Washington will face the Eagles on Sunday without Daron Payne, and it might be a lot longer than one game.
The Commanders ruled out their veteran defensive tackle Friday night, Oct. 30, after he hurt his foot at practice earlier that day. A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that X-rays showed the injury was significant, and NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo reported that Payne is likely headed to injured reserve, according to Pro Football Rumors, which added he could miss the rest of the season.
It happened fast. Payne was added to the practice report Friday afternoon as questionable after a limited session, Pro Football Talk noted. By the evening he was out, with more tests scheduled for Saturday to determine how much time he’ll miss, per CBS Sports. The team hadn’t released a diagnosis as of Friday night.
A thin interior line gets thinner
Payne has started all six of Washington’s games this season, with 14 combined tackles and a sack, according to the AP. He’s a nine-year veteran who has played all 136 of his career games in burgundy and gold.
He isn’t the only tackle missing Sunday. Coach Dan Quinn already ruled out Javon Kinlaw with a knee injury, and Jer’Zhan Newton is questionable with a pectoral injury while working back from injured reserve. That leaves Tim Settle, Shy Tuttle, Charles Omenihu and Deatrich Wise in line for bigger roles, CBS Sports noted.
The timing stings for a 1-4-1 team that lost Terry McLaurin to a torn patellar tendon just over a week ago. It also changes Payne’s own picture. He’s in a contract year and had come up as a possible trade candidate before the deadline, and Pro Football Rumors now expects him to stay put.
Why it matters
Here’s McGraw Media’s read: this matters more for Sunday than Payne’s stat line suggests. Without him and Kinlaw, Washington is down two of its defensive tackles against an Eagles team trying to snap a five-game losing streak, and Saquon Barkley returned to practice Friday after missing two sessions, per Eagles Wire. If Barkley plays, expect Philadelphia to lean on the run and test that rotation early. Washington already ranks last in the league in red-zone defense, so there wasn’t much margin to begin with. Saturday’s tests should tell us whether this is a short IR stay or something longer.
This story was drafted with AI assistance and fact-checked by McGraw Media.
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