EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Left guard Shawn Lauvao strapped a gray walking boot onto his right foot and headed for the team bus. Cornerback Bashaud Breeland picked up his two backpacks, trying to find balance with the weight of the bags while on his crutches. His gray walking boot stood out against his otherwise all-black ensemble. Safety DeAngelo Hall spoke in hopeful terms, not sure what is wrong with his knee.
Sunday produced the season’s first win for the Redskins, but it also left them damaged and curious what was next. Breeland’s high right ankle sprain in the first quarter ended his day. Hall’s knee injury, which the team is concerned may be an ACL issue, happened late in the second quarter. He was moving up and down the sidelines with a clipboard and a wrapped knee the rest of the day. He will have an MRI done on Monday.
Lauvao’s ankle injury coupled with a calf injury to center Kory Lichtensteiger forced Pro-Bowl left tackle Trent Williams to left guard. Ty Nsekhe came in to play left tackle. Spencer Long was at center. The move shocked Williams. He had not played guard before.
“Never,” Williams said. “Never ever. Never. Not one time. Not a 1-on-1. Not a practice rep. Never.”
Williams had hoped to discuss it with offensive line coach Bill Callahan. It did not work that way.
“I seen Kory go down,” Williams said. “I see Spence taking off his gloves. Thought, all right, Spence is going to center. See Ty coming in. I’m like, all right, we got a really tall left guard, but we’re going to make it work. He gave me the finger, like, ’Hey, you got guard.’ I was like, ’What you mean?’ I was walking over to the sideline to ask coach, he was like, ’Yeah, man, you got to take it.’ Freak. I’ve only got 30 seconds to think about it. I just had to go with the flow.”
Hall said the Redskins considered simplifying the defensive concepts with Quinton Dunbar on the field for Breeland and rookie Su’a Cravens moved up in the pecking order because of Hall’s injury. They decided to stay with their concepts and the youngsters rewarded them. Each had an interception: Dunbar’s at the goal line, Cravens’ with 1:19 to play, which sealed the game.
Dunbar becomes an unlikely dual threat
Dunbar was switched last season from wide receiver to cornerback. He spent time learning his new priorities as a defender after a lifetime as a receiver.
Dunbar has also become an important part of Washington’s special teams coverage as the gunner. Mixing those elements produced two of the biggest plays in the Redskins’ win.
On fourth-and-12 from the Washington 48-yard line with 3:17 to play in the third quarter, punter Tress Way lofted a pass to Dunbar up the sideline. Teammates were stunned. Defensive lineman Ricky Jean Francois looked up and wondered why the punt had such a low trajectory. The Giants all watched Way’s lollipop head for Dunbar. He caught it for a 31-yard gain and an unlikely first down.
Dunbar said they had practiced the play during the week and that he was told on third down to be prepared to execute. The Redskins ended the drive with a 25-yard field goal.
His second career interception stoned the Giants at the goal line on the next possession. Dunbar was the first Washington player to have an interception and a reception in the same game since Champ Bailey on Dec. 24, 2000.
A first among ejections
Giants center Weston Richburg was ejected Sunday after being flagged twice for personal fouls. He’s the first player to be thrown out of a game under the league’s new rule of automatic ejection following two personal fouls. The rule was largely put in place because of Richburg’s teammate, wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who committed multiple penalties last season against Josh Norman, who was then with the Carolina Panthers, but was not thrown out.
“I can’t say anything about the call,” Richburg said. “Those are circumstances that I can’t control, so I have to do a better job and hang in there for my team.”
Four Redskins players protest during anthem
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson, tight end Niles Paul, cornerback Greg Toler and wide receiver Rashad Ross stood together and raised their fists during the national anthem on Sunday.
“Just felt like something has to be done,” Jackson said. “Something needs to happen in this country.”
Extra points: Punt returner/wide receiver Jamison Crowder had a careening 50-yard punt return, a 50-yard touchdown catch and one bad decision to not field the first punt of the day, which became a muff after it hit Dunbar and the Giants recovered. … Nickel back Dashaun Phillips left the game with a hamstring strain and did not return….Kicker Dustin Hopkins tied a team record for field goals in a single game by converting 5-of-5 field goal attempts.
• Todd Dybas can be reached at tdybas@washingtontimes.com.
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