Redskins’ injury list continues to grow

His roster flexibility further crippled during another disheartening defeat, Washington Redskins coach Jim Zorn opened his news conference Monday with a line that best exhibits the team’s 3-7 season.

“Again, we have some painful things that we have to talk about,” said Zorn, who spent five minutes discussing the Redskins’ numerous injuries.

When the Redskins entered their bye week last month, they knew the schedule was becoming more difficult and they would have to overcome season-ending injuries to Chris Samuels and Randy Thomas and the long-term absence of Chris Cooley.

But who could have predicted a second wave of injuries would develop during the first three games of a challenging five-week gauntlet that initially featured three division leaders and two wild-card contenders?

“It’s been brutal,” running back Rock Cartwright said.

Having already seen safety Chris Horton, running back Clinton Portis and defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth go down during the two games since their off week, the Redskins confirmed running back Ladell Betts (ACL and MCL tears) and right guard Chad Rinehart (broken leg) are done for the season and cornerback DeAngelo Hall (MCL sprain) might be out for Sunday’s game at Philadelphia.

If Hall is sidelined, he would be the 16th player to miss a game because of injury.

Rinehart underwent surgery to insert a plate and screws to stabilize his fibula, and Betts is headed for the operating room later this week, becoming the ninth Redskins player to have surgery since the end of training camp.

“It’s something I’ve never been around,” Zorn said. “I’ve been on some teams that had injuries, but these are injuries that are [injured reserve]-type of injuries, and we’ve had a lot of them and they’ve been unfortunate.”

Said linebacker London Fletcher: “Injuries happen to every team in the NFL. Obviously, we’ve had more than our fair share of them. But the thing is nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. The game’s still going to be played on Sunday. They’re not going to cancel the season.”

Indeed, every team in the NFL is dealing with its share of injuries at this point of the season. Philadelphia (6-4) has six players on injured reserve, including two middle linebackers and a starting offensive lineman. New Orleans, which visits the Redskins on Dec. 5, has 11 players on IR.

Still, few teams have been impacted like the Redskins.

Washington put Betts, Rinehart and fullback Eddie Williams (broken leg) on injured reserve, bringing its total to seven this year.

The Redskins’ three Pro Bowl from 2008 players have missed a combined 10 games. Samuels isn’t coming back, and it’s appearing more and more likely that Portis and Cooley won’t be available.

Story Continues →