His season and possibly his career in doubt, Washington Redskins left tackle Chris Samuels traveled to California on Wednesday to see a specialist about his neck injury.
Samuels, who missed the loss to Kansas City on Sunday and has been ruled out for Monday night’s game against Philadelphia, has been told by the Redskins doctors not to play until soliciting another opinion.
“We wanted to make sure the doctor who was reading the reports could visibly see him,” coach Jim Zorn said after practice Wednesday. “We’re doing all the due diligence so he can make and we can make an intelligent decision on all the what-ifs and things like that.
“[Not playing] is the consensus and rightly so. If you don’t have all the information, there’s no way he should risk [it], and we shouldn’t either. All the data isn’t in, so that’s why we shouldn’t play him.”
If Samuels’ career is over, it creates a huge offseason question for the Redskins, who have spent the past 10 years knowing Samuels was their quarterback’s blind-side protector. Stephon Heyer will get the start against Philadelphia.
Samuels was injured on the Redskins’ second offensive snap against Carolina on Oct. 11. He has played with a narrowing of the spinal column for several years but went down when he butted heads with a Panthers pass rusher.
Sensing Samuels will be out indefinitely, the Redskins signed veteran left tackle Levi Jones on Tuesday. Zorn wouldn’t rule out Jones being in uniform Monday.
Jones, who was hobbled by knee, back and leg injuries last year and missed the final six games, worked out for Green Bay and Detroit before signing with the Redskins.
“It’s definitely good to get back to work,” he said. “I’ve been down in Arizona training and not really knowing what’s going on, so it’s definitely good to know exactly what the plan is, where I’m at and what I need to get done.”
The former first-round pick started 89 games for Cincinnati but was released in May.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done,” Jones said. “I need to learn Coach [Joe] Bugel’s techniques. I need to learn the plays. There’s a lot that goes into it, but if they call on me I’ll be ready.”
Smith hopes to play
Punter Hunter Smith has missed the past two games but said his groin injury has improved “considerably.”
“I’m fully expecting to go,” Smith said.
Smith said he’ll punt Saturday for a final evaluation.
At practice Wednesday, the Redskins were missing Samuels, running back Clinton Portis (ankle), defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth (ankle), tight end Chris Cooley (funeral) and safeties Kareem Moore and Chris Horton (both ill). Defensive tackle Cornelius Griffin (elbow) was limited.
Portis said he feels fine physically except for plantar fasciitis, a medial collateral ligament problem and a lingering calf strain.
“If I get a new lower leg, I’ll be fine,” he said.
Two for one
Zorn rationalized the addition of running back Quinton Ganther as one player performing the duties of both Anthony Alridge and Marcus Mason, who were cut Tuesday.
Ganther was expected to make Tennessee’s roster until suffering a calf injury in the preseason finale. He spent the past month and a half rehabbing the injury.
Ganther served as the No. 2 fullback and No. 3 running back for the Titans last year.
“He is a special teams player as well as a good inside-zone, outside-zone runner,” Zorn said. “He has a little explosiveness and a great path to the line of scrimmage. At some point here, he can really help us as we go down the line as a special teamer.”
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