Junior Galette on track to make Redskins preseason debut on Saturday

By Zac Boyer - The Washington Times - Tuesday, August 25, 2015

ASHBURN — Junior Galette remains on track to make his first appearance for the Washington Redskins on Saturday in the team’s preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens.

Galette, signed by the Redskins on the second day of training camp after four seasons with the New Orleans Saints, was held out of the first two preseason games as he recovered from a torn left pectoral muscle while growing acclimated to the Redskins’ defense.

“With the offseason I had, I just want to get out there and show the guys that embraced me so well … that I can get after the quarterback and be a terrific football player for them,” Galette said.

The outside linebacker was released by the Saints on July 24 and signed with the Redskins a week later. In addition to the torn pectoral, which he sustained while bench pressing during the spring, he was the subject of domestic violence allegations in January and then again in June, when a two-year-old video was uncovered of a person who appeared to be Galette striking people, including a woman, with a belt during a fight on a beach.

Those actions have been the subject of an investigation by the NFL, and it remains possible that Galette could be disciplined by the league under its personal conduct policy.

The Redskins eased the 6-foot-2, 258-pound Galette into team drills, asking him to join full 11-on-11 workouts for the first time on Aug. 15.

“He looks great,” coach Jay Gruden said. “He’s playing fast, and he’s got his strength back. I think they took their time with him, which is very smart. I think he could’ve probably practiced a little bit sooner than he did, but we just wanted to make sure he had that full range of motion and full strength back. He does, and he looks outstanding, so he’ll help us whenever he can.”

Washington’s hope is that Galette, who had 10 sacks last season and 12 in 2013, will provide an adequate complement to left outside linebacker Ryan Kerrigan and bolster the team’s pass rush.

“To get actually back on the field is exciting, and especially to be a part of a cohesive defense and a team that will embrace me, so I just want to prove to them that I belong,” Galette said. “I’ve just been kind of earning my stripes, and it’s a real humbling experience. Like I said, they embraced me from day one, and I just want to show them how much I have in store. It’s just not in practice, but in games.”