Linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton’s 2016 season ended when he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Alabama’s 54-16 victory over Florida in the SEC Championship Game.

His 2017 campaign ended when he sustained a fractured knee cap in the Crimson Tide's 24-10 victory over LSU in an SEC game in November.

Hamilton’s 2018 season ended with the former Carver-Montgomery star making seven tackles in the Washington Redskins’ 24-0 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles on Dec. 30.

Hamilton closed his rookie season by starting at inside linebacker for Washington in the final four games. The Redskins took Zach Brown, who recorded 127 tackles in 2017 and 96 in 2018, out of the lineup to give Hamilton an opportunity.

Hamilton responded with 23 tackles in 120 defensive snaps after playing nine defensive snaps in the first 12 games of the season.

That gave Hamilton momentum going into the offseason, his first in three years without rehab.

“I’m a guy who’s had two season-ending injuries in 11 months,” Hamilton told the Redskins’ official website. “I’m excited about it because the past two years the offseason has been rehab, rehab, rehab. But now I can finally get an offseason where I can just work on my craft. Get bigger, get faster, get stronger -- things like that. I’m looking forward to it.”

Hamilton said he’d “hit (the offseason) with a full head of steam, running. Like I said, it’s a blessing to be healthy and going into the offseason ready to work.”

Washington has both its regulars at inside linebacker -- Brown and Mason Foster -- under contract for next season. With Brown due to make $6.75 million for the 2019 season, plus a $500,000 roster bonus, he’s viewed as a possible cap casualty, which would open a spot in the Redskins’ lineup that Hamilton filled in the final four games of the season

Washington coach Jay Gruden said Hamilton “did some good things.”

“We love the way he’s progressed through training camp, OTA’s, training camp and now,” Gruden said of Hamilton at the end of the 2018 season. “The most important thing with him is getting his legs under him after the injury at Alabama. He’s very smart and instinctual, and he’s made a pretty good impact for us."

Foster ranked as one of the NFL's top tacklers in 2018 with 131. The job beside him wouldn't necessarily go to Hamilton if the Redskins parted ways with Brown.

Washington has another former Alabama linebacker on the roster -- Reuben Foster, a first-round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers a year before the Redskins picked up Hamilton in the sixth round.

Foster will have to get off the Commissioner Exempt List to play, though. He's been there since Washington claimed him off waivers in November, and the designation prevents him from playing, among other things.

Tampa Police arrested Foster at the 49ers' team hotel on Nov. 24, the night before their NFL road game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Elissa Ennis told police that Foster had knocked her phone from her hand, pushed her in the chest and slapped her in the face.

San Francisco cut Foster. But the day before Foster's scheduled arraignment in Hillsborough, Florida, on one misdemeanor count of first-degree domestic battery on Jan. 3, the State Attorney's Office dismissed the charge and filed a notice of termination of prosecution.

During a press conference earlier this month, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league was investigating the incident to determine if Foster had broken the league’s Personal-Conduct Policy.

Hamilton and Foster played together at Alabama in the 2014, 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Washington has a new inside-linebackers coach, with Rob Ryan following Kirk Olivadotti, who left to join the staff of new Green Bay Packers coach Matt LaFleur. Ryan has 12 seasons of NFL experience as a defensive coordinator and was most recently a position coach in 2003, when he directed the New England Patriots' linebackers.

“Obviously, I’ve coached a long time,” Ryan said. “I have a lot of knowledge. I’m just looking to be part of something great. They had a great defense last year. I’m walking into a great situation, a perfect situation, with the right mood in the building. I’m real fortunate to come into something so special.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.