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Commanders dealing with multiple running back injuries
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- Commanders dealing with multiple running back injuries
Commanders dealing with multiple running back injuries
The Washington Commanders are already thin at running back.
We aren't even through the preseason, and the Commanders will need to be careful with their running back group. Thursday at training camp practice, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, aka Bill, caught a pass "and seemed to pull up a little bit," as reported by Ben Standig.
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The Commanders have already lost Jerome Ford. Ford, who had signed in the offseason from the Cleveland Browns , was injured during last week's preseason game against the Miami Dolphins . During the broadcast, you could see for just a second that Ford was clearly hurting while on the field. Sure enough, an examination revealed Ford's hamstring injury was severe, as the Commanders have already declared Ford to be placed on the injured reserve, and he is out for the season. Ford had gained 813 rushing yards in 2023, and in 2024 he averaged 5.4 yards per carry on his 104 rushing attempts.
Another free agent signing, Rachaad White, has also been nursing a sore hamstring. He missed the preseason game against the Dolphins last week, having injured his hamstring during the scrimmage against the Dolphins two days earlier. White's hamstring injury is not nearly as serious as Ford's. In fact, White was at practice Thursday and did some light individual work. He has been ruled out for Saturday's preseason game against the Lions .
RB Jeremy McNichols' quadriceps injury has been well-documented here previously. McNichols excelled in the 2024 and 2025 training camps, winning the final running back spot due to his play on coverage teams and his ability and willingness in pass protection. He has already missed a couple of weeks, and his likelihood to make the roster has greatly decreased with the play last week of rookie backs Kaytron Allen and Robert Henry Jr.
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Both Allen and Henry played well against the Dolphins, and barring injury, both will receive plenty of the workload in Saturday's game in Detroit. Some will recall Henry also was given the opportunity to return kickoffs and punts last week against the Dolphins.
Lastly, the Commanders signed Craig Reynolds after losing Ford for the season. Reynolds was with the Patriots in 2025 after the Lions released him, who had employed Reynolds from 2021-2025. Some Washington fans will recall that Reynolds got his start in 2019 with the Washington Redskins. That's right: Reynolds signed as an undrafted free agent but was released at the end of August after the preseason. Brought back to the practice squad, Reynolds was promoted to the active roster, appeared in three games, and was again released.
It might be advisable for the Commanders to give as many carries as they can to Reynolds on Saturday. The reason is that, being thin at running back, there will be plenty of carries and snaps for running backs on Saturday. In addition, they still have a scrimmage and a preseason game against the Ravens next week.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders dealing with multiple running back injuries
