ASHBURN, Va. -- Josh Doctson is inching his way back from an Achilles tendon injury, though the Washington Redskins still don't know when the wide receiver will be ready to practice with the team, let alone play in a game.
Doctson's sore left Achilles tendon was a day-to-day problem when it first occurred in May and was still considered that at the start of training camp in late July. Now it's an injury without a timeframe for return, even as Doctson ramps up the work he's doing off to the side during practices.
"He's progressing nicely," coach Jay Gruden said Wednesday. "It's exciting to see him with a sweat going. He did a little more work and we are just going to take it gradually day by day and we're not going to rush it. We're going to try to do more and more as weeks go by."
Doctson is definitely out for the Redskins' second preseason game Friday against the New York Jets, and it'd be difficult to imagine him being ready to face the Buffalo Bills a week later. There are still more than three weeks left until Washington opens the regular season Sept. 12 against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
But Gruden hasn't ruled out the first-round pick being available for the opener. There's just no guarantee at this point whether Doctson will be ready.
"I don't have any expectations for him whatsoever," Gruden said when asked about Week 1. "I'm just trying to adhere and listen to what the trainers are telling me, how he is feeling and ask Josh how he is feeling and I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see. He's going to progress slowly. We'll take our time with him and when he feels right and the time is right, then we will push him hard and then let him practice."
Doctson's injury is the one real hiccup at Redskins camp, which has been refreshingly boring for an organization accustomed to chaos. Starting quarterback Kirk Cousins, not the attention magnet that Robert Griffin III is, said Monday he wants the Redskins to be like the San Antonio Spurs -- super boring and at the end of the season have people say, "Wow, they really had a good year and no one really talked about it."
Receiver DeSean Jackson is ready to embrace that.
"If you're familiar with San Antonio, they win a lot of games and championships," Jackson said. "However he wants to compare, hopefully we can go out there and back it up and do the plan on the field."
Doctson was part of the plan after the Redskins picked him 22nd overall out of TCU. His Achilles injury has thrown things off so far.
Jackson dealt with a lingering hamstring injury last season and said he has told Doctson to take his time and not rush back.
"Just telling him to be smart with it," Jackson said. "He's doing everything he needs to do, everything they're asking and things like that, so he should be fine."
Doctson is missing valuable practice and game reps, but he does the Redskins no good if the Achilles tendon injury lingers on even longer. Gruden said even though he hasn't seen an injury like this in a receiver before, the only path to health involves patience.
"It's just going to take rest, but once it's gone I think it'll be gone," Gruden said. "And that's our hope that it doesn't come back, so we want to make sure that we get it cured now."
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