On Monday, the Washington Commanders announced multiple roster moves to deal with injuries suffered by RB Austin Ekeler and DE Deatrich Wise in the loss to the Packers on Thursday.
There had been multiple earlier reports that Ekeler and Wise had suffered season-ending injuries. Ekeler was reported to have suffered a torn ACL, while Wise had a left quad injury. Both have now been placed on the Injured Reserve list.
To fill their open roster spots, the team signed DE Jalyn Holmes and WR Chris Moore.
Holmes had first joined the Commanders in October last year and appeared in 11 regular season games and 3 playoff games, collecting 2 sacks and 17 total tackles as part of the DE rotation. Moore was spent time on Washington’s practice squad starting in December 2024 and impressed observers during offseason practices and training camp, but failed to make the 53-man roster after disappointing in preseason games. Washington went into the season with only 5 wide receivers, so his addition should bring the receiver group to full strength.
No running back was signed to the regular roster to replace Ekeler since the Commanders went into the season with 4 running backs on the 53-man roster and veteran Chris Rodriguez had been inactive for each of the first two games. Expectations are that Rodriguez will fill the roster void left by Ekeler’s injury.
The Commanders did, however, sign a running back to the practice squad. Chase Edmonds is a 29-year old veteran who was selected in the 4th round of the 2018 draft by the Cardinals. After 4 seasons in Arizona, where he played under Kliff Kingsbury for 3 years, he signed in 2022 as a free agent with the Dolphins, who traded him mid-season to the Broncos. Edmonds signed a pair of one-year contracts with the Buccaneers in 2023 and 2024, but missed the entire ‘24 season due to an injury in preseason. He will now try to extend his NFL career in Washington.
