Chris Thompson wiped away tears trying to cope with how the Washington Redskins’ 2018 season ended. Following a shutout 24-0 loss in season finale, an emotional Thompson spoke to the media.
“We were onto something early on and then injuries started to take its toll, Thompson tearfully said, per John Keim of ESPN. “Go out like that just sucks. Every year I love this team more and more, I love these fans more. It’s just tough. .I feel like I let a lot of people down.”
Thompson had a rough season as well, battling back from a broken leg suffered last season, he endured a pair of rib injuries that held him out of six games this season.
Washington jumped out to a 6-3 record and first-place in the NFC East before the list of injuries piled up, including both Week 1 starting guards Brandon Scherff and Shawn Lauvao. But, the Redskins couldn’t overcome the biggest injury of yet, quarterback Alex Smith.
Smith suffered a broken fibula and tibia with a compound fracture in Week 11 against the Houston Texans. The Redskins offense suffered more than it already had, and they went on to lose six of their final seven games while going through a total of four quarterbacks — Colt McCoy, Mark Sanchez, and Josh Johnson — in the process due to injury and bad play.
Sunday’s loss to the Eagles was highlighted by FedEx Field, the Redskins’ home stadium, being packed by Eagles fans. The burgundy and gold seats were filled with green. The Redskins’ players were booed when they ran on the field and cheers rang out every play and moment in favor of the Eagles.
Thompson had his thoughts as well.
“I know everybody sees it,” Thompson said per Tarik El-Bashir of the Athletic. “We haven’t been too good this year, so what do you expect?
“We started off pretty good in that first half and then that second half, we started losing games,” Thompson added. “When you do that, you’re not going to get the support that you want and that you expect. You know for the longest it’s been…even when things are going good, everybody is expecting it to go downhill… As players, that’s something we gotta, want to change here.”
Thompson 446 yards from scrimmage and one touchdown in 10 games, highlighted by 41 receptions and 268 receiving yards. It was a far short of his 804 yards and six touchdowns he had in as many games in 2017. But, that’s how the Redskins’ season went. As Thompson struggled through his injuries, the Redskins offense suffered even with Smith at quarterback. Once again there are more questions than answers heading into another off-season.
Thompson’s honest and heartfelt reaction to the season is a stark contrast from perception of a player on a losing team. Unfortunately, Thompson’s been a part of quite a few in his six seasons in Washington.
