will have their own resolutions in time.