The Commanders traded for cornerback Marshon Lattimore on Nov. 5. They have yet to see him play a game for them.
Lattimore has spent his time with the Commanders rehabbing a hamstring injury.
He returned to practice before Week 13’s game against the Titans, and the Commanders listed him as doubtful after limited practices all week before ruling him out. The Commanders had their off week in Week 14, when Lattimore got in more work.
“Last week went good,” coach Dan Quinn said, via video from the team. “A lot of top-speed running. Hitting all the markers as we’re moving along. He was able to participate in the work that we did today. As we’re getting into practice, we’re looking forward to get him regular practice with the guys. We’re very encouraged about all the work that he and the medical team have put in. He’s hitting all the steps along the way. We look forward to doing more in practice this week as well.”
The Commanders play in New Orleans on Sunday, so Lattimore surely has targeted the game for his return.
Quinn said Lattimore has hit “all the speeds, all the change of direction” to this point, allowing him to do more this week.
“We’ve put him through a lot of tests, all the strength, all the speed to go,” Quinn said. “He’s hit all the markers up until now, so that process we have is a strict one for that reason — to keep the player safe and healthy. He’s done a really good job of making sure he could hit them. We’ll take that into practice now this week. Hopefully that’ll lead into a full week of practice and into the game, but until we get all the way to that spot, I’ll stay guarded and then give you guys updates as we get to Friday.”
The Commanders sent a third-, fourth- and sixth-round pick in the 2025 draft to the Saints in exchange for Lattimore and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
A report on Monday indicated that Saints quarterback Derek Carr is likely to miss the rest of the season after injuring his left hand in Sunday’s 14-11 win over the Giants, but Saints interim head coach Darren Rizzi gave a more optimistic update on Carr’s condition during his press conference.
Carr left the game after landing on his left hand while being hit at the end of a nine-yard run in the fourth quarter and Rizzi said after the game that he was also being evaluated for a concussion. On Monday, Rizzi confirmed that Carr is now in the concussion protocol while saying the hand injury is not something that will lead the Saints to rule him out for multiple weeks at this time.
“Derek’s dealing with a non-throwing hand injury,” Rizzi said. “As it stands at this moment, I don’t believe it’s going to be an IR situation, I think it’s going to be a week-to-week situation. We’re gonna kinda take this day by day this week. We’ll see how this week plays out. He is in the concussion protocol also so he’s gotta complete the first step of that tomorrow.”
The 5-8 Saints are still on the fringes of the NFC South race and their ability to stay there may impact any decisions about whether Carr will come back this season. A win over Washington in Week 15 will be a big part of any late run for the division and Rizzi declined to say if Jake Haener or Spencer Rattler would get the nod at quarterback if Carr is ruled out.
Saints quarterback Derek Carr has already missed time with one injury this season and now another may keep him out for the rest of the year.
Tests confirmed that Carr suffered a significant fracture in his non-throwing, left hand, according to NFL Media. He is expected to miss several weeks, and with just four games left, Carr is unlikely to be back in time to play again this season.
But the Saints may not place Carr on injured reserve to keep the possibility of the quarterback returning open.
Carr previously missed three games with an oblique injury suffered in the Saints’ loss to the Chiefs back in Week 5.
In his 11th season and second with New Orleans, Carr has completed 67.7 percent of his passes for 2,145 yards with 15 touchdowns and five interceptions.
Carr is under contract with the Saints for the next two seasons.
New Orleans has Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler available at quarterback to start in Carr’s absence.
The Commanders are getting a veteran back on the field this week.
Washington announced the club has opened the 21-day practice window for receiver Jamison Crowder.
Crowder has been on injured reserve since early October with a calf injury. He has appeared in two games this season, making one catch for 5 yards. He’s played just 12 offensive snaps and two special teams snaps.
Last season, Crowder caught 16 passes for 159 yards with a touchdown for the club.
Coming off their Week 14 bye, the Commanders will be on the road to face the Saints next Sunday.
Former Washington owner Daniel Snyder once said that he’d never get rid of the team’s former name. In time, he did.
Under new owner Josh Harris, the team has said it’s never bringing back the abandoned name and logo. And the team continues to send inconsistent messages about whether it eventually will bring back the logo, if not the name.
In May, we looked at the mixed signals the franchise had been sending, surmising that the team is testing the waters on the possibility of bringing back the logo, the name, or both.
Now, A.J. Perez of FrontOfficeSports.com reports that the team will be using the old logo on alumni shirts celebrating players who played for the team before the name was changed in 2020. The apparel is due to go on sale later this month.
But a team spokesperson tells Perez that "[t]here’s no appetite within the Commanders’ organization to bring the former ‘R’ icon with Native American imagery back as an official team logo even as part of a rebrand.”
There might be “no appetite” now. But appetites change. Especially when, as in the case of the alumni apparel, the team is rebooting the discarded recipe.
This seems to be part of a broader effort to ease the logo back into circulation. First, it’s alumni merchandise. Then, perhaps it’s a throwback uniform. In time, who knows?
The logo was never a problem, in and of itself. It was the word that had become, over time, a dictionary-defined slur.
And let’s face it. The political winds have changed. Those who oppose the prior logo and/or name are dismissed as “woke.” Many view last month’s presidential election as a referendum on that ideology — which, taken to its logical extension, will reverse many of the changes made four years ago.
The logo could be regarded as an acceptable compromise. Again, the name was the problem. Although baseball’s Cleveland Indians became the Guardians, the Chiefs continue to thrive without complaint, as to the name to the war chant to the tomahawk chop.
Times change. Appetites change. Ultimately, every pro sports franchise hopes to maximize revenue. Viewed solely as a business principle, the return of the old logo could generate a net financial gain for the Commanders
Then there’s the fact that Snyder is gone. That goes a long way toward opening the door for a dalliance with the old logo. The alumni gear represents the latest step.
Make no mistake about it. If the merchandise sells well and if the P.R. fallout is minimal, the team will continue to change its tune regarding the old logo.
Just like Snyder eating his words about the former team name, Harris possibly will be reversing course on the former logo. The only question is how long will it take?
It all depends on how the rollout of the old logo for alumni merchandise is received.
