Linebacker London Fletcher participated fully in the Washington Redskins’ practice Thursday, four days after suffering what the team called a sprained ankle during last Sunday night’s loss to the New York Giants.
“I don’t think it’ll affect him that much,” defensive coordinator Jim Haslett said after Thursday’s practice. “He does a good job of managing his body. He’ll be ready to play the game.”
Haslett said he no longer even wonders if Fletcher will be able to overcome an injury to play in a game.
“I kind of gave up the first year on that one,” Haslett said. “He doesn’t miss anything. So he’ll be fine.”
Fletcher injured his left ankle late in the Giants game when his lower leg was caught beneath a teammate, rookie safety Bacarri Rambo, on a play. He was a limited participant in Wednesday’s practice.
“My policy is not to discuss injuries,” Fletcher said Thursday, while adding that he wasn’t focused on his consecutive games streak: “Is it 252? I don’t even know. What is it?”
But in a Redskins’ season that has come undone, to the point that the team is eliminated from playoff contention with four games still to play, subplots such as Fletcher’s streak take center stage. Fletcher did acknowledge that his dependability will be a point of pride for him when he’s done playing.
“I’ll think about it then,” Fletcher said. “But it’s kind of hard to think about as you’re in the midst of it. It’s just one of those things I just kind of go out and go about my business one game at a time. It’s not something I put a whole lot of thought into until, really, somebody else brings it up.”
Fletcher, who underwent elbow and ankle surgeries in the offseason, said this season has been easier on him physically than last season was. He endured a series of nagging injuries and practiced sparingly between games in certain stretches of last season.
“It has [been easier], I think just because I was able to get these surgeries and I don’t have those nagging ailments that I had, things just lingering on and on and on and on,” Fletcher said. “From that standpoint, I feel better. Just looking at how I feel this time of the year as opposed to last year at the same time, I was hurting pretty bad last year. So from that standpoint, that’s been easier. But when you’re losing, that doesn’t make it fun. That affects you.”
As Fletcher’s 16th NFL season winds down, he said he has not yet made a decision on whether he wants to play a 17th. He is eligible for free agency in the offseason.
“I’ll let the season kind of take its course,” he said. “You decompress, get away from everything. You don’t want to make emotional decisions based on how you’re feeling during the season. Again, when you win you feel a whole lot better about things than when you lose. That’s kind of how you have to take it. There’s a lot of things that come into play when you decide whether you want to continue to play or not play. It’s production, performance, can you play, health, do they want you go play — it’s a lot of different things that come into play.”
Have a Redskins question? E-mail Mike Jones at mike.jones@washpost.com with the subject line “Mailbag question” for him to answer it in The Mailbag on Tuesdays.
What’s ahead:
● The Redskins practiced Thursday at 11:50 a.m. Coordinators Kyle Shanahan and Jim Haslett spoke with reporters afterward.
More from The Post:
D.C. Sports Bog: Rob Ford on RGIII’s knee | On the team name | His picks | More
Follow: @MikeJonesWaPo | @MarkMaske | @Insider | Insider on Facebook