It appears everything has gone smoothly in Redskins running back Derrius Guice‘s recovery. Washington has cut running back Craig Reynolds in order to clear the way for Guice’s return, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network tweets.
Guice missed his entire rookie season after tearing his ACL during the preseason, and complications from surgery prolonged his initial recovery. Everyone was excited to see what he would look like in 2019, but after carrying the ball ten times for 18 yards in Week 1, he was placed on injured reserve again with a knee issue. After missing the requisite eight games, it looks like he’s going to be ready to roll in Week 11 following Washington’s bye. He returned to practice recently.
Guice has had a lot of tough luck during his short time in the pros, and hopefully he’s able to stay healthy this time around. Guice was viewed by many as the second-best running back in the 2018 draft class behind Saquon Barkley, but he fell to the Redskins with the 59th pick amid rumors of off-field issues. It’ll be very interesting to see how interim Redskins coach Bill Callahan divides the playing time in his backfield moving forward.
Callahan has committed the team to running the ball a lot more, and has been pounding the rock with Adrian Peterson since he took over for Jay Gruden. Washington isn’t going anywhere this season, so they’ll likely be cautious with Guice at first. At the same time, they obviously want to see what they have in a young guy who has barely played in his first two seasons. Reynolds is an undrafted rookie from D-II school Kutztown, who was promoted from the practice squad a few weeks back.