Samuel’s setback might leave team shorthanded

But WFT says it is still confident in receiving corps

“He came out, warmed up and he wasn’t feeling quite as well as we hoped he would. So we’ll continue to monitor it and see how he is [Thursday] morning.”

— Ron Rivera, Washington Football Team coach, on receiver Curtis Samuel

Curtis Samuel couldn’t hide his frustration. The veteran wide receiver, who signed a three-year deal in March to become a focal point of Washington’s offense, has been dealing with a persistent groin injury that, on Wednesday, appeared to flare up again during the early individual period of practice.

After running a couple of routes without a defender, Samuel walked to the sideline, shook his head when teammates approached him and awaited the team’s head athletic trainer, who stretched him out before leading him to the side field.

Samuel, who was officially listed as a non-participant on the team’s practice report, had just returned to the field after a three-and-a-half-month absence, but his availability for the team’s season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday no longer appears as promising.

“He came out, warmed up and he wasn’t feeling quite as well as we hoped he would,” coach Ron Rivera said. “So we’ll continue to monitor it and see how he is [Thursday] morning.”

For many teams, this would be a major concern: one of their star playmakers dealing with an injury with an unknown timetable for recovery. But this offseason, in addition to signing Samuel, Washington added playmakers to pair with a veteran quarterback in Ryan Fitzpatrick. The team’s depth and versatility at receiver — a stark change from last year, when it was

depleted at the position from the outset — may ultimately save the offense if Samuel is unable to play, or play at full health.

“The unique part about it is we got some young guys who have been able to get some reps while he’s been out and they’ve developed really well,” Washington’s leading receiver Terry McLaurin said. “We have confidence in those guys if Curtis can’t go on Sunday, but he’s in the game plan, so we’re just going to have to see what happens from there.”

Samuel’s absence for the entire offseason and training camp created ample opportunity for those behind him in the receivers room. And although his effectiveness in both the pass game and run game can’t be replicated, Washington does have options to help make up for Samuel’s absence if he cannot play Sunday.

The team’s newest pieces include rookie receivers Dyami Brown and Dax Milne, who flashed in camp and proved capable of playing beyond their college reputations. At North Carolina, Brown excelled on the go route, blazing past defenders with his speed before lunging to make contested catches. Milne, a seventh-round pick out of Brigham Young, was a no-star recruit coming out of high school who walked on in college and turned into Zach Wilson’s top target. Though he lacks eye-catching top-end speed, Milne dropped only one pass in camp and impressed McLaurin with his attention to detail on his routes.

“They don’t really play like rookies,” McLaurin said of Brown and Milne. “They’ll have some mistakes here and there, but those are growing pains. But both of them, I call them ‘Silent Assassins.’ They don’t really talk too much ... but they go in and they do their job and they make plays. And for two young guys to come in here and do that at such an early time in their careers when we haven’t even played games, that builds confidence in ... our coaches and that builds confidence in their teammates that if they have an opportunity to go into the game, they’re going to make the play if it comes to them.”

The oft-overlooked player in the group is also one of the most familiar: Cam Sims, the former practice squad player who had a career year last season with 32 catches for 477 receiving yards and a touchdown. At 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, Sims has the size and athleticism to leap over corners and tack on extra yards (he led Washington’s receivers with an average of 7.8 yards after the catch last season). Yet he also has the instincts to just be in the right place at the right time.

“Cam is a guy I didn’t know a whole lot about when I got here,” Fitzpatrick said. “I reached out to Alex Smith and just said, ‘Alex, I really like this Cam Sims. Am I seeing things correctly?’ Same response from him.

“[Sims] is so quarterback-friendly,” Fitzpatrick continued. “You can put him everywhere, he’s a big body, very reliable, he’s going to be in the right spot, but he’s also a down-the-field that’s going to go above the rim and be able to get the ball . ... He’s had a great offseason and he’s one of my favorites out there.”

Washington also signed a reliable slot receiver in Adam Humphries, who played with Fitzpatrick in Miami, and added more speed with DeAndre Carter, who doubles as the team’s top returner.

Offensive coordinator Scott Turner runs a version of the Air Coryell offense that his father Norv Turner ran in Washington and Carolina (among other stops) and emphasizes stretching the field vertically. So Washington set out to get faster and more explosive, believing Fitzpatrick, with his 16 seasons of experience, could pull the strings on it all.

To make it all go, Turner has said it’s paramount that the team has five reliable playmakers, something the team lacked last season.

“And it doesn’t have to be like playmakers like they’re going to catch the ball and score,” he said in an August interview. “It’s when we throw in the ball, they’re going to do the job that they need to get done, whether it’s moving the sticks, whether it’s catching a checkdown and making a first-and-10 a second-and-4, whether it is hitting a 60-yard touchdown. You need guys to fit roles.”