Su’a Cravens is ineligible to play for the remainder of the season after the Washington Redskins put him on the reserve/left squad list on Monday, but the defensive back may show up for work this week anyway.
A source told Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk that Cravens was planning to return to the Redskins on Tuesday and could make things uncomfortable for the team by following through with that plan. According to Florio’s source, Washington knew Cravens planned to show up this week and basically blocked the move. Here’s the full explanation:
As the source explains it, Washington was aware that Cravens was coming back on Tuesday. Out of the blue on Monday, they shifted his status from exempt/left squad to reserve/left squad, ending his season. Cravens, we’re told, wasn’t informed that the team was planning to make the move until after the move already had been made.
The circumstances that allowed Cravens to receive a four-week roster exemption set the stage for Monday’s developments. By rule, Washington was required to send Cravens the so-called “five-day letter,” which informs him that if he doesn’t return within (duh) five days, he can be placed on the reserve/left squad list. So, basically, once five days elapsed, Washington had the ability to shut Cravens down — even if he was under the impression that he had four weeks to return.
As Florio noted, Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reported over the weekend that Cravens had decided to return to work. The 22-year-old made a public appearance on Saturday when he was spotted on the sideline at USC’s game against Texas. Redskins coach Jay Gruden said Monday that he had not heard from Cravens or anything about the defensive back’s situation.
There were some rumblings that Cravens, who underwent knee surgery last month and made some interesting remarks about concussions last season, was contemplating retirement. If he felt like Washington gave him the impression he would be welcomed back, a grievance could be coming.
