Chase Young‘s season is officially over. On Monday, Washington head coach Ron Rivera confirmed that the defensive end has been diagnosed with a torn ACL (Twitter link via NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport). 
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This was the feared outcome yesterday when Young went down with zero contact. Washington went on to beat the Buccaneers 29-19, but it’s a bittersweet victory given today’s news. They’re now severely shorthanded up front, especially since Montez Sweat is still sidelined with a broken jaw.
Young, the No. 2 overall pick in 2020, finished his first year with Defensive Rookie of the Year honors. He had 7.5-sacks last year; this season will end with just 1.5 sacks and 25 total stops.
“It’s definitely sad,” defensive tackle Jon Allen said on Sunday (via ESPN.com). “It’s going to be tough, but knowing Chase’s personality, knowing the way he works and the kind of guy he is, he’ll come back stronger than ever.”
Without Young and Sweat, Washington is left with James Smith-Williams, Casey Toohill, Bunmi Rotimi, and rookie Shaka Toney at defensive end. They’ll look to add another edge rusher to the mix this week as they gear up for Sunday’s matchup with the Panthers.
Why NFL players don’t play with a brace on both knees I’ll never understand.
4 ligaments in there (8 if you count both knees) just weren’t made for that kinda torque with a 220 to 320 pound man riding on them.