The Washington Commanders have made a handful of moves ahead of their Week 10 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they announced on X this afternoon. Among those moves, K Austin Seibert was downgraded to out as he seemed to be trending that way throughout the week, per Adam Schefter on X.
They hosted two kickers for tryouts on Friday and ended up going with Zane Gonzalez. Reports indicated he was being signed to the Commanderts’ practice squad on Friday as an insurance policy for Seibert, and that move was made official today. Gonzalez has also been elevated from the practice squad along with DE Efe Obada. Dorance Armstrong was limited throughout the week with a shoulder injury. Though he was given the all clear to play, maybe he will be somewhat limited and Obada will fill in the gaps.
RB Brian Robinson Jr. was ruled out for this game, so they have also signed RB Chris Rodriguez Jr. from the practice squad to their active 53-man roster. The corresponding move was sending TE Colson Yankoff, who was ruled out for this game on the injury report with a hamstring injury, to IR.
Rodriguez will be backing up both Austin Ekeler and Jeremy McNichols. He has played 16 games over the last two seasons for the Commanders, including 62 rushing attempts for 299 yards and two total touchdowns.
Seibert being out is another blow to their special teams unit. Their long snapper was added to the injury report today with a questionable designation due to an illness. OG Nick Allegretti is the emergency long snapper, but he has only snapped one ball between college and the pros, all the way back in 2016 at Illinois. Given how strong the Steelers’ special teams unit is, that could be a big issue for the Commanders.
