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Early in the week , Washington was passing out nametags for its new offensive line.Sunday, that line played well enough to win an NFL game, even if it was against one of the worst defenses in the league.They were forced to adjust without three starters, as guards Shawn Lauvao (torn ACL) and Brandon Scherff (pectoral) are out for the season and left tackle Trent Williams is recovering from thumb surgery.So they went into the game with聽Ty Nsekhe at left tackle, just-signed Jonathan Cooper at left guard, Chase Roullier at center, Tony Bergstrom at right guard and Morgan Moses at right tackle. Alex Smith was sacked three times, but they ran for 116 yards to beat the Buccaneers.鈥淭hey held up pretty good,鈥?coach Jay Gruden said, via Matthew Paras of the Washington Times. 鈥淚t has a little bit of an effect when you鈥檙e putting the game plan together , you think you鈥檒l be fine, but on game day when you look at [defensive tackle Gerald] McCoy and look at some of the pass rushers that they have, it has a little bit of an effect on making sure Alex is protected, so we were probably a little conservative early.鈥淔or the most part, I think we started airing out a little bit more as the game went on. I can鈥檛 say enough about what Jonathan Cooper did coming in here and playing after only about three or four days of learning.鈥滳ooper was flying back to Arizona last Sunday, but came back across country when injuries hit, and was plugged into his new team out of necessity.鈥淭he big thing for offensive linemen is definitely there aren鈥檛 prima donnas on the offensive line,鈥?Cooper said. 鈥淲e came right in and everybody got along. I think that鈥檚 the biggest thing: We were all able to come right in and just plug and play honestly.鈥滺e makes it sound so easy, though Gruden said during the week the staff was trying to teach Cooper聽鈥淥TAs, training camp and seven weeks , eight weeks of football in a day or two.鈥滺e learned it well enough to pass the first test, and keep them on their unexpected perch atop the NFC East. A slew of injuries along the offensive line forced Washington to go shopping for free agent help on Monday.In addition to confirming word that they signed former Jets, Raiders, Ravens and Colts tackle Austin Howard, the team also announced that they have signed guards Luke Bowanko and Jonathan Cooper.Bowanko was a Jaguars sixth-round pick in 2014 and made 14 starts as a rookie. He was traded to the Ravens last year and made his only other NFL start in Baltimore. Bowanko spent the summer with the Patriots before being cut in early September.Cooper was a first-round pick in 2013 for Arizona, but missed his rookie year with a broken leg and never developed into the player the Cardinals hoped he would be. He was traded to the Patriots in 2016, never played a game for them before landing in Cleveland as a waiver claim and started 13 games for the Cowboys last season. He failed to make the 49ers this summer.The three new arrivals give Washington some experienced bodies as they sort out a way to fill out the line against the Buccaneers. Guards Shawn Lauvao and Brandon Scherff went on injured reserve Monday, left tackle Trent Williams is expected to miss more time with a dislocated thumb and right tackle Morgan Moses hurt his MCL on Sunday.
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