SANTA CLARA, Calif. _ Reuben Foster likely won't be playing in the NFL anytime soon.
But his chances at playing again this season improved slightly after getting claimed off waivers by the Washington Redskins on Tuesday, just two days after he was released by the 49ers following his second arrest on suspicion of domestic violence in the last year.
San Francisco coach Kyle Shanahan, who decided to release Foster following his arrest Saturday at the team hotel in Tampa, Fla., didn't expect a team to add Foster so quickly.
"I was a little surprised," he said. "Not (by) the team in particular, but that someone did."
Washington, of course, was Shanahan's former employer during more formative years as an offensive coordinator under his father, Mike, from 2010-13. The Shanahans' departure was messy and well documented, and Kyle's ire for the team remained apparent in his comment.
As for Foster, he was placed on the reserve/commissioner exempt list after being claimed by Washington. He won't be allowed to play or practice until the league concludes its investigation into the incident over the weekend that led to his departure from San Francisco.
It's unknown how long that could take, but it's likely Foster isn't cleared to play this season with just five weeks remaining _ and the 2017 first-round draft pick could face a suspension as a result of the league's findings.
"There's no guarantee he's ever going to play here," Redskins coach Jay Gruden told reporters Wednesday. "He's got a lot of work to do _ personally, with the team, with the NFL, with himself _ before he even thinks about playing football again."
Foster's absence from the locker room Wednesday was noticeable. His old spot next to Richard Sherman was occupied by recent practice squad addition Max McCaffrey, who certainly doesn't have Foster's gregarious personality.
"I love Reuben the person," fellow linebacker Fred Warner said. "A lot of people talk about him as a player, I'm one of those guys that got to be with him in the (meeting) room and off the field, a lot. And so, I know what happened, what he was accused of was very serious. It's disappointing that he's not here anymore, but I'm happy for him regardless of what happens."
Said defensive tackle DeForest Buckner: "That's good for him. He gets another chance, another opportunity. I know everybody cares about him a lot in this organization, from top to bottom. So hopefully everything goes right with his case and he takes advantage of his new opportunity and, yeah, just make better decisions going forward."
The 49ers will move forward with Warner, Malcolm Smith and Elijah Lee at linebacker beginning Sunday in Seattle, where the team hasn't won since December 2011. San Francisco on Tuesday promoted James Onwualu from the practice squad after signing him Nov. 19.
