The Season is Over for Portis & Redskins

Big news out of Redskins Park! Starting running back Clinton Portis has been placed on injured reserve, ending his 2006 season. Portis was originally expected to miss 3 to 4 weeks with a broken right hand, but team officials have decided to put him on IR so he can have the shoulder surgery that he would have under gone after this season was over.

This is the correct thing for the team to do because, for the Redskins, the season is over. At 3-6, it would have taken a miracle for them to make the playoffs. Portis has not been himself since injuring his shoulder while tackling a defensive back after an interception in the first preseason game of the year.

Having the surgery now means that Portis will have much more time to recover and may even be ready for off season workouts and conditioning. Therefore, the effects on his 2007 season will be minimized, if not eliminated.

Portis played in 8 of 9 games this season, and started 7 of those games. He will finish the season with 127 carries for 523 yards, a 4.1 yards-per-carry average, and seven touchdowns. He also caught 17 passes for 170 yards. His previous career low for rushing yards over an entire season was more than 1,300 yards in 2004, his first year in Washington. This will be the first time in his career that he will be out of action for an extended period, and his first time on IR.