It took 11 months, but Redskins tight end Derek Carrier finally returned to the field in last week’s victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Carrier, who tore ligaments in his right knee in Week 14 last year against the Chicago Bears, received nine offensive snaps and five snaps on special teams in his season debut.
Carrier said his knee felt good in his limited role. He missed the competition and the ability to suit up with his teammates while he was recovering from the injury. He was activated off the physically unable to perform list last week, receiving just a week of practice before serving as the team’s third tight end as the Redskins placed Niles Paul on injured reserve. Carrier said despite the lack of practice time to prepare for the physicality of the game, he handled it well against the Vikings.
“It felt really good,” Carrier said. “I think it’s once you get out there and get a sense of what it’s going to be like in the game, you’re a lot more comfortable – or I was at least – especially just in my knee and coming back from it.”
Carrier, 26, said the recovery mode is still ongoing with his knee. He must remain proactive in order to avoid any setbacks now that he’s back on the field. It will be difficult to receive a larger role, however. Carrier is behind Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis, who have both played well this season, but Redskins Coach Jay Gruden believes Carrier will have more of an impact as his health improves.
“He’s still coming back from that injury,” Gruden said. “We had to kind of push him along a little bit quicker than we wanted to because of Niles’ [Niles Paul’s] injury. We were hoping to get a couple good weeks of practice before we activated him, but since Niles went down, we put him in there. But he felt good and he feels good today, and he’s going to continue to get better and better. But I think he’ll play more in the three-tight-end sets I think the better he feels and the more he plays.”
