WFT's Taylor Heinicke Played Through Separated Shoulder Injury vs. Buccaneers

In the midst of becoming the talk of the NFL playoffs, Washington Football Team quarterback Taylor Heinicke apparently suffered a serious injury to his left shoulder during Saturday's loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

Heinicke told reporters after the Football Team's 31-23 loss that he played the fourth quarter with a separated AC joint. He added that the injury won't require surgery, but said, "It just hurts like hell right now."

Washington turned to Heinicke for its NFC Wild Card Game against the Bucs, as Alex Smith was unavailable because of a calf injury. 

With just one NFL start, which came in 2018, and having just signed with the Football Team in December as a member of its practice squad, Heinicke stood toe-to-toe with Tom Brady in a playoff game. 

Heinicke was injured early in the fourth quarter and went to the locker room to be examined. He returned without missing an offensive snap. The 27-year-old led a 75-yard scoring drive on his first series back, capping it off with a touchdown pass to Steven Sims.

When the game was over, Heinicke had 306 yards passing, 46 yards rushing and two total touchdowns. His 44 pass attempts against the Bucs were 25 more than he had in the regular season.