Culliver was placed on injured reserve after tearing ligaments in his right knee during the Redskins’ Thanksgiving practice. He had served a one-game suspension and previously dealt with another knee injury, but a torn ACL and MCL ended his season with six regular season games remaining. Will Culliver make a full recovery from the injury in 2016?

It’s the second time Culliver has dealt with a torn ACL. He suffered the injury in his left knee prior to the 2013 season with the San Francisco 49ers. Culliver returned the following season with the best year of his career, recording four interceptions and 14 passes defended in 14 games.

He vowed to be ready by the season opener, though his timeline is unknown at this point. It’d be a long shot to expect Culliver to participate in offseason workouts in April. The recovery time is typically six to nine months, which would mean somewhere from late May until August, but that’s never a guarantee. General Manager Scot McCloughan recently said that Culliver was ahead of schedule but warned about the difficulty of a cornerback returning from such an injury.

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“He’s working his tail off getting after it but always when you have injuries, especially at a skill position, it’s an ACL – it’s a movement part,” McCloughan said at the Senior Bowl two weeks ago. “It makes you a bit nervous, but I can see him coming back, making a full recovery.”

Nervousness would be a natural emotion. Culliver showed some toughness during the season by playing through knee inflammation in Week 4 against the Eagles when he clearly wasn’t 100 percent, but it’s difficult to expect him to return to full strength when dealing with both a torn ACL and MCL. Even after he’s finally cleared to practice, Culliver will have to deal with the psychological effect of returning from a knee injury at a position where he’s asked to break, cut and accelerate often. It will be a difficult task for Culliver and one that he’ll likely spend the entire season trying to overcome.

In the event Culliver isn’t fully recovered, the Redskins will need to map out a backup plan at cornerback. They’ve got a nice piece to work with in Bashaud Breeland, who displayed potential as a No. 1 cornerback in 2015, and some young guys to develop behind Breeland with Quinton Dunbar and Kyshoen Jarrett (who is also recovering from a nasty shoulder injury he suffered during the regular season finale). With Culliver’s injury, the Redskins should look to bring back Will Blackmon after a solid season and seek another option either through free agency or the draft. Depending on the severity of Jarrett’s injury, that could be enough to work with in the secondary.

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And, hey, if Culliver does come back healthy, you can never have too many cornerbacks.