Nick Allegretti was back in the training room a day after returning to practice, a sharp turn for a Washington team that said Friday morning at least 15 players were either recovering from injuries or still working their way back. The guard had missed more than three weeks with a strained calf muscle before coming back to the field on Tuesday, only to feel tightness in the same calf during practice.
That is why his name is drawing attention now: the Commanders have a preseason game in Detroit on Saturday, and Allegretti will sit that one out before being reevaluated on Sunday. Medical imaging showed no further damage to his leg, but his brief return and quick setback fit a camp that has been defined by soft tissue injuries and a string of absences across the roster.
The count is more than a nuisance. Laremy Tunsil is out indefinitely with a torn triceps. Johnny Newton had surgery on Wednesday for a pectoral muscle injury. Trey Amos has practiced only once all year because of a fractured fibula in November and then an ankle sprain after he came back. Marcus Mariota is working through a sprained MCL, while Rachaad White, Jeremy McNichols and Jerome Ford are out, along with Daron Payne, Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson.
Dan Quinn has tried to keep the injury run in perspective. Earlier this week he said Mariota was close to being available for Week 1, and he has also said White is close to returning. A team source has described Payne’s issue as minor. Even so, Friday’s injury total underscores how many parts of the roster are being managed at once, from the line to the backfield to the pass rush.
Quinn’s answer for some of the wear and tear has been to make training camp harder, not easier, after a 5-12 season. He changed the routine to raise the level of competition and intensity, and while the practices are not longer, the unscripted periods have often stretched them anyway. Washington’s camp last year was lighter, in part because several older veterans had built-in days off, but this one has demanded more from players already trying to stay healthy.
That is the friction now for Allegretti and the rest of Washington: the club does not sound alarmed that most of these injuries will be long-term, but it is still juggling enough of them to alter practice, the preseason schedule and the path toward Week 1. Allegretti’s Sunday check will tell the team whether his return was a brief stop or the start of a real comeback.
