SATURDAY, 12:05pm: Washington has put Hayward on the IR, reports Mike Jones of The Washington Post (via Twitter).
FRIDAY, 10:00am: Washington linebacker and special-teamer Adam Hayward left Thursday’s game against the Lions with a knee injury, and according to John Keim of ESPN.com, Hayward has been diagnosed with a torn ACL. The injury will land Hayward on IR, sidelining him for the entire 2015 season.
A longtime reserve linebacker for the Buccaneers, Hayward signed a three-year contract with Washington before the 2014 season. In his first year with the club, the former sixth-round pick played almost exclusively on special teams, appearing in just 14 defensive snaps. In kick and punt coverage, Hayward was a key contributor for Washington, accumulating eight tackles before a leg injury forced him to miss the last five weeks of the season.
It’s the second big blow for Washinton’s special teams, as the team also lost tight end Niles Paul to a season-ending injury earlier this month. With Hayward and Paul out for the year, fullback Darrel Young figures to head up the special teams unit heading into the season.
In other injury news out of Washington, Robert Griffin III left last night’s game with a concussion, as Zac Boyer of the Washington Times writes. However, Mike Jones of the Washington Post tweets that the concussion isn’t believed to be severe, and it’s possible RGIII could return to the field next week against Baltimore, so it sounds like his regular-season availability isn’t in jeopardy for now.