Washington's defensive line just took a real hit. Johnny Newton underwent surgery to repair a torn pectoral muscle, and the team is bracing for him to be out for a significant chunk of the 2026 season, according to Jordan Schultz.
The injury reportedly happened in Washington's preseason opener against Miami, which makes the timing brutal. Newton was entering year 3 off a 2025 season where he flashed real juice as a pass rusher — 5 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery even while playing behind Daron Payne and Javon Kinlaw in the rotation. Head coach Dan Quinn had publicly said back in April he thought Newton was 'about to absolutely take off.'
For his career, the former Illinois standout — a 2024 second-round pick — now sits at 82 tackles, 7 sacks and 2 forced fumbles across 33 games. Those are solid numbers for a rotational interior lineman who hadn't even cracked the starting lineup yet, which is exactly why the breakout buzz around him was real heading into camp.
Instead, Washington's interior pass rush now leans even harder on Payne and Kinlaw to hold things down without their most explosive young piece. Losing a guy who was trending up — not declining, not stuck — stings differently than losing a known commodity, because the Commanders don't get to find out this year what Newton's third-season leap actually looks like.
'Significant time' is doing a lot of work in that report, and pectoral tears in football tend to be measured in months, not weeks. Until Washington's medical staff or the team puts a firmer timeline on it, the honest read is that Newton's 2026 season is now in serious jeopardy, and the defensive line's depth chart just got a lot thinner heading into the year.