“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. “It makes you a bit nervous, but I can see him coming back, making a full recovery.”

The Redskins signed Culliver to a four-year deal worth as much as $32 million in March in an attempt to upgrade the secondary, but he played just six games in a rough first season in Washington. It’s still unknown at this point how much Culliver will participate during offseason workouts, though he vowed at the end of the season that he’ll be ready by the season opener. Still, there are some who believe the Redskins could use their first round pick (21st overall) on a cornerback, and McCloughan said he wants to get better at every position, including corner, this offseason.

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The Redskins were able to overcome Culliver’s injury with the emergence of rookies like defensive back Kyshoen Jarrett, who suffered a brutal shoulder injury during the season finale against the Dallas Cowboys. Jarrett was placed on injured reserve and didn’t play in the team’s first-round playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers. McCloughan said he’s improving, but the team couldn’t tell if Jarrett suffered any nerve damage on the play.

“They said it’s going to take a little time just for him to recover, but they see him making a 100 percent recovery,” McCloughan said.

Jarrett, a sixth-round pick out of Virginia Tech, was drafted out of college as a safety but stepped in to serve as a cornerback in both nickel and dime packages later in the season. McCloughan loved Jarrett’s versatility as a rookie and didn’t want to pinpoint him at one position because of his flexibility. The emergence of Jarrett will certainly play a factor into the Redskins’ offseason as they attempt to bolster the secondary through free agency and the draft.

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“It’s nice, but I need more of those guys,” McCloughan said. “But, that’s how you build a team. He’s not the biggest, he’s not the fastest, but he’s a football player – and it showed up. He’s a mature guy for a rookie. He did a lot of nice things for us.”

Master Tesfatsion begins weekday mornings on The Insider with a quick take on the Redskins. Here are his previous Opening Kicks.