Commanders announce Austin Ekeler signing, placement of Leo Chenal on IR

Published September 29, 2026 04:20 PM The Commanders have made it official with Austin Ekeler. Washington announced the club has re-signed Ekeler after he had spent the last two seasons with the club.Ekeler suffered a torn Achilles in Week 2 of last season. He had appeared in 12 games with six starts for Washington in 2024, recording 733 yards from scrimmage with four total touchdowns.“We’ll get him into the mix and see what the next three days looks like,” Quinn said, via Zach Selby of the team’s website. “It’s cool to have Austin here. He’s a great teammate and really one respected teammate here. It was definitely good to have him back into today.”The Commanders placed linebacker Leo Chenal on injured reserve to open up a spot for Ekeler. Chenal underwent season-ending neck surgery on Monday morning, which head coach Dan Quinn said went well.Additionally, the Commanders placed linebacker Marvin Jones Jr. on the practice squad injured list.