Lost in the news of the losses of Jonathan Goff for the season and Kory Lichtensteiger until the start of the regular season was the news that they signed an offensive tackle.
Jordan Black has been out of football for a year. The seven-year NFL veteran with 80 NFL games under his belt, including 40 starts at tackle, was about to give up his life as a full-time dad and go back to work in the real world. He had an appointment Monday with a commercial real estate broker to discuss opening up some units of a fitness business franchise.
“I was all but retired,” he said.
A phone call Sunday afternoon changed that. The Redskins had gotten the news about Goff and they had a roster spot available. Did he want to come play in Washington?
Black needs to pack on some pounds
Black had a career decision to make. It took him about 30 seconds to make it. He arrived in Ashburn on Monday and was on the field for the walkthrough practice on Tuesday morning.
Since he was not in camp with another team, CBA rules will keep him out of practicing fully until Friday.
The Redskins are Black’s fifth NFL team since the Chiefs drafted him in the fifth round in 2004. He started 29 games in Kansas City in three seasons before moving on to stops with the Texans and Jaguars. The Saints had him in during training camp last year but released him during the final cuts.
During his stint in Houston, the quarterbacks coach was Kyle Shanahan. It seems like that is the link that got Black that surprise phone call on Sunday.
The question is, can he help on an offensive line that now has two starters on the sideline? Black said that he can play either right or left tackle but he is likely going to be put to work on the right side, where starter Jammal Brown is on the sideline with a hip injury.
For right now, Tyler Polumbus has taken virtually all of the first-team snaps at right tackle. Mike Shanahan mentioned Maurice Hurt, who is now filling in at left guard with Lichtensteiger out, and Willie Smith as possible replacements for Brown, if needed.
But it appears that Black will get a look. It is hard to imagine him starting but if Brown’s injury is serious they might want to hold on to him for veteran depth.
Or, Black could end up meeting with that commercial real estate agent after all.
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