The Washington Football Team added defensive end James Smith-Williams and cornerback Darryl Roberts to the reserved/COVID-19 list. The pair of defensive players join star defensive end Montez Sweat and linebacker Khaleke Hudson in COVID-19 protocols.
Both Sweat and Hudson were already unavailable on injured reserve. Hudson was placed on IR earlier this week with an ankle injury and expected to miss the next three games at minimum. Sweat, however, was set to return to practice this week from a fractured jaw after missing four games.
Roberts has been seldom used. But Smith-Williams’ absence may loom largest. The late additions to the COVID-19 list makes Smith-Williams unavailable for Sunday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys.
With Chase Young already out with a torn ACL, Washington will be without their top-three defensive ends from their Week 1 depth chart for a pivotal divisional game.
Smith-Williams has started the last four games with Sweat out. He’s collected at least 0.5 sack in three of his last five games. He’s produced five pressures along the way.
Washington will have Casey Toohill, Daniel Wise, Shaka Toney, Bunmi Rotimi and William Bradley-King at defensive end against the high-powered passing attack of the Cowboys.