After being the team's major free agent signing of the 2015 offseason, cornerback Chris Culliver suffered through an injury-plagued year, and hopes to make a bigger impact in 2016.
Chris Culliver was signed by the Redskins as a prized free agent during the offseason, but was unable to make a substantial impact after being plagued by injuries all season.
Culliver tore both his ACL and MCL in the late November during practice and was then subsequently placed on season-ending IR. He called the injury "frustrating," not due to the injury itself, but rather the mechanism of the injury.
"The way it happened, that's not the frustrating part, not the action of it happening, but the way it happened," Culliver told reporters last week. "Practice, and somebody running into you or whatever, you don't kind of expect those type of things. It is what it is, and you know, you just keep doing what you're doing."
His injury left a hole in the starting lineup at cornerback, but Culliver credited the team's young players for stepping up, specifically Bashaud Breeland.
"Some of the younger guys, they stepped up really well, and that's all you can kind of ask for the young guys and you know, hopefully get a lot better next year," Culliver said. "I think Bree did well, [he's] a young corner also, this his second year, right? He did well, been banged up, but who [isn't] banged up?"
Culliver also praised general manager Scot McCloughan and the positive impact that he has had on the team.
"He's that type of guy, you know, he [brought] me in, and I have nothing but to take my hat off to him," Culliver said of McCloughan, who just wrapped up his first season with the Redskins. "He's a good GM – he's a great GM."
Culliver said the key to McCloughan's success is "really just the communication with players, keeping them in the loop, talking to them, you know just talking […] And you know, you're just out there and like you said, he lets you know what's going on, you're not doing what you need to do, he'll let you know that.
"You're doing what you need to do, he'll let you know that too," Culliver continued. "So, the communication and talking to him as a person, is real easy."
Culliver said timeline for a full recovery from his severe knee injury is about seven to ten months. However, the South Carolina product is confident in the progress that he is making in order to get heathy for the 2016 season.
"You really don't feel right until two years, that's the honest truth about it," he said. "But like I said, I feel good about where I'm at right now, and like I said, we're just progressing and just keep ramping it up. It's a long offseason, and like I said, taking my time, and just keep getting right."
Culliver says that he will be ready for the season, but he is not making any promises about his full participation in OTAs.
"I'm going to be ready by the season," he said. "You will see me on the field this season, you might see me in and out of OTAs or something, something like that, but like I said, definitely in the season."
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