ARLINGTON, TEXAS | Jordan Reed jumped, reached and then landed hard in the back of the end zone in the second quarter. He stayed down after taking a hit while in mid-air before he slammed into the field. Reed would eventually stand, walk off the field and head to the locker room.
His return was crucial and questionable. Reed had sprained his left shoulder. He wasn’t sure if he would come back. Neither was his coach. Yet, after a couple warmup catches with backup quarterback Colt McCoy before the third quarter began, Reed determined he could go back on the field.
“I didn’t think I was going to come back,” Reed said. “I started moving it around and I felt better. Felt like I had a chance to play, so I tried.”
At that point, Reed had two catches for 15 yards. By the end of the game, Reed led the pass-happy Redskins with 10 receptions for 95 yards and two touchdowns. He also paid a severe price for pushing through on the field. A teammate helped him to take off the shirt he wears under his jersey when they were back in the locker room after the game. Another Redskins staffer helped Reed yank a black Air Jordan T-shirt over his shoulders some time later. Reed grimaced and groaned when he had to raise his left arm to get the T-shirt on.
Reed could have waited until next week to play again. Instead, he helped keep the Redskins in touch with the Dallas Cowboys throughout a wild second half when the teams combined for 34 fourth-quarter points.
“I love playing football,” Reed said. “I love playing with my teammates. When I’m not out there, it’s more pain than what I’m feeling. I just wanted to be out there to help my team.”
Reed, who said he noticed the pain the entire second half, scored the Redskins’ final touchdown with 1:53 to play. As he sat out his locker, he described the pain even after the game as “severe.”
EXTRA POINTS: The Redskins running game had been rolling in prior weeks. It stalled Thursday. Running back Robert Kelley ran for just 37 yards. Washington players will take the next three days off after playing three games in 11 days.
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