The Washington Post - 19.08.2019

MONDAY, AUGUST 19 , 2019. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU D5

winter. Neither he nor McCoy

have fully explained the details of

what happened and why McCoy

needed three operations on a

cracked fibula.

“This is probably his best

chance [to win the starting quar-

terback job],” running back Chris

Thompson said of McCoy, who

has spent the past five years in

Washington as a backup. “He’s

been a totally different quarter-

back [this summer]. He’s just

seeing everything. His throws

have been different. I know for

him, he thought this was his

chance.”

A few feet away, McCoy slowly

left the room Sunday. His foot

seemed to hurt even as he walked.

He looked at the floor and shook

his head. So many of his NFL

chances over the past 10 years

have been damaged by injuries

that have come at terrible times.

“Sooner or later, I’ll be back out

there,” he said.

[email protected]

what is wrong with his leg.

“It’s not quite right,” he said.

McCoy’s absence has turned

the quarterback competition into

a two-man battle between

Keenum and Haskins, with

Keenum appearing to have the

edge based on experience and the

fact he was worked with the

first-team offense for much of the

summer. Gruden said he hopes to

identify a starter after Thursday’s

third preseason game in Atlanta.

“They’re getting all the reps,

which is good. It’s not good for

Colt, obviously,” Gruden said.

“But what’s most important for

Colt is to get that thing to a point

where he can fire off it, push off it.

It’s his right leg, and so he’s not

getting enough push off it, and

until he’s 100 percent doing that,

I’m not going to put him out

there.”

Gruden has long suggested

that McCoy’s rush to come back at

the end of last season led to the

quarterback’s regression this

At the time, McCoy felt like he

might have been able to play that

final game and he seemed sure he

would be healthy for offseason

workouts, ready to fight for a job

opened up by Alex Smith’s poten-

tially career-ending broken leg.

McCoy had complications in

his recovery, however, and even-

tually had the three surgeries that

forced him to miss all of the

organized team activities and

minicamps. He returned for

training camp and spoke passion-

ately about trying to win the

starting role.

Less than two weeks into

camp, however, he hobbled out of

a practice, rested for a week,

practiced the last two days of the

Richmond camp and worked only

in individual drills in the first

workout Tuesday in Ashburn. He

has not practiced since.

McCoy said he has seen re-

nowned foot specialist Robert

Anderson “a couple of times” but

does not seem to know exactly

possibly more.

“It may not be the end of camp.

It may be two or three weeks into

the season,” Gruden said. “We

don’t know yet. There is no time-

table for him until he feels

100 percent and can push off that

leg. Until that time comes he’s

going to be rehabbing.”

Later, he seemed to take back

that projection, saying he doesn’t

“anticipate him being out too

long.”

Still, the fact McCoy’s leg isn’t

right almost nine months after he

cracked his right fibula in the

team’s Dec. 3 loss at Philadelphia

is concerning. Doctors operated

on the leg, hoping to cut the

healing time to two weeks with

the thought that McCoy could

return for the season’s final game

against Philadelphia — a point

that became moot when the Red-

skins were eliminated from play-

off contention.

REDSKINS FROM D1

Excerpted from
washingtonpost.com/redskins

Moreau’s ankle sprain

is newest injury issue

Jay Gruden wasn’t excited to talk
about injuries as the Washington
Redskins returned to practice
Sunday after a pair of off-days,
reminding the media that he is
not required to give injury report
details like during the regular
season. The coach then spent
much of his post-practice session
being asked about injuries
anyway.
“Everybody’s okay and getting
better,” Gruden said at the outset.
“That took away all the questions,
didn’t it?”
The Redskins made it through
Thursday’s 23-13 loss to the
Cincinnati Bengals fairly healthy.
Running back Shaun Wilson,
carted off the field with an ankle
issue, had the only major injury.
Defensive lineman Tim Settle
exited with a knee injury, but he
was at practice working in the
rehab area. That stage is typically
a sign that someone is
progressing and is able to do
specific unpadded work. Fellow
defensive lineman Caleb Brantley
(shoulder), cornerback Danny
Johnson (knee), running back
Bryce Love (knee) and wide
receiver Paul Richardson Jr. (leg)
were all in the rehab area during
practice. Richardson’s absence
was mostly precautionary.
Cornerback Fabian Moreau did
not practice in what was the
newest development on the
injury front. Gruden said it was
an ankle sprain, but he declined
to elaborate on the severity. He
was not forced from the game
because of the injury.
Things were looking up for the
defense as the thin inside
linebacker corps got Shaun Dion
Hamilton and Cole Holcomb back
on the field. Hamilton (chest) and
Holcomb (shoulder) were held
out of the Bengals game, but both
were on the field in pads and
participating Sunday. The
Redskins signed undrafted rookie
free agent Gary Johnson to help
the numbers at the position; it
was already thin before those two
injuries.
Any mention of injuries is a
delicate situation for the
Redskins as complaints have
arisen about their medical staff.
Pro Bowl tackle Trent Williams
continues to hold out of camp, in
part, because of his displeasure
with a growth on his scalp being
misdiagnosed.
“I have faith in the trainers and
the doctors,” Gruden said. “That’s
all you can do, and then the
players have to buy in and do
what they have to do to get ready.
Some of these injuries take time;
there’s no rhyme or reason. Look
around the league. Some ankle
sprains last a week, some last six
weeks, some last eight weeks, and
then it could be a different degree.

... So it’s up to the players to do
the work, the doctors to give them
the direction, and the trainers to
work them. And I feel like we have
a good enough staff to do that.”
— Kareem Copeland

REDSKINS NOTES

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Former NFL running back

Cedric Benson, one of the most

prolific rushers in NCAA and Uni-

versity of Texas history, died in a

motorcycle accident in Texas. He

was 36.

Benson’s attorney, Sam Bassett,

said Austin law enforcement told

him that Benson was killed in the

wreck Saturday night. He had no

details about the accident.

Benson was a key player in the

Longhorns’ resurgence under

coach Mack Brown, who said Sun-

day that Benson’s death has left

him grief-stricken.

Benson played at Texas from

2001 to 2004, and his 5,540 yards

are second at the university and

ninth in NCAA history.

Benson was drafted No. 4 by the

Bears in 2005 and helped Chicago

reach the playoffs the following

season. He had his finest years

with Cincinnati from 2008 to 2011,

taking over as the featured back

on a team that made the playoffs

twice but lost in the first round

each time.


RAIDERS: General Manager

Mike Mayock told disgruntled

wide receiver Antonio Brown it’s

time to decide whether he’s “all-in

or all-out” about playing this sea-

son after losing a fight with the

NFL over his helmet.

Mayock issued a statement to

reporters that the Raiders re-

leased in a video on Twitter ex-

pressing his frustration that

Brown didn’t participate in prac-

tice Sunday despite being healed

from the frostbitten feet that have

sidelined him for most of training

camp.

Brown also lost a grievance

with the league to allow him to use

a helmet that is no longer certified

as safe. Brown had hoped to find a

newer version of his preferred hel-

met that could be approved, but

Pro Football Talk reported that the

league determined the helmet

failed a test.


CHARGERS: All-pro safety

Derwin James will have surgery

on his right foot this week and

could miss three months. Coach

Anthony Lynn said after Los Ange-

les’s 19-17 exhibition loss to New

Orleans that James has opted for

surgery after more evaluations the

past couple days. He suffered a

stress fracture of the fifth metatar-

sal of his right foot during Thurs-

day’s practice against the Saints.


JETS: Le’Veon Bell’s debut

will not come until the regular

season after Coach Adam Gase

announced the star running back

will be held out of the final two

preseason games.

Gase and the Jets don’t want to

take any unnecessary risks with

Bell, who signed a four-year,

$52 million contract and will be a

major part of the offense.

NFL NOTES

Former

RB Benson

is killed in

Texas crash

McCoy no longer in the running to start

JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST

Quarterback Colt McCoy had three offseason surgeries on his right leg and consulted a foot specialist. Still, “it’s not quite right,” he said.

BY JACOB BOGAGE

south williamsport, pa. —
Justin Lee is becoming a known
quantity for baseball fans of all
ages.
The 12-year-old from South
Riding threw the second no-hitter
for Loudoun South American Lit-
tle League at the Little League
World Series in an 11-0 win
against Midwest champion Min-
nesota on Sunday.
The boys from Virginia, the
Southeast region champions,
have been dominant in their first
two games here. And they have
yet to allow a hit.
Lee, Liam Thyen and Chase
Obstgarten combined to shut
down New England champion
Rhode Island, 3-0, on Friday. Lee
returned to the mound Sunday
and went the distance at Howard
J. Lamade Stadium.
On 54 pitches, 32 of them
strikes, Lee struck out six and
walked two. The game ended af-
ter 3^1 / 2 innings under Little
League margin-of-victory rules.
“I have no words. It’s just, I
guess sometimes you get lucky,
and this week has been very fortu-
nate for me,” Lee said. “I’ve been
getting to meet a lot of cool peo-
ple. This whole thing, being here
is all great, and getting to throw
two no-hitters feels amazing.”
Virginia is the sixth team in
Little League World Series history
to throw multiple no-hitters in
the same tournament. This year’s

World Series already has had

three no-hitters, including one by

Caribbean champion Curaçao.

Virginia will face West cham-

pion Hawaii or Mid-Atlantic

champ New Jersey at 7:30 p.m.

Wednesday in the U.S. semifinals.

Sunday’s win was another leg

in a dream ride for Loudoun

South and Manager Alan

Bowden. He has coached the

team’s nucleus for a number of

years, and 10 of the 13 players on

this year’s team were on the 11-

year-old squad that won the dis-

trict and advanced to a regional

semifinal a year ago. Bowden and

the team’s assistant coaches have

been banking leave time at work

ever since, just in case this year’s

team made it all the way to South

Williamsport.

And on Sunday, fresh off the

win over Rhode Island and more

accustomed to the attention that

surrounds the players here —

games are broadcast nationally,

and fans seek out players for

autographs as they walk through

the ballpark village — Loudoun

South was ready for Minnesota.

Lee cruised through the first

two innings with three strikeouts

while inducing weak contact.

Thyen, in center field, robbed

Minnesota of its best chance at a

hit with a diving catch of a bloop-

er behind second base to end the

top of the second inning. Lee

barely needed help from his de-

fense after that; his teammates

calmly made routine play after

routine play.

Virginia pushed across three

runs in the first on Thyen’s bases-

clearing double, then added five

in the second with a pair coming

on a double by Colton Hicks.

Three more runs in the third

made it 11-0.

“Our 1, 2 and 3 batters always

get on and always get big hits in

big moments. And me and Colton,

I feel like, especially Colton, he’s a

really good power hitter,” Thyen

said. “We are a very good hitting

team, and from the top to the

bottom everyone can hit and ev-

eryone contributes to the game.”

Lee kept rolling on the mound,

mixing a curveball with a fastball

at a velocity hitters this age sel-

dom encounter. After walking the

first batter in the third inning, he

retired the side on a strikeout,

popout and bunt. He walked the

leadoff man in the fourth, too, but

got the first out on a fielder’s

choice and the second on a strike-

out.

As the potential final out came

to the plate, Bowden asked the

official scorer to verify Lee’s pitch

count; players are limited in how

many pitches they can throw,

based on mandatory days of rest.

Lee had a few more pitches before

he would be forced out of the

contest.

“I was thinking to myself, ‘I’m

not going to walk this kid,’ ” Lee

said. “I really wanted this.”

Lee blew a 1-2 fastball past the

Minnesota batter, then threw his

hands in the air in triumph. First

baseman Matt Coleman ran

toward Lee and jumped on him as

teammates gathered around.

Lee said he didn’t know wheth-

er he had ever thrown a no-hitter

during the regular season at

Loudoun South. He won’t forget

these two.

[email protected]

Loudoun South squad delivers another no-hitter at LLWS

VIRGINIA 11,

MINNESOTA 0

GENE J. PUSKAR/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Justin Lee, center, struck out six and walked two as Loudoun South advanced to the U.S. semifinals.