Commanders DL Javon Kinlaw Has Season-Ending MCL Surgery
Washington loses a second starting defensive lineman for the year, weeks after Daron Payne's season ended with a broken foot
Washington's defensive line is down another starter for the rest of the season. Javon Kinlaw underwent season-ending surgery on his MCL on Tuesday, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported.
The Commanders had already placed Kinlaw on injured reserve on Tuesday along with Daron Payne and running back Jeremy McNichols. At that point, the move meant he'd miss at least four games. The surgery turns that into the full year.
Injury update: Commanders DL Javon Kinlaw underwent season-ending surgery Tuesday on his MCL. Now Commanders defensive linemen Kinlaw and Daron Payne both have suffered season-ending injuries in recent weeks.View on X →
Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter): Injury update: Commanders DL Javon Kinlaw underwent season-ending surgery Tuesday on his MCL. Now Commanders defensive linemen Kinlaw and Daron Payne both have suffered season-ending injuries in recent weeks.
Kinlaw had been dealing with the knee injury and sat out Sunday night's 27-10 win over the Eagles. He and Payne both missed that game, and now Washington will be without both for the rest of the season.
Payne's loss came first. The veteran defensive tackle suffered a season-ending Jones fracture in his foot in practice last Friday. He's Washington's longest-tenured position player and had started every game from 2020 through 2024 and the first six this season.
That leaves Jer'Zhan Newton and the rest of the rotation to carry the middle of the defensive line, and it puts defensive tackle on the list of spots Washington could look to address before the Nov. 10 trade deadline. The injuries are piling up on both sides of the ball: the Commanders also claimed running back Robert Henry Jr. after losing McNichols and Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
Washington faces the Rams on Sunday.