When Washington signed wide receiver Curtis Samuel last March, it was expecting him to be a significant contributor in 2021, opposite of his former college teammate Terry McLaurin.
Like many free-agent acquisitions in past years, things didn’t quite work out the way Washington envisioned. A groin injury in the summer led to surgery, and Samuel missed most of training camp. Anytime he’d appear close to a return, the team would shut him down.
Samuel began the regular season on injured reserve, with a designation to return. Samuel did return in Week 4 at Atlanta. He played 25 snaps and caught four passes for 19 yards. Everyone was optimistic Samuel’s workload would gradually increase over the next several weeks.
It never happened.
Samuel was shut down again after Week 5. He would miss the next five games. Samuel returned in Week 12, appearing briefly in the next three games, before missing the final five games.
Samuel caught six passes for 27 yards in year one and had four rushing attempts for 11 yards.
The wide receiver spoke to the media Monday and expressed frustration at his lost season but gave a positive health update going into the offseason.
“Going into the offseason, I’m mentally focused and locked in and really ready to go,” Samuel said. “I haven’t felt this way in a really long time. I’m going to put in so much work to try to put myself and the team in the best position next year to win games.”
Samuel said this is the best he’s felt all season.
Wait, what?
LIVE: WR Curtis Samuel speaks with the media https://t.co/zb9ZzfO58T
— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) January 10, 2022
Washington had a game Sunday; Samuel was not on IR, so if he was feeling great, why couldn’t he play?
Sure, it was a meaningless game, but if he’s healthy, why not activate him and give him a few snaps?
This begs the question, did Samuel tell Washington he didn’t feel right or did Washington act with too much caution with Samuel?
This was an unfortunate beginning to Samuel’s career in Washington. Perhaps he enters 2022 fully healthy and ready to go. Washington will likely have a new quarterback, and that new passer will need plenty of help.