A scary moment occurred in the first quarter of the Washington Football Team's 23-20 loss to the New York Giants, as starting quarterback Kyle Allen suffered what appeared to be a serious ankle injury after being tackled by safety Jabrill Peppers. Shortly after the play Allen was loaded into the cart and taken off the field while the team was quick to relay that he would be ruled out for the rest of the contest.
According to Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network, the initial diagnosis regarding Allen is that he suffered a dislocated ankle along with a smaller fracture. Alex Smith closed out the game for Washington, and Rivera confirmed after the game that Smith would start for Washington moving forward, according to JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington.
On the play in question, Peppers was blocked low by running back Antonio Gibson while rushing the quarterback, and Peppers appeared to have "leg-whipped" Allen as the signal-caller attempted to roll out to the right. Peppers' right leg connected with Allen's left leg, and that contact caused the injury. Peppers was flagged for roughing the passer on the play. Some claimed that Peppers' actions were dirty, and Washington head coach Ron Rivera was even asked about it after the game.
"I mean, that's what I saw, he got cut (down)," said Rivera, via SNY Giants. "It's just a guy trying to make a play. I don't think it's a dirty play, it's just a guy trying to make a play, and I get it. I've been there in that situation and Peppers is a heck of a football player who plays at 100 miles per hour."
Peppers was also asked about the play and said that he certainly did not intend to injure Allen.
"You never want that to happen," Peppers said about Allen's injury, per SNY Giants. "We all have a little pact in this league. Guys have come from circumstances, guys have worked hard to get here so you never want to see a guy go down like that. I just prayed for him, I apologized to him. I definitely didn't intend for that to happen and I'm just trying to play hard and make a play for my team. I'm still praying for him and I wish him a speedy recovery."
Allen left the matchup completing 5 of 7 passes for 62 yards. Smith came in to replace him, and he completed 24 of 32 passes for 325 yards and a touchdown, but also threw three interceptions including two in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.