One thing the Washington Commanders don’t have a lot of — essentially anywhere on the field — is depth.
That’s why losing anyone in their starting lineup is so significant, and why the possibility of losing defensive end Deatrich Wise for any significant amount of time could cause significant issues.
Wise exited the Commanders’ Week 2 game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field with what appeared to be a lower leg injury on an extra point try by the Packers, although ESPN’s John Keim reported it was a quadriceps injury.
“Washington Commanders defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. suffered a left quadriceps injury midway through the second quarter and was carted off the field,” Keim wrote on September 11. “He was later ruled out. Wise suffered the injury on a Green Bay extra-point attempt with 7 minutes, 34 seconds left in the second quarter. He became emotional while laying on the ground as teammates took a knee on the field. Eventually, almost the entire contingent on Washington’s sideline surrounded Wise, who had a wrap around his left quad.”
Wise, who won a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots following the 2018 season, signed a 1-year, $3.25 million contract with the Commanders on March 13 and started both of their first 2 games.
“Deatrich Wise looks like he’s bawling his eyes out,” NFL analyst Sam Monson wrote on his official X account. “Man, that sucks.”
“You hate to see Deatrich Wise getting injured on a play like a PAT,” Dr. Kevin Chiang wrote on X. “Couldn’t see where they were tending to, but from this, I worry about his ankle (distal fibula, medial malleolus, deltoid, etc). Knee seemed to maybe valgus and twist too, so I also wonder about his MCL/meniscus.”
From SEC to $31 Million in Career Earnings
Wise, 6-foot-5 and 271 pounds, had 16.5 sacks in 4 seasons at the University of Arkansas, including a career high 8.0 sacks as a junior in 2015.
He dominated the East-West Shrine Game after his senior year with 9 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 4 QB pressures and played his way into a fourth round pick (No. 131 overall) by the Patriots in the 2017 NFL draft.
In his first 2 seasons, Wise played in 2 Super Bowls — losing to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII before bouncing back to beat the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII.
If Wise is truly hurt and misses an extended amount of time it would be his first serious injury in almost a decade in the NFL. Wise only missed 4 games through his first 8 seasons with the Patriots and landed one big payday — a 4-year, $21 million contract extension in March 2021.
Headed into the 2025 season, Wise had played in 126 career games with 61 starts, 317 tackles, 34.0 sacks, 35 TFL, 91 QB hits and 12 pass deflections — that included a career high 7.5 sacks in 2022.
Wise Comes From Family Of Pro Football Players
Wise is the third person in his family to play professional football following his father, also named Deatrich Wise, and followed by his younger brother, Daniel Wise.
Deatrich Wise (the first one) spent 2 years on the practice squads for the Seattle Seahawks and New Orleans Saints before playing for the BC Lions in the Canadian Football League and Tampa Bay Storm in the Arena Football League, where he won 2 Arena Bowl championships in 1993 and 1995.
Daniel Wise was a 3-time All-Big 12 pick at the University of Kansas from 2016 to 2018 — in Wise’s 4 seasons at KU the Jayhawks went 6-42 with a winless, 0-12 season in 2015. Daniel Wise went undrafted in 2019 and played 2 seasons for the Commanders in 2021 and 2022.
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