Javon Kinlaw out for season after knee surgery
Javon Kinlaw is out for the season after knee surgery, the second Commanders defensive line starter lost in a week, ESPN reports.
Why Javon Kinlaw is trending
Javon Kinlaw is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery, a source told ESPN's Adam Schefter. The procedure closes out a year that effectively ended in Week 6, when Kinlaw injured his MCL in Washington's loss at San Francisco. He is the second Commanders defensive line starter lost for the year in less than a week. For a defense that already had holes to fill, losing both planned starters at the position changes how Washington lines up for the rest of the year.
Kinlaw played end in Washington's base defense and tackle in its nickel package. He signed a three-year deal with the Commanders in the 2025 offseason and had started 23 consecutive games before the knee injury. He was considered strong against the run, with two tackles for loss, and recorded a career-best 5.2 percent of his tackles at or behind the line of scrimmage, a rate only six defensive linemen topped. He also helped as a pass rusher this season, with one sack and three quarterback hits, after going without a sack last season. He had been on pace for the most quarterback hits of his career, his previous high was six, set with the 49ers in 2023.
A second starter lost at the position
Kinlaw's injury comes on the heels of losing Daron Payne for the season. Two days before the Commanders' Week 8 win over Philadelphia, Payne fractured his foot in what was described as a fluke injury during a light Friday practice. Like Kinlaw, Payne started at end in Washington's 3-4 base front and played tackle in its nickel package.
The Commanders had already added depth along the line this season in Charles Omenihu and nose tackle Tim Settle. Omenihu and Deatrich Wise Jr. stepped into the starting lineup in place of Payne and Kinlaw for Washington's 27-10 win over the Eagles last Sunday. Replacing two interior starters with depth pieces midseason is never ideal, but Washington has at least had players ready to step in.
The rest of Washington's injury list
The defensive line losses add to a growing list for Washington. Top receiver Terry McLaurin tore the patellar tendon in his left knee in Week 6. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil suffered a torn triceps on Aug. 8 and has not been ruled out for the season, coach Dan Quinn said last week that Tunsil has a checkup in a couple of weeks that will determine whether he could return late in the season.
Washington's leading rusher, Jacory Croskey-Merritt, is on injured reserve with a groin injury, and backup running back Jeremy McNichols was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with a foot injury Quinn called serious. The Commanders are 2-4-1 and host the Rams, who are 4-4, on Sunday.
What it means going forward
Washington is already shorthanded up front, and now it heads into Sunday's game against the Rams breaking in replacements at both defensive line spots full time. Omenihu and Wise got through one game in the new starting roles in the win over Philadelphia. How they hold up over the rest of the season will say a lot about how competitive this defense can stay without Kinlaw and Payne in the middle of it.
Facts per ESPN. Opinion is the taproom's.