Predicting the Redskins Inactive Players for Week 4

Last week the Redskins saw all their Questionable players with the exceptions of Kai Forbath and Fred Davis play, this week the Redskins again have at least 5 guys questionable, but we could see a greater number of them inactive. Here are my predictions for this week to be inactive:

QB Rex Grossman:

-No change here as Grossman is inactive unless there is a concern with one of the two other quarterbacks.

K John Potter:

–Kai Forbath kicked on Friday and according to Mike Shanahan made a 48 yarder. Assuming that he didn’t tighten up (which could be a higher concern with the long flight), he’ll be kicking on Sunday. That will make Potter inactive and if Forbath doesn’t suffer any set backs, Potter will be cut following the game.

CB Jerome Murphy:

-Murphy suffered a death in the family and has missed practice these past two days to be with his family. Even if Murphy is back by Sunday, the Redskins likely won’t have him play given that he missed practice the last couple of days. His being inactive would also give the Redskins a chance to see what Jose Gumbs could do at least on special teams. Gumbs is probably on the short list to be released with Rob Jackson and Jarvis Jenkins coming off the suspension list. This will help them understand better what they have in Gumbs, and if he’s the one that should go.

TE Jordan Reed:

-Reed was out of practice all week, but was limited on Friday. The Redskins are trying to say he’s a game time decision, but I just can’t see that being the case. The Redskins desperately need Reed to get better and they should give him this extra week with having the bye next week. If the Redskins have any hope of salvaging their season, they need to win their first game back from the bye against Dallas. To play Reed this week could risk him being ready for Dallas, and that just isn’t worth it.

LB Brandon Jenkins:

-Jenkins didn’t participate in practice until Friday where he was limited. Given that he’s a rookie, and has barely seen the field outside of special teams, the Redskins aren’t likely to push him out there too soon. It would have been nice to get one more look at Jenkins before Rob Jackson came back, because with Jackson back it will make it hard for Jenkins to be active on game days, but there is zero reason the Redskins should force the situation.

DL Phillip Merling:

-I  really think we could be seeing a tryout going on among the Redskins back-up defensive linemen. Jarvis Jenkins is eligible to come off suspension after the game and the Redskins are going to have to make a corresponding roster move. While the Redskins could perhaps just cut Jose Gumbs and John Pottter, they could also look to dump one of their back-up defensive linemen. Chris Neild was inactive the first two weeks, and Chris Baker was inactive last week. This week it could be Merling’s turn. Both Baker and Merling have struggled quite a bit in their back-up roles (Neild has a smaller sample size, but was fine for the most part versus the Lions). If it comes down to Merling and Baker, this way both would have three games to evaluate them on.

TE Fred Davis:

-Though I think the Redskins would maybe try to push Davis to play especially with Jordan Reed out, I think smarter heads will prevail. Davis is dealing with a high ankle sprain that he suffered late in the week of practice last week, and typically these can take a couple of weeks. He’s been limited in practice all week, so it is likely that anything he’d give you would be well below 100%. Given that Davis was already struggling to come back from his Achilles injury, very little could be expected of Davis. There is no way he’d be able to give the Redskins 50-70 plays, and they would be lucky to get half that. It’s just not worth trotting Davis out there and burning a roster spot. The fact that the Redskins have a bye next week also should be taken into account, since Davis can have an extra week to rest up and hopefully be ready to contribute versus the Cowboys the following week.