Anything with Kory Lichtensteiger and his right knee should be a matter of concern, given that the Washington Redskins guard tore the ACL, medial collateral ligament and lateral and medial meniscus last season.
The arthroscopic surgery Lichtensteiger had Monday was minor compared to what he endured last season but still something the Redskins will be careful with. His ACL and MCL are fine, coach Mike Shanahan said, but the plan will be to take it slow.
“I think under normal circumstances he might be able to come back third preseason game; my thoughts right now is hopefully he’ll be ready for the first [regular-season] game,” Shanahan said. “Get him back in football shape and hopefully there’ll be no setback.”
Lichtensteiger took part in practices at training camp last week but was taken off the field on Day Three on Saturday for precautionary reasons. An MRI revealed fragments in his knee cartilage.
That’s not the worst-case scenario, something the Redskins are hoping to avoid.
“I think you have to be very patient with Kory just because you don’t want to lose a player for the season,” Shanahan said. “But when you do have a little cartilage like that at this time of year, I’ve waited too many times for a week to two weeks and then all of a sudden you go in there and you wait before the first game and the guy can’t play. So why not do it right now, make sure it’s OK. … Hopefully he’s ready to go full-speed.”
In Lichtensteiger’s absence, veteran Maurice Hurt and third-round pick Josh LeRibeus will split snaps at left guard. The Redskins are already short at right tackle with Jammal Brown (hip) out. He’s set to visit his doctor in New York on Tuesday, Shanahan said.
At the moment the Redskins are confident in the likes of right tackle Tyler Polumbus, Hurt, LeRibeus and Co.
“Sometimes it happens at one position. That’s why you need depth,” Shanahan said. “We’ve been talking about depth the whole time, and we do have some depth, which is nice. So if you do lose one or two guys, you’re expecting some guys to come in and fill the void.”
