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The Washington Redskins have a had a surprising season as they sit atop the NFC East division with a record of 6-3.

The Redskins defense has been one of the NFL’s best despite giving up over 500 total yards in last weeks 16-3 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The young core or Jonathan Allen, Matt Ioannidis and Daron Payne have turned the Redskins defensive front into a unit to be reckoned with for the foreseeable future.

Washington has also been the fountain of youth for veteran and future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson has given the Redskins a power running game that compliments the ball control skills of veteran quarterback Alex Smith who is still finding his way in coach Jay Gruden’s offense.

One of the areas hit hardest for the Redskins that could determine their playoff chances is along the offensive line. The team is currently playing without two Pro Bowl linemen in left tackle Trent Williams (could possibly play on Sunday) and right guard Brandon Scherff (lost for the season with a shoulder injury). To make matters worse, the offensive line lost left guard Shawn Lauvao for the season with a torn ACL.

Washington entered last weeks game against the Buccaneers with a shuffled line that consisted of starter Morgan Moses at right tackle in his customary role, reserve Tony Bergstrom at right guard, starting center Chase Roullier at his normal spot, free agent signee Jonathan Cooper at left guard and reserve Ty Nsekhe at left tackle.

It was the play of Cooper which made headway in the team’s win. The veteran player was not on an NFL roster just days before playing in Tampa. The Redskins signed him after Scherff and Lauvao were injured and lost for the season in a game against the Atlanta Falcons just a week before the Tampa contest.

Folks Johnathan Cooper is out there throwing some nice blocks and people around. For this to be his first game and fresh off the street just a a few days ago is impressive. #Redskins — Lake Lewis Jr (@LakeLewis) November 11, 2018

The former North Carolina standout was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals seventh overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. He had bounced around several teams over his six-year career but has started in several games. He made a career-best 13 starts for the Dallas Cowboys last season. Due to injuries and perhaps missed opportunities, Cooper has not been able to stick with a team for an extended period of time. He has had stints with the Cardinals (2014-15), New England Patriots (2016), Cleveland Browns (2016), Dallas Cowboys (2017) and most recently before signing with Washington was in San Francisco with the 49ers. That merry-go-round could change in Washington if he continues to play well and give the offensive line a much-needed boost at a position the team has not really addressed over the past few seasons.

A Redskins win over Texans would …

If Cooper plays well for the remainder of the season he could be in line to enter next years camp with an extended contract and a chance to anchor down the left guard spot. His strong play last week was a much needed positive result for a banged up offensive line and his efforts did not go unnoticed.

When asked about his future if his strong play continues Cooper replied.

“I have said before that I’m the last person who should be thinking that way,” Cooper said. “With the stuff, I have had to deal with [in the past], day to day I just try to do my best, I feel like doing that will align everything for me regarding the future.”

Redskins quarterback Alex Smith was impressed with Cooper’s performance and spoke about it to reporters during his weekly press conference from the INOVA Sports Performance Center at Redskins Park.

“I think the task that was in front of him to come in on a short week, get up to speed and then go out there and execute, I thought was a tall task,” Smith said. “It’s a good D-line, definitely the strength of their defense. I thought he played great. I know he had a couple flags on him. The one on the screen [play] I thought was borderline, very questionable, but I thought he played great. I thought he went out… I think it’d be easy in that situation to be tentative and hold back. I thought he didn’t blink in the huddle around him. I thought he almost relished the challenge of it and I thought that was really neat to be around.”

Coach Jay Gruden was impressed with Cooper and his shuffled line as a whole.

” … I thought they did pretty good, really,” Gruden said. “I was impressed with Jonathan Cooper coming in, a few days and really competed. I like that Morgan [Moses] fought through his injury, did a good job. Ty [Nsekhe] obviously has had some bumps and bruises but he’s done a good job. Obviously, Chase [Roullier] in the middle was great with the calls. [Tony] Bergstrom didn’t get any credit, but playing right guard, did a pretty good job also. There’s room for improvement and I think the more they play together, the better they’ll get. We’ve just got to get some other guys schooled up in case something else happens.”

Cooper and the Redskins will have their hands full this week against the Houston Texans defensive that features J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney.

Lake Lewis Jr Lake Lewis Jr. is the owner and founder of Lake Lewis LLC (SportsJourney.com and After Practice with Lake Lewis Podcast). He is a Beat Reporter and TV Analyst covering the Washington (NFL) Football Team. Lewis has worked for several top media brands such as USA TODAY SMG, as well as ESPN Radio and CBS Sports Radio where he was a syndicated radio host. He's also covered the NBA, and is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA).