Washington head coach Ron Rivera said on Monday that tests indicated tight end Logan Thomas did not tear his ACL during Sunday’s win over the Raiders and he also discussed his feelings about how Thomas got hurt.
Raiders defensive end Yannick Ngakoue dove at Thomas’ legs as Thomas came toward him while both players were well away from the action on a running play in the fourth quarter. Rivera said that he thought Ngakoue’s move was unnecessary.
“I thought the play was avoidable,” Rivera said, via John Keim of ESPN.com. “It was unfortunate hit the hit occurred. . . . it was low . . . like to see him use his hands . . . I felt it was something that was avoidable.”
The NFL altered the rule on illegal blocks below the waist this offseason to make it a foul for offensive and defensive players to initiate contact below the waist, but only if the contact occurs beyond five yards on either side of the line of scrimmage and more than two yards outside of either offensive tackle.