Coach Jay Gruden said tight end Logan Paulsen might need surgery on his toe, which would leave the Washington Redskins thin at the position.
Paulsen suffered the toe injury last week and saw a specialist, Dr. Robert Anderson, Tuesday night. Gruden told reporters Wednesday morning that they still needed to meet with the trainers to decide the best course of action for Paulsen.
The Redskins already had hoped to add another tight end at some point, whether in camp or after the final cuts. This would necessitate a possible move earlier than planned. But the desire also speaks to the fact that they did not view it as a deep position.
Gruden told reporters that they have not talked about possibly adding former Redskins tight end Chris Cooley, who expressed an interest recently to return.
"Once that decision [on Paulsen] becomes final and how long we know he will be out, then we will start possibly looking for others," Gruden said. "But we have guys in this building, too. Let's give them a chance in this game and go from there."
It does not help that third-year tight end Jordan Reed has missed a combined 12 games his first two seasons -- and he's ruled out for Thursday's preseason opener at Cleveland because of a hamstring injury. Reed said last week he had been stretching more in an effort to help his durability.
Starting tight end Niles Paul returned to practice Tuesday after hurting his shoulder Monday and is expected to play. They also will use Chase Dixon and Je'Ron Hamm early in the game. They also have undrafted free agent Devin Mahina.
