Amid the postgame celebration early Tuesday morning, Redskins right guard Randy Thomas stood in a cramped locker room, left arm in a sling, tears in his eyes.
Thomas’ season, if not over, was in grave jeopardy.
A day later, that’s how it remains.
Thomas will undergo surgery to repair a torn left triceps and likely will miss substantial time. However, the Redskins won’t know if he’ll be out for the season until after the surgery. Doctors aren’t sure how badly the tricep is torn, but director of sports medicine Bubba Tyer said Thomas will be in a cast or sling for six weeks.
“You don’t want to know what I feel like,” Thomas said.
Thomas suffered the injury on a third-down play at the end of the first quarter in Monday’s 20-12 win at Philadelphia. Thomas will undergo his third surgery in the past two seasons. He had ankle surgery in 2005 and had arthroscopic knee surgery this past June.
It’s the second consecutive week the Redskins have lost a starting offensive lineman. Jon Jansen is out for the season after suffering a dislocated ankle and broken fibula in the opener.
“It’s really tough when you see something like that happen,” Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. “It was almost like I couldn’t believe it. Two guys there; two weeks in a row.”
Suddenly, what once appeared to be a strength is now a question mark.
Jason Fabini replaced Thomas Monday and will do so for the time being. Gibbs said they’ll still look to sign another lineman. Fabini had never played right guard until this training camp.
“It’s something I’m getting comfortable with,” Fabini said. “[But] it’s a big blow when you lose Jon and Randy. Randy is the heart and soul of the team, an emotional guy. … But you have to go one and whoever is in there, we have big shoes to fill and we have to perform.”
He’ll play next to right tackle Todd Wade, who made his first start this season in place of Jansen on Monday.
“They did an outstanding job,” Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell said. “That’s one thing we have this year that we didn’t have in the past is a lot of depth at O-line.”
In particular, they lacked veteran depth. This season, they now have three new starters, including Pete Kendall, and all have played at least seven seasons.
“It does give you a confidence knowing the guys have started in the league,” Gibbs said. “You’re not going to put someone in there unless you trust them.”
