Ron Rivera is letting his feelings be known about a controversial play from Sunday’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders.
In the the fourth quarter of Washington’s 17-15 victory over the Raiders, WFT tight end Logan Thomas suffered an injury while blocking for an Antonio Gibson run. Raiders defensive end Yannick Ngakoue tried to get around the block and ended up going low and taking out Thomas’ knee.
Logan Thomas sifted back across the line on this run, edge defender went low to avoid block and hit Thomas' knee. pic.twitter.com/o861Eao3D9
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) December 5, 2021
Here is another angle of the play.
The All-22 replay of the Logan Thomas injury does not make it look any better. Ngakoue spots the sift block early and holds his position instead of working down the line to close the gap. Then goes very low. pic.twitter.com/mepj1rZvXY
— Mark Bullock (@MarkBullockNFL) December 6, 2021
Thomas, who was in just his second game back since hurting his hamstring in Week 4, was initially feared to have suffered a significant knee injury. But testing revealed that Thomas’ ACL was intact, though there was still some damage to his knee.
On Monday, the WFT head coach Rivera spoke on Ngakoue’s hit on Thomas.
“You know, I thought the play was avoidable,” he said, per Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post. “It’s unfortunate that the hit occurred and it was low. … For the most part, I just felt that it was something that was avoidable.”
At 6-6 on the year, Washington would be in the playoffs if the season ended today. While they do have a capable backup tight end in Ricky Seals-Jones, another prolonged absence from Thomas would obviously sting for them.
For the Raiders though, they are probably feeling the same way about a different play from Sunday’s game. One of their skill players was also injured on a controversial hit by a Washington defender.
