Commanders DE Chase Young Move Official; 'Fired Up' for Injury Return

The Washington Commanders are bringing back Chase Young this week. His return should give the defense a boost as it enters the second half of the season.

Things are "moving'' in the right direction for the Washington Commanders, who are winners of three straight games and now with a coming "addition'' that should mean they could get even better.

During Monday's press conference, head coach Ron Rivera confirmed that the team was planning to start defensive end Chase Young's 21-day clock to return to the roster. And indeed, on Wednesday that move has gone official.

Young, who tore his ACL nearly a year ago, has been on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) List all season long and is expected to make his 2022 debut this weekend against the Minnesota Vikings.

"He was fired up," Rivera said after telling Young he would return this week. "He was really ready to go. He had this look [on his face like], Alright, I'm ready."

The Commanders have to take things slow with Young to start. He'll be able to practice for the first time all year tomorrow. Then, the Commanders will have to make a corresponding move so they can add him to the roster. But it still isn't that easy. 

"But I had to tell him now, we gotta follow the directions," Rivera said. "We can't push more for more until each step is cleared. So, he understands that, but we gotta make sure." 

The Commanders drafted Chase Young with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, cementing him as a franchise cornerstone. Without Young, the Commanders have missed a large presence on the defensive line. It's a good unit, but Young makes them great, and the Commanders don't want to risk losing him to re-injury.

"It was like with B-Rob [RB Brian Robinson Jr.], we told him, 'Hey, we got a set number of plays for you,' Rivera said. "And sure he did the number of plays that we had set for him with the offense, then he tried to jump in on show team a couple times and we gotta temper and gotta make sure that Chase understands that where he is, we've gotta be very, very diligent and stick with it."

Young is expected to make his debut Sunday at home against the Minnesota Vikings. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

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You can follow Jeremy Brener on Twitter @JeremyBrener.

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