Tight end Logan Paulsen will miss the entire 2015 regular season after having surgery on his toe, head coach Jay Gruden confirmed on Saturday.
That, two days after the team heard that they'll also be without Niles Paul for the duration after dislocating his ankle on a downfield block in their 20-17 win at Cleveland.
In a flash, the Redskins find themselves with two gaping holes at the position. All that remains of the starting triumverate is Jordan Reed, who, though a brilliant pass catcher, is nursing a strained hamstring from Thursday's game in Ohio.
So Jay Gruden has some work to do.
He said on Saturday the club will bring in some free agents to try out for the new openings, though he and general manager Scot McCloughan say they are more interested in seeing some of the youth already on the roster raise their game and take the new opportunities.
"We've got [Je'Ron] Hamm, [Devin] Mahina, and [Chase] Dixon, and we will have to make do with those guys and see what they have," Gruden said. "We'll work out a couple of guys out here shortly, but we have three players in-house that are capable right now and we have to work to get them better."
The problem with those players? They don't have a moment's NFL experience.
"It's something that they're a work in progress, and these weeks leading up to the first regular season game are going to be very important," Gruden added, with the Lions and Ravens still to come on the summer schedule. "You've got Detroit, obviously. You have a very tough Baltimore front. We have some games that we can get a good look."
Many of those good looks were supposed to be the property of Niles Paul, who built himself up over the offseason in preparation of a new role blocking the run and pass, and Logan Paulsen had been their primary blocker. But with those options gone for the year, and Jordan Reed's talents residing elsewhere, the Redskins have their work cut out for them.
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