It will take some more time to find out whether Washington’s flier on running back Bryce Love will actually fly.
After being drafted by Washington in round four, Love said that he hoped to be able to practice by the middle of training camp, as he recovers from a torn ACL suffered during the 2018 college season. On Wednesday, Washington coach Jay Gruden made it clear that this won’t be happening.
“Bryce is on [the non-football injury list] still,” Gruden told reporters. “He’s still recovering. It will be a little while for him.”
It will apparently be more than a little while, given Gruden’s answer to the question of whether Love will be ready to join the 53-man roster when the season starts.
“I don’t think he’ll be on our active roster Week One,” Gruden said.
If he remains on NFI into Week One, Love will miss at least the first six weeks of the regular season.
Washington still has an embarrassment of riches at tailback, with 2018 second-rounder Derrius Guice, veteran Adrian Peterson, and Samaje Perine, a player about whom Gruden periodically gushes. Washington also has veteran Chris Thompson, along with a smattering of youngsters.
So they don’t need Love. And there’s a chance he’ll end up spending the entire season on NFI.
He’ll likely be worth the wait. In his only full season as a starter at Stanford, he rushed for more than 2,000 yards -- and he averaged 8.1 yards per carry.