Entering their Week 3 game against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday Night Football, the Washington Redskins were worried they’d be without their star tight end, Jordan Reed. Reed has had injury problems in the past and was coming into the 2017 season with even more injury concerns. However, Reed was able to play in the first two games, though he departed due to a chest and shoulder injury in Week 2’s win against the Los Angeles Rams.

Early in the week, Reed (among others) had been held out of practice due to his injury, and his questionable status had many thinking that he wouldn’t be playing against the Raiders. Thankfully for the Redskins (especially quarterback Kirk Cousins), Reed was back on the practice field on Thursday. Not only was Reed participating in individual drills, but he was also working with the wide receivers at practice.

Reed likely to be ready for Oakland matchup

Master Tesfatsion of the Washington Post said that Reed was catching passes, looking like he will be ready for the pivotal matchup against Oakland.

There was some more good news for the Redskins as other players with injury concerns such as running back Rob Kelley, offensive tackle Morgan Moses and cornerback Josh Norman were all participants and expect to play on Sunday night.

Reed will work through the chest contusion and AC joint sprain for the rest of the week, and although his status for Sunday’s game hasn’t been fully confirmed, the fact that he’s participating in practice is a good sign. Throughout his career, Reed has been a favorite target of Kirk Cousins, hauling in an average of 5.4 catches and 56 yards per game, scoring 20 career touchdowns.

Big piece of their offense

If Rob Kelley is active for the Redskins, they pick up another big piece of their offense.

Kelley was able to pick up 78 yards against the Rams in Week 2 before leaving the game due to injury, leaving rookie running back Samaje Perine in charge of the first and second down duties. Chris Thompson has been handling the third down back role for the Redskins, and he's had a lot of production so far this season with 162 total yards and three touchdowns already. Having all three running backs in the system would be huge for Jay Gruden's team.

The Redskins (1-1) will be closer to full strength than initially thought earlier in the week with players coming back to practice. After their Sunday night tilt against the Raiders at FedEx Field, the Redskins will travel to Kansas City for a Monday Night Football showdown against another AFC West squad, the Chiefs.