Brian Orakpo Injury: Redskins LB Out For Season With Torn Pec
The Washington Redskins announced Monday that two-time Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Orakpo will be out for the remainder of the season after tearing the pectoral muscle close to his left shoulder in Sunday’s 31-28 loss to the St. Louis Rams.
According to head coach Mike Shanahan, Orakpo, the 13th pick in the 2009 draft, will undergo surgery that requires four months of recovery to properly heal the injury.
“He’s a guy that can do it all,” Shanahan said. “He can cover, he can rush, he can play the run, he’s physical, he’s very smart. Team player. All the things you look for in a Pro Bowl player. Obviously we’ll miss him.”
Orakpo, who has dealt with the same left pectoral injury in previous seasons, had one sack in two games this season after leading the Redskins with nine sacks a year ago. Over the course of his 50 game (49 starts) career, the 26-year-old defensive specialist has amassed 170 tackles with 29 1/2 sacks.
Shanahan told ESPN that Rob Jackson and Chris Wilson, a pair of career backups without an NFL start between them, will compete to take Orakpo’s outside linebacker spot.
In addition to Brian Orakpo, the Redskins also will also be forced play the remainder of the 2012-2013 NFL season without starting defensive end Adam Carriker, who suffered a quad tendon tear in the same game that Orakpo was hurt.
The loss of Carriker, the 13th overall selection in the 2007 draft, will force the Redskins to rely on backup DE Jarvis Jenkins, a second-year pro who missed all of his rookie season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
“We brace for times like this,” Jenkins said of his sudden starting role. “That’s why everybody gets reps. That’s why everybody watches film. When one guy goes down, like Coach Shanahan says, we shouldn’t have a dropoff. That’s why they pay us to do this job. It’s a business. We’ve got to come in this week and just work.”
Shanahan talks more about Brian Orakpo and Adam Carriker’s season-ending injuries in the video below:
