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- Mar 19, 2019
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Yes, free-agent tackle Donald Penn is visiting Washington. No, it doesn’t look like a signing is imminent. And, no, Penn’s visit isn’t a knee-jerk reaction to left tackle Trent Williams‘ holdout.
Speaking with reporters on Friday, coach Jay Gruden confirmed that Penn is in town, and that Penn will work out.
“He came in last night, I think,” Gruden said, adding that he hadn’t met with Penn. “We’ll probably just get a little brief workout just to see where he’s at. . . . We’ll have workouts throughout the course of the season with guys and keep them on a ‘hot list’ just in case something happens.”
Gruden downplayed the notion that Washington has rushed to evaluate Penn because Williams has extended his offseason boycott of the franchise into training camp.
“It’s not so much because of Trent, with Geron [Christian], we’re keeping [him] out a bit as well, so we’re short tackles now,” Gruden said. “So we need another tackle. You know, the young tackles out there, really, there aren’t very many of them out there, so you might have to go the veteran route — [we] talked to a few guys. There’s a few other guys we might talk to here in the future, just for the depth-wise. Right now, we’re at 12 offensive linemen that are practicing and that’s way too short right now into training camp.”
This dynamic also makes Washington a team to watch when it comes to the roster churning that will happen throughout August, as well as the cuts from 90 to 53 that will happen on Labor Day weekend. Of course, a mending of the fences with Williams would go a long way toward addressing the issue.