Running back Clinton Portis is done for the season. And, perhaps, for his Redskins career.
The Redskins will place Portis on injured reserve after he re-injured his groin in Sunday’s 19-16 win over Tennessee. Portis had missed five games with the injury when he suffered a third-degree separation of his groin on Oct. 3 at Philadelphia. An official announcement has not been made, but is expected and players were openly discussing what his loss meant.
On his radio show Tuesday, Portis told 106.7 The Fan that an MRI revealed only swelling and he did not rule himself out for Sunday’s game at Minnesota.
But the type of injury Portis had often requires surgery. He also had suffered a mild setback while practicing before the Nov. 15 game vs. Philadelphia.
“Anytime you lose a guy like Clinton, it’s more than just the rushing yards,” Redskins guard Artis Hicks said. “He was great at picking up blitzes, blocking down the field for receivers. He was a leader amongst that group.”
Portis, 29, ends the season with 227 yards and 6,824 for his Redskins career. He’s second on the franchise’s all-time list, trailing John Riggins by 648 yards.
There’s a good chance Portis won’t have the opportunity to break that record next season, either. He missed eight games last year with a concussion and will end up missing 10 games this season. Considering his salary for next season is around $8.3 million, Portis likely would need a major restructuring of his contract to return.
His injury also means that Keiland Williams, Ryan Torain and James Davis will carry the load for the next six games. Torain will miss his third straight game Sunday because of a hamstring injury; Williams will start his second game.
Both those players have fans in the locker room.
“Torain has done a great job picking his game up,” Hicks said. “Whenever he comes back he’s going to continue on with the success he was having. That’s what it’s all about, the next guy picking up the slack.”
Hicks raved about Williams, who gained 68 yards vs. Tennessee on Sunday.
“To be a rookie and have all this thrown at you and to play the way he’s playing, it speaks volumes of what kind of guy he is,” Hicks said. “He’s a real good running back; he’s a tough guy. He’s still learning and he’ll make mistakes, but he’s a fighter. And you seen him in there grinding and fighting out on Sunday. He was running the ball extremely hard this past Sunday. Maybe there weren’t any 40 or 50-yard gains, but every time he went down his shoulder pads were facing north and south. He was running that ball hard. That was good to see.”
Follow me on Twitter @John_Keim
Submit questions for Redskins Mailbag.
