The Washington Football Team faced some crushing news earlier this week after further tests confirmed that defensive end Chase Young tore his ACL in Washington's win over Tampa Bay last weekend.
Young, who was selected No. 2 overall in the 2020 NFL Draft, has had a relatively quiet sophomore season, with just 1.5 sacks and two forced fumbles in nine games this year, after an impressive rookie season, where he accumulated 7.5 sacks to go along with four forced fumbles en route to winning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.
With the ACL tear confirmed, Young is expected to miss the rest of the 2021 NFL season and will rehab for 2022, where the Washington Football Team will look to improve after a disappointing 3-6 start in 2021.
San Francisco 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa suffered a similar ACL injury during San Francisco's Week 2 win against the New York Jets in 2020, ending his sophomore season much earlier than expected.
Like Young, Bosa was a second overall pick, just one year earlier, and won Defensive Rookie of the Year after his own impressive rookie season. With both young stars playing amongst talented defensive lines, there's much in similarity between the two players.
Following Young's injury, Bosa reached out to his fellow former Ohio State Buckeye and shared some encouraging words while Young was still in the locker room on Sunday.
"I did, yeah. I called him," Bosa told reporters after Friday's practice. "I obviously didn't have a game that day, so I called him while he was still in the locker room. And he'll obviously be going through something similar, so we'll be in touch."
If anyone could help Young at the moment, it's the 24-year old San Francisco defensive end. After the crushing injury last season, Bosa has performed admirably this season, with eight sacks, 13 tackles for loss, and two forced fumbles, despite being only halfway through the season.
Still, Bosa knows that the end result doesn't undermine the lengthy process of recovery, and expressed his reassurances to Young that he'd be back to his disruptive self as long as he continued with the process.
"I kind of just talked to him once on FaceTime, right after it happened," Bosa shared. "I just told him he's going to be fine. Just, it's going to be a long process and lonely sometimes. But he's 21, I think. He'll be fine. Twenty-two, maybe?"
In other news, Bosa himself recently stopped wearing the knee brace he's been accustomed to this season, signaling another step in his recovery following his own ACL tear in 2020.
"Yeah, just dropped it this week, and it feels fine," he said. "So, I'm happy to not have to wear that thing anymore."
With the amount of crushing injuries occurring to professional athletes on the football field, it's great to see two of the NFL's youngest stars look out for each other during these difficult stages.
Chase Young's Washington Football Team takes on the Carolina Panthers this weekend, while Bosa and the 49ers will visit the Jacksonville Jaguars in what seems like must-win games for both teams.
For the Football Team, head coach Ron Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner will have a reunion with their former quarterback in Cam Newton, who's scheduled to make his first start for the team since his release from Carolina in 2020.