J.D.

McKissic

The Commanders save $1.29 million against the salary cap with the move. McKissic, 29, missed half the 2022 season with a scary neck injury he suffered in early November. He had 150 receptions in 35 games for Washington since the start of the 2020 season, working as a pass-catching specialist and a frequent dump-off option for the team’s cast of quarterbacks, including Taylor Heinicke. McKissic, who was second among all running backs in targets in 2020, should land elsewhere as a rotational backfield option if he’s fully recovered from his neck injury. It would make too much sense for the Commanders to utilize Antonio Gibson as more of a pass catcher out of the backfield. Look for Washington to add a McKissic replacement this offseason.

He was reportedly meeting with a specialist in the middle of last season, but was placed on IR with the expectation that he needed a few months of rehab. It does not sound like, inferring from this sentence, the rehab has been all that successful at fixing the neck issue. McKissic has a $3.23 million cap hit next season, in the final non-void year of his contract, and the Commanders can save $1.2 million by cutting him.

McKissic missed the last two games and was ruled out this week. McKissic’s neck injury is serious enough to shut him down for the season and expected to require a “few months of rehab.” The good news is this doesn’t look career ending for the 29-year-old. McKissic going on IR clears a spot for DE Chase Young (knee) on the active roster.

McKissic has been ruled out for Week 11 against the Texans. Antonio Gibson should continue functioning as the Commanders’ primary pass-catching back in McKissic’s absence. Gibson and Brian Robinson are both RB2 options against one of the league’s worst rush defenses this week.

McKissic continues to trend in the wrong direction for Sunday’s game against the Texans. The veteran running back has missed each of the team’s last two games with this injury and appears likely to miss a third straight. Assuming he’s held out, Antonio Gibson will have some upside in the passing game but has only caught five passes on six targets over the last two weeks.

McKissic has missed two games with the neck injury and is on track to sit out for a third straight game. In his absence, Antonio Gibson has five catches for 25 yards while giving up some routes to Brian Robinson. In a great matchup versus the Texans’ defense, Gibson will be an RB3 if McKissic can’t suit up.

McKissic misses his second straight game since going down in Week 8. Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson will continue to see larger workloads with McKissic sidelined.

He hasn’t practiced since suffering the injury in Week 8 and looks unlikely to suit up for Week 10. It would take a Saturday miracle for McKissic to even get on the questionable line. Antonio Gibson and Brian Robinson will continue to get minor workload bumps if their committee-mate is down.

The Commanders did not update McKissic’s status since they said he’d see a specialist last week -- to be fair, they’ve been busy -- but the DNP is a good sign that this absence will likely stretch longer than one week. This is their first injury report of the week as they appear on MNF against the Eagles, but McKissic would need to show rapid recovery to suit up.

Gibson’s longest reception of 11 yards came on the game’s final play, in which he tried and failed to get out of bounds for Washington to run a final desperation play while down by a field goal. It was a letdown of an outing for Gibson with J.D. McKissic (neck) sidelined. Brian Robinson saw two targets while functioning as the team’s primary early-down banger. A week after he targeted running backs 13 times, Taylor Heinicke threw to Washington backs on just five of his 28 attempts against Minnesota. Gibson last week caught all seven of his targets and scored a receiving touchdown, suggesting he would be the go-to pass-catching RB with McKissic sidelined. Perhaps he will be in a more pass-heavy game script, which we could see in Week 10 when the Commanders take on the all-powerful Eagles. Gibson should function as a low-end RB2 for as long as McKissic is out.