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The Washington Commanders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will close out Sunday's slate of games on Wild Card Weekend with the NFL playoffs officially in full flow. The No. 3 seed Bucs locked up their spot in the playoffs with time to spare while the Commanders were sort of made to sweat a little towards the end.
In any case, Washington appears to have put the stench of the Dan Snyder era firmly behind them, making the playoffs in Dan Quinn's first season as head coach of the team with rookie Jayden Daniels under center.
The Commanders have also done a great job of putting talent around Daniels, allowing the rookie to thrive and have a sensational season, one that will probably end with him being named Offensive Rookie of the Year. Some of that talent includes former Los Angeles Chargers running back Austin Ekeler, who signed with the Commanders in the offseason.
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Ekeler hasn't been getting a lot of work over the past few weeks but will be ready to be called upon later tonight when they take on the Bucs.
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Is Austin Ekeler playing tonight vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?
Both the Commanders and Bucs are fairly healthy heading into this game with no names ruled out just yet.
The Commanders did, however, print a pretty lengthy list of names on their Wild Card Weekend injury report but Ekeler did not feature on that list. The Commanders RB does not have an injury designation which means he will be good to go against the Bucs later tonight.
Ekeler ended his regular season with 367 rushing yards on 77 attempts, mostly serving as a backup for Brian Robinson Jr. The Commanders have been using Ekeler as a kick returner this year. He finished third in the NFL with 594 kickoff return yards on 19 total returns in 12 games, earning him a second-team All-Pro selection.
Considering the Bucs have managed to shut shop more often than not against running backs, expect Ekeler to be involved in the passing game a lot more than the running game tonight. Ekeler hauled in 35 receptions on 41 targets for 366 yards in the regular season.
