RICHMOND—When Jordan Reed initially opened Redskins training camp on the PUP list, Washington coach Jay Gruden made clear that he expected his star tight end back relatively quick.

About a week later, when news broke that Reed traveled to North Carolina to see a specialist about his toe injury, Gruden explained that the doctor's visit was "scheduled" and that, again, there was not much reason to worry.

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With Redskins training camp now into its ninth day, and still no sign of Reed being able to practice, Gruden is no longer proclaiming total optimism. Asked for an update on the tight end's health, Gruden answered, "nothing."

Pushed for more information, and specifically if Reed's injury could force the tight end to miss games in the regular season, Gruden sounded confident but a bit more cautious than previous answers.

"I think from every indication I’ve gotten and received from the doctors and trainers and from Jordan I feel like he’ll be ready for the season, but you never know," the coach said. "So we’ll have to wait and see. These things are odd from time to time but I have total faith that he’ll be ready."

A report from the Richmond Times-Dispatch showed that Reed has been experiencing pain with the toe since the end of the 2016 season. A stem-cell treatment this offseason made the toe pain flare up again, and Reed is letting things calm down before he practices again.

The situation with Reed is starting to sound somewhat similar to the situation last year with then rookie Josh Doctson. The first-round pick hardly touched the field in Richmond as doctors couldn't figure out the cause of Achilles pain. The team thought he should be good to go for the season, and he played the first two games, before being shut down for the rest of the year.

The Redskins boast a powerful offense without Reed in the lineup, but with him, the team can be dynamic. Kirk Cousins will be working with a rebuilt, and perhaps better, receiving group in Doctson and Terrelle Pryor, but every QB in the league would prefer to play with a tight end like Reed.

Michaela Johnson contributed to this report.

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