Battered Commanders place safety Harris on IR with fractured fibula, sign ex-Terp Savage

The injuries are piling up for the Washington Commanders.

Though they secured a 41-24 win over the visiting Las Vegas Raiders without quarterback Jayden Daniels on Sunday, the Commanders lost several more players to injury.

Safety Will Harris, an offseason signing who was a versatile piece of coach Dan Quinn’s defense, fractured his fibula in the win.

After confirming the injury, the team placed the 29-year-old on injured reserve on Monday. The lower leg fracture could sideline him for the remainder of the season.

He joins guard Sam Cosmi, defensive end Deatrich Wise and running back Austin Ekeler on the growing injured reserve list.

Harris will have to miss at least four games under the NFL’s designation guidelines.

“[Where we’re] losing most is really in the coverage game,” Quinn said of Harris’ absence. “I feel the speed and the coverage ability from Will.”

The Commanders signed safety Darnell Savage on Monday to fill Harris’ spot on the active roster. The 30-year-old Maryland product spent five seasons with the Green Bay Packers and two years with the Jacksonville Jaguars before he was released last week.

Savage, now in his seventh season, has recorded 10 interceptions and 354 tackles across his career.

“We’re very excited to have him here,” Quinn said of the newest Commander. “But as far as roles, we’ll work through that. It’s a deep position for us, but Will had a very unique skillset.”

Harris’ absence is a major blow for an already debilitated secondary. Cornerback Jonathan Jones is on injured reserve with a hamstring injury, though Quinn has said he expects him to return before the end of the season.

The group got thinner on Sunday when cornerback Marshon Lattimore left the game early to be evaluated for a concussion. Rookie cornerback Trey Amos joined him on the sideline with a calf injury. Safety Percy Butler had already been relegated to the bench with a hip issue.

Lattimore cleared the concussion protocol by Monday afternoon, but Quinn couldn’t provide updates on the rest of the battered secondary.

At cornerback, Noah Igbinoghene is the next man up. The former first-round pick of the Miami Dolphins recorded a career-high seven pass deflections and 55 tackles for the Commanders last season.

At safety, special teams ace Jeremy Reaves and Tyler Owens could slot into Harris’ role. The duo received plenty of work with the first-team defense throughout training camp.

“[Owens], Percy and Jeremy all have unique roles on special teams and on defense. Whose role may go higher, whose may have to go down a bit,” Quinn said, noting that the playing-time split between safeties is still up in the air. “We’ll work through that this week.”

On the offensive side of the ball, the Commanders were without Daniels, wide receiver Noah Brown and tight end John Bates on Sunday. All three of them are working through the return-to-play process and could feature in next Sunday’s game in Atlanta against the Falcons.

Daniels is still “day-to-day,” Quinn said, acknowledging that the second-year quarterback started working within the facility on Monday. Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota would lead the offense again if Daniels remains sidelined.

“We just have a lot of trust in them and how we go about it,” Quinn said of the signal-callers. “But then we’ll lean into medical people and where we’re at and what to do, but the type of preparation for [Daniels], it’s just that kind of steady, consistent way.”

The Commanders return to practice on Wednesday, where Quinn expects to have a better handle on his players’ availability for the upcoming trip to Atlanta.