Washington places Ryan Anderson on injured reserve with knee injury

The Washington Football Team has placed defensive end Ryan Anderson on injured reserve with a knee injury, the team announced Saturday.

Anderson missed the last three games, last playing in Week 10 against the Detroit Lions. Per NFL rules, he will have to miss the next three games. He won’t be eligible to return from IR until Week 17 at the earliest.

If he is unable to return, this could be an anticlimax ending to a disappointing tenure in Washington for Anderson. Drafted in the second round in 2017 as an 3-4 edge rusher, Anderson has struggled to make his mark in four seasons.

His best season came in 2019 in which he had career highs of four starts, 44 tackles and four sacks. This season Washington switched to a 4-3 base defense. With the emergence of Montez Sweat and rookie Chase Young, Anderson was relegated to being the fourth defensive end.

Anderson has averaged just over 16 defensive snaps in nine games this season, tallying a total on nine tackles.

He is in the final year of his four-year rookie contract. Anderson has appeared in 52 career games, registering a total of six sacks.