During practice last Thursday, Jay Gruden asked Morgan Moses how his sprained left ankle was feeling.
The Washington Redskins’ burly right tackle, yet to miss a game this season, assured his coach he’d be just fine, despite being limited in practice all week. Still, Gruden felt uncertain about how effective Moses would be against the Philadelphia Eagles.
“I was really concerned,” Gruden said. “Thursday in practice we did some one-on-one drills, offensive line against defensive line, and he looked bad. He looked really bad. He couldn’t redirect and he was sore. And I was talking to the trainers, ‘There’s no freaking way he’s going to be all right.’”
The Redskins’ offense played 75 snaps in a 38-24 win over the Philadelphia Eagles to clinch the NFC East last Saturday and Moses played every one of them. There was one play where Moses gave up a sack to Eagles defensive end Fletcher Cox, but the fact that he gutted his way through the painful injury earned praise from Gruden.
“He just kept getting treatment and we took a look at him in pregame, said he was going to be alright – still was a little concerned – and he just went out there and played great,” Gruden said. “One of his better games that he’s played. [Moses is a] tough guy, and played his butt off and we’re happy for him, and I’m proud of the fact that he went out and battled through a tough injury.”
Moses wasn’t the only one hurting on Saturday. Free safety Dashon Goldson was the only member of the Redskins’ defense to play all 81 snaps — the most they’ve had to play this season — despite sustaining a broken rib last week in a win against the Buffalo Bills. Goldson also had undisclosed knee and shoulder injuries.
As Saturday’s game approached, however, Gruden seemed certain Goldson would play regardless. After all, Goldson has played 97 percent of the team’s defensive snaps this season.
“I think it would be a pretty significant injury for Goldson not to go,” Gruden said last week.
Below is a list of the full snap counts from last Saturday’s win, with the total number played in parentheses:
Offense: LG Spencer Long (75/75), RG Brandon Scherff (75/75), C Josh LeRibeus (75/75), RT Morgan Moses (75/75), QB Kirk Cousins (75/75), LT Trent Williams (74/75), TE Jordan Reed (66/75), WR Jamison Crowder (62/75), WR Pierre Garcon (54/75), WR DeSean Jackson (52/75), RB Alfred Morris (35/75), RB Pierre Thomas (32/75), OL Tom Compton (24/75), TE Alex Smith (16/75), WR Ryan Grant (14/75), RB Chris Thompson (8/75), FB Darrel Young (6/75), WR Rashad Ross (6/75), OL Ty Nsekhe (1/75).
Defense: FS Dashon Goldson (81/81), DB Kyshoen Jarrett (78/81), ILB Will Compton (76/81), CB Bashaud Breeland (75/81), OLB Ryan Kerrigan (75/81), CB Will Blackmon (70/81), CB Quinton Dunbar (66/81), OLB Preston Smith (63/81), ILB Mason Foster (59/81), DB DeAngelo Hall (55/81), DE Chris Baker (51/81), DE Jason Hatcher (42/81), DE Ricky Jean Francois (30/81), OLB Trent Murphy (21/81), NT Kedric Golston (18/81), NT Terrance Knighton (18/81), SS Jeron Johnson (5/81), ILB Keenan Robinson (5/81), OLB Houston Bates (3/81).
Special teams: Deshazor Everett (28/34), Bates (25/34), Johnson (25/34), Young (25/34), Carlos Fields (24/34), Murphy (23/34), Dashaun Phillips (19/34), Golston (13/34), Dustin Hopkins (12/34), Jarrett (12/34), A. Smith (11/34), Breeland (11/34), Nick Sundberg (11/34), Tress Way (11/34), Blackmon (10/34), W. Compton (10/34), Knighton (9/34), Nsekhe (9/34), T. Compton (9/34), Robinson (7/34), Dunbar (7/34), Goldson (7/34), Crowder (7/34), Foster (6/34), Long (5/34), Scherff (5/34), Grant (5/34), Thompson (5/34), Jean Francois (5/34), Kerrigan (4/34), Moses (3/34), Brian de la Puente (2/34), Hall (2/34), Reed (1/34), Garcon (1/34), P. Smith (1/34).
