Redskins receiver Leonard Hankerson and defensive end Stephen Bowen both had surgery in the offseason and were both placed on the Physically Unable to Perform List (PUP). According to league rules, once placed on the PUP list a player must miss the first six weeks of the regular season. They then have a three-week window to return to practice. Once they return to practice, they have a three-week window for activation to the roster.
The 21-day practice window officially started for both players on Wednesday as head coach Jay Gruden and his staff got the chance to start evaluating the two recovering players.
“Hankerson made some big plays today, running cards today,” said Gruden on Thursday. “He looked good running. Bowen did a good job also. It’s just good to have those guys back in the lineup – not in the lineup but just running around, getting them back into team shape, team speed. They’re both going to help us eventually.
Bowen has been here for a while so I think he could probably get in here to help sooner than later. Hankerson, being that he’s a wideout, just to make sure his stamina’s ready to roll, it might be a week or two. We’ll play that one by ear, but I could see Bowen playing pretty quickly. But we’ll still talk about that as a staff probably today, this afternoon and tomorrow.”
Bowen started practicing with the scout team on Wednesday and was moved to the active defensive practice by the end of that practice session. He was able to gain more reps with the defense on Thursday.
The team now will go through the process of deciding whether or not to place either of the two players on injured reserve, the active roster or cut them.
Odds are that Bowen will be activated first. Bowen would likely be added into the rotation at defensive end and help out almost immediately.
Hankerson would immediately be the tallest receiver on the Redskins roster at 6-2, but it’s a crowded list to be a part of.
Coach Gruden didn’t rule out using Bowen on Sunday during his press conference Friday leaving it open ended for Sunday versus the Titans. If Bowen is added to the active-roster the Redskins will have to drop a player.
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