It turns out Washington Redskins running back Derrius Guice still hasn’t been fully cleared to get back on the football field.
JP Finlay of NBC Sports provided the news from head coach Jay Gruden: “Gruden says once trainers and doctors give full clearance for Derrius Guice he will be on the field. That hasn’t happened yet.”
This is a rather big deal given the circumstances. On an individual level, Guice had multiple setbacks that required more surgeries. He’s seemed fine in workouts for a while now, but delays in getting back to actual game action could mean a reduced role when the games start to matter.
As for the team, this means a bigger reliance on the combo of Adrian Peterson and Chris Thompson, if not a few others, behind a line that sure seems like it will be missing Trent Williams. That’s not a good environment for a quarterback — whether it’s a veteran or rookie trying to get used to the pro game.
Clearly, Guice isn’t going to be on the field Thursday against Cincinnati. But how much longer this lack of clearance extends is something to monitor closely.
