Chase Young injury update: Washington Commanders expected to activate star DE entering Houston Texans game

Washington Commanders defensive end Chase Young is expected to make his much-anticipated return to the field for Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans, according to a report Tuesday by Adam Schefter. The Ohio State product has been sidelined since tearing his ACL and MCL against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 10 of last season.

“Sources: Chase Young — the former No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft who was named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year — is expected to be activated this week to play Sunday in his first game since tearing his ACL and MCL in a game against the Buccaneers last November,” Schefter tweeted . “A boost for Wash D.”

Young’s return should bolster a Commanders defense that ranks No. 11 in the NFL in yards allowed per game (324.0) and No. 16 in total sacks (24).

Washington head coach Ron Rivera says the team has been exceedingly patient in giving Young the time to properly heal

“It was a pretty extensive repair, those just take time and patience,” head coach Ron Rivera said in July when asked about Young’s progress. “Last year, we might have pushed Curtis (Samuels) too much. So this year, what we’ve done, we’ve backed up, looked at everybody, and said, ‘hey, we know there is a timeframe that you say look, OK, this is when we’ll get this guy back.’ But we’ve got to be really careful with this one just because of who he is for us. Shoot, he’s a first-round pick that can be an impact player. He did, showing us what he could do his rookie year.”

Washington selected Young with the No. 2 overall pick in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft. He played in all but one game as a rookie and tallied 42 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, one defensive touchdown, and four pass deflections. He was also named to the PFWA All-Rookie team and earned the first Pro Bowl honors of his career.

Prior to his injury in 2021, he had 21 tackles, 1.5 sacks, two forced fumbles and two pass deflections.

Washington drafted Young out of Ohio State, where he was a three-year star for the Buckeyes. As a junior in 2019, Young was named a unanimous All-American and finished as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy after notching 21 tackles for loss, 16.5 sacks and seven forced fumbles. He was also named the Nagurski-Woodson Defensive Player of the Year and won the Ted Hendricks, Chuck Bednarik and Bronko Nagurski Trophies. He also earned 2018 second-team All-Big Ten honors as a sophomore after tallying 34 total tackles, 14.5 tackles for loss, 10.5 sacks and one forced fumble.

Subscribe to 247Sports YouTube for the latest college football, basketball and recruiting news including live college commitments.

A former five-star prospect, Young ranked No. 4 nationally when coming out of Hyattsville (Md.) Dematha Catholic as a member of the Class of 2017. Young was the No. 2 WDE and No. 1 player in Maryland.

Raymond Lucas Jr. and Nick Kosko contributed to this report.