Commanders LB Leo Chenal carted off vs. Seahawks with neck injury
Leo Chenal didn't walk off the field. Washington's linebacker was placed on a backboard and carted off in the second quarter of Sunday's game against Seattle with a neck injury, and the entire Commanders team surrounded him while medical staff worked, per Yahoo Sports.
The play came late in the second quarter, after Chenal made a tackle. He appeared to take a knee to the head. ESPN confirmed he was carted off with the neck injury. None of the initial reports included an update on his condition.
Washington won the game 33-31. That's the second-most important thing that happened in the building.
Seattle's Sam Darnold finished 31-of-45 for 379 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught 10 passes for 128 yards and two scores. Some of that came after Chenal left, and not all of it should be pinned on his absence. Darnold's two picks happened in the same afternoon. Still, the Commanders finished the game without their linebacker, and Darnold's 8.4 yards per attempt is the number that should concern the defensive staff when they turn on the tape Monday.
Here's the part that matters more than the final score. Neck injuries get treated conservatively in the NFL, and that's the correct approach. A player who leaves on a backboard does not get rushed back for a division race in September, and Washington shouldn't pretend otherwise no matter what the imaging shows.
The football side of it is separate, and it doesn't favor the Commanders. Losing a starting linebacker mid-game forces a defense to simplify, and Darnold spent the second half throwing against whatever Washington patched together. If Chenal misses multiple weeks, the Commanders' front seven is the unit that decides whether this team is a playoff team or a 33-31 coin flip every Sunday.
My verdict: Chenal's availability, not Sunday's win, is the story of Washington's next month. Plan for the linebacker room to be short, and don't spend a single snap of his recovery trying to accelerate it.
