Washington Redskins running back Derrius Guice injured the MCL in his left leg Sunday afternoon against the Green Bay Packers and will miss at least one game, according to multiple sources.
For Guice, it’s the third injury of its kind in the last 18 months and comes at a time when he had hit the ground running after his previous comeback. Guice was injured by a direct hit to the knee from Packers safety Darnell Savage following a 23-yard run. Guice later tweeted that “it was a cheap shot!!” and said Savage “knows the history of my knee injuries and went straight at them…” The tweet was deleted later in the day.
Derrius Guice Sprains MCL
The results of Guice’s MRI on Monday showed no damage to the other ligaments in his knee. While the overall grade is still unknown, Redskins interim head coach Bill Callahan said during his press conference Monday that Guice would miss the upcoming game against the Philadelphia Eagles. An argument could be made that shutting Guice down for the rest of the season could be in his best interest, even though he was well on his way to breaking out this year, as the stats below show.
UPDATE: The Redskins placed Guice on the injured/reserve list this afternoon…ending his 2019 season.
Since returning, 4 games 32 carries 227 yards 7.1 AVG; 2 touchdowns. 4 REC 59 yards 14.7 AVG; 1 touchdown! I was getting in rhythm
— DG (@DhaSickest) December 9, 2019
While his durability is starting to be a constant question mark, one thing no one can question is Guice’s ability to run the ball. In four games since returning, he’s carried the ball 32 times for 227 yards and two touchdowns. Besides, Guice and Adrian Peterson have formed a relationship on and off the field and are showing the makings of a phenomenal one-two punch that could be utilized next season under what will likely be a new system.
The big question these days concerning Guice is should the team shut him down for the rest of the year so they can avoid the second-year running back further damaging the same knee he had surgery on last preseason. The answer to that will be known in the coming days (see above for an update); for now, Guice is trying to stay focused on what’s important, along with getting healthy. For example, he spent Tuesday eating pizza with area kids.
Today was fun ❤️ pic.twitter.com/P6Tg1iZx9Z
— DG (@DhaSickest) December 10, 2019
Redskins interim coach Bill Callahan doesn’t think the injury will slow Derrius down one bit. “This guy’s upbeat, he’s positive, he’s got more energy than the entire building, so it ain’t going to hamper him or stifle him or hold him back by any means. I love the guy, I love his energy and what he brings to the table every day, how he comes into the meeting room, how he goes to the practice field. He’s just a bundle of energy and he gives us a catalyst that most teams don’t have. He’s a lot of fun to coach. He’s insightful, he’s smart, he’s intuitive — I like all of those qualities and traits about him. And you know what? If the rehab is lengthy, it’s lengthy. If it’s short, it’s short. But I know this, he’ll put everything into the rehabilitation that he needs to, if not more.”
[Image via Stacy Revere/Getty Images]
