Redskins' Fred Davis cleared to return from Achilles injury

A healthy Fred Davis is crucial to the Redskins' offense. (USATSI)

Just four months after undergoing surgery for a torn Achilles tendon, Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis has been medically cleared to resume running and other training activities, according to multiple outlets. The news was first reported by ProFootballTalk.

The Redskins' fifth-year tight end was cleared to play by Dr. Robert Anderson, who performed Davis' Oct. 23 surgery. Anderson is the same doctor who operated on the Achilles tendon of Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs and the ankle of Yankees star Derek Jeter.

Davis tore his left Achilles tendon on the Redskins first offensive series during a Week-7 loss to the New York Giants.

It only takes one quick look at Washington's 2012 statistics to see how valuable Davis is to the Redskins offense: Despite playing in only seven games, Davis still finished fifth on the team in receiving with 325 yards.

In 2011, Davis finished second on the team in receiving with 796 yards, despite missing the final four games of the year due to a violation of the league's substance abuse policy.

The Redskins hit Davis with the franchise tag following the 2011 season, a move that guaranteed Davis $5.5 million in salary for 2012.

If the Redskins want to keep Davis, they'll need to decide soon, he's set to become an unrestricted free agent on March 12. Washington could either franchise tag him again -- at a cost of $6.5 million -- or offer him an incentive-laden long term contract, something that would make sense, given his injury and suspension history.

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