The Washington Commanders' defense has taken another blow.
Commanders linebacker Jamin Davis has been placed on the injured reserve on Monday and will be out for the rest of the season. Davis suffered the injury on Dec. 3 against the Miami Dolphins and played through it to the end of the game.
Washington (4-9) head coach Ron Rivera said he was evaluated after the game, and it eventually led to him being placed on the IR.
"It happened during the game," Rivera said of Davis' injury. "He came off for a second, [doctors] checked [on] him, and he said he was fine. He went back out there [and] finished the game, but he was still having a little bit of trouble the next morning. They examined him and felt like he needed to get an MRI. After getting the MRI, they got a second opinion, and it went from there.
It was unfortunate. Young man has done a great job for us and [I'm] really excited about who he's becoming as a football player."
In 13 games, the third-year linebacker was second on the team with 89 tackles. Davis also had eight tackles for loss and tied a career-high with three sacks. He also had the first interception of his career, plus two forced fumbles. He also had a career-best four passes defended.
"As a will linebacker, playing that position and being able to read and get downhill," Rivera said of what Davis improved the most. "Watching him run through and make plays, watching him in his coverage, he got a tough assignment having to cover a lot of really good runningbacks and he was competitive doing that. The more he played, the better he seemed to get. Sure he made some mistakes, but he was really coming along."
The loss is another blow to a Commanders defense that ranks last in points allowed per game (30.4). They traded away their top two pass rushers Montez Sweat and Chase Young, and then they lost defensive end Efe Obada to a leg injury on Nov. 19.
The Commanders will look to snap a four-game losing streak on Sunday when they head to SoFi Stadium to face the Los Angeles Rams at 4:05 p.m. ET.
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