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Commanders’ 2025 red flag take that misses the mark entirely

The Washington Commanders have plenty of reason for hope in 2025. Perhaps more reason than they've had in more than 30 years.

They have their franchise quarterback. They have a quality coaching staff. Most of all, they have an ownership group that runs things the right way.

There are also some concerns about whether last year's magical ride to the NFC Championship game can be repeated, at least in the immediate future. Washington was fortunate to come through in so many close contests. The pass-rushing unit will probably be bad. And Commanders fans had better hope wide receiver Terry McLaurin's contract dispute is resolved soon.

One thing that has not been brought up as a concern for the Commanders is injuries. But don't tell Cody Benjamin from CBS Sports, who seems to think this is Washington's biggest potential weakness.

Commanders' new additions labeled injury-prone, except they're not

In Benjamin's article examining the biggest red flags for every NFL team in 2025, his blurb on Washington focuses on the injury history of wide receiver Deebo Samuel Sr., offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, and defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw. The only problem is that this is just untrue.

"Adam Peters wasted no time upgrading Daniels' supporting cast by swinging trades for Deebo Samuel and Laremy Tunsil this offseason. The only issue is both Samuel and Tunsil, who will play vital roles in aiding and protecting Daniels, have missed extensive time due to injury in the last few years. Veteran defensive addition Javon Kinlaw falls in the same boat."

Cody Benjamin

Tunsil has missed three games in the past three years, all in 2023. Samuel has made at least 13 appearances in each of the past four seasons. Kinlaw did have trouble staying on the field early in his career, but he hasn't missed a contest since 2022.

Even if this were accurate, injuries are hard to predict. Past issues don't necessarily correlate to future ones. No matter how healthy a player has been throughout their career, anyone can fall victim to the bug at any time.

Now, if the focus centered on the fact that Washington was one of the league's least-injured teams a season ago, something that will probably regress to the mean, that would be valid. This, however, just feels like the typical off-season filler material that gets published around this time of year.

It's understandable: there's not much going on in the NFL world right now, and writers still need to write. But let's at least get the facts straight, shall we?

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