Commanders Ron Rivera Offers Injury Update on Phidarian Mathis

The Washington Commanders got a win over the Cleveland Browns to open their preseason account, but young defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis picked up an injury.

It seems that Washington Commanders second-year defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis can't catch a break.

After a knee injury during Week 1 of last season that ruled him out for the entire year, Phidarian Mathis was finally back in "proper" action against the Cleveland Browns (0-1) on Saturday night. While the Washington Commanders (1-0) picked up a 17-15 win, Mathis again got bitten by the injury bug as he picked up a calf problem.

Head coach Ron Rivera spoke to the media and offered an update on Mathis' current status.

“He had tweaked his calf, and he did come back in, re-entered the game, and take his reps," Rivera said. "Today he's a little sore. He was sore yesterday, sore today, and so the training staff wanted to slow him down a little bit. He did a few things, and then we shut him down.”

Given that was the Commanders' first preseason game, we understand the precaution taken with Mathis.

A couple of weeks ago, Mathis detailed his "humbling" experience after suffering his season-ending knee injury, and now he is back in the trainer's room again.

While he did participate in some team drills, which is a good sign, we imagine the Commanders will play the slow game with their defensive tackle.

Whether Mathis will participate in Washington's next preseason hitout against the Baltimore Ravens on Monday is unknown, but given Mathis' injury history, wrapping him up in cotton wool might be the best strategy.

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