WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler will miss the rest of the season because of a torn right Achilles tendon, a person with knowledge of the player’s status told The Associated Press on Saturday.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because nothing had been announced by the club about the extent of Ekeler's injury.
The Commanders had believed Ekeler could be out for the season, and an MRI exam confirmed it.
The 30-year-old Ekeler, who was in his ninth season in the NFL and second with the Commanders, is the second player on the team known to have picked up a season-ending injury in Washington's 27-18 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night.
Defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. is done for the year because he hurt his quadriceps during a kick attempt by the Packers in the first half. Wise, 31, was in his first season with Washington after playing for eight with the New England Patriots.
Ekeler fell to the ground on a play in the fourth quarter of the loss, which dropped Washington's record to 1-1. It was a noncontact injury, and Ekeler kept his weight off his right leg as he was helped off the field.
After staying on the bench on Washington’s sideline for a few minutes, Ekeler was driven toward the locker room.
He started both games this season for the Commanders, gaining 43 yards on 14 carries and catching five passes for 38 yards.
Ekeler has been a valuable pass-catcher out of the backfield for quarterback Jayden Daniels, last season’s AP NFL Rookie of the Year as Washington went 12-5 in the regular season and reached the NFC title game.
Last season, Ekeler ran for 367 yards and gained another 366 yards on catches. He entered this season with more than 4,200 receiving yards and more than 4,700 rushing yards over his NFL career.
Washington traded Brian Robinson Jr. to the San Francisco 49ers shortly before the season began, putting Ekeler in a starting role and leaving rookie Jacory Croskey-Merritt in the No. 2 role.
Now it seems likely that Croskey-Merritt will move into a more important role. He was a seventh-round draft pick and ran for 82 yards and a touchdown in Washington’s 21-6 victory over the New York Giants in Week 1. Against Green Bay, he had four carries for 17 yards.
Other Commanders players who were injured Thursday include wide receiver Noah Brown and tight end John Bates.
Washington's next game is Sept. 21 against the visiting Las Vegas Raiders.
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FILE - Washington Commanders running back Austin Ekeler rushes during an NFL football game against the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wis., Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Ludtke, File)
U.S. stocks are slipping in early trading Wednesday as Wall Street closes out a banner year for markets driven by both optimism and uncertainty.
The S&P 500 was down 0.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 111 points, or 0.2%, as of 10:07 a.m. Eastern time. The Nasdaq composite fell 0.2%. The stock indexes are coming off a three-day losing streak.
Trading is expected to be light ahead of the New Year’s Day holiday, when markets will be closed. With just one trading day left before the year ends, most big investors have closed out their positions for the year and trading volume has been very thin.
Even after their mini post-Christmas pullback, the indexes are on pace for strong gains for the year.
The S&P 500 is up more than 17% this year, it’s third straight double-digit annual gain. The Nasdaq is up 21.3% and the Dow has gained 13.7%.
Wall Street’s 2025 gains came as investors embraced the optimism surrounding artificial intelligence and its potential for boosting profits across almost all sectors. But the market had no shortage of turbulence along the way amid President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs on imported goods worldwide and uncertainty over the trajectory of interest rates.
The S&P 500 plunged nearly 5% on April 3, it’s worst day since the 2020 COVID crash. It fell another 6% a day later, after China’s response raised fears of an escalating trade war. Worries also gripped the U.S. Treasury market.
Trump eventually put his tariffs on pause and negotiated agreements with countries to lower his proposed tariff rates on their imports, helping calm investors’ nerves.
Strong profit reports from companies and three cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve also helped drive markets higher.
Still, the AI frenzy that drove markets in 2025 did not come without concerns. Chief among them is the worry that artificial intelligence technology may not produce enough profits and productivity to make all the investment worth it. That could keep the pressure on AI stocks like Nvidia and Broadcom, which were responsible for much of the market’s gains this year.
And it’s not just AI stocks that critics say are too pricey. Stocks across the market still look expensive after their prices climbed faster than profits.
On top of concerns that stocks are overvalued, the ongoing impact of the wide-ranging U.S.-led trade war threatens to add more fuel to inflation in the U.S. Despite the Fed cutting rates over concerns about the labor market, inflation remains solidly above the central bank’s 2% target.
Wall Street is betting that the Fed will hold interest rates steady at its next meeting in January.
Traders got an update on the state of the job market Wednesday. The Labor Department reported that fewer Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week with layoffs remaining low despite a weakening labor market.
Technology and communication services stocks were among the biggest weights of the market Wednesday.
Broadcom fell 1.1% and Micron Technology was 2% lower.
Treasury yields were mostly higher in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.14% from 4.13% late Tuesday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, rose to 3.46% from 3.45%.
Trading in precious metals continued to be volatile as the year winds down. Silver swung back to a big loss, giving back more than 6% early Wednesday after Tuesday's gain of more than 10%. Following Friday's 7.7% jump, silver lost nearly 9% on Monday. It's still up more than 140% this year.
Gold was down 0.6%, but is still up 65% in 2025.
Elsewhere, global stock markets including Germany, Japan and South Korea were closed Wednesday for the New Year's holidays, while trading was mixed in those that remained open.
U.S. crude picked up 39 cents to $58.34 per barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, added 36 cents to $61.69 per barrel.
Hajime Moriyasu, the head coach of Japanese national soccer team, rings the bell during a ceremony to mark the last trading day of the year on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Tuesday, Dec. 30, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
