The Washington Commanders made two significant hires on Monday, naming Ryan Juarez as the team’s director of rehabilitation and Jamal Randall Sr. as the team’s senior physical therapist/assistant athletic trainer.
It’s part of owner Josh Harris’s continued effort to beef up the organization’s infrastructure. In addition to hiring Eugene Shen as senior vice president of football strategy late last season, Harris hired Adam Peters as general manager and has made other critical business hires.
Juarez and Randall are important because Washington received failing grades in the NFLPA survey for its training room (F-) and training staff (F). Among the players’ complaints were that the Commanders didn’t have enough trainers or physical therapists. Harris will prioritize these types of hires, as he’s done with his other organizations in the NBA and NHL.
Here’s this from commanders.com:
With the additions of both Juarez and Randall Sr., Washington has formed their new Rehabilitation Unit. This unit is a newly dedicated and streamlined process which will work in collaboration with the performance department and is designed to coordinate the rehab process for injured players in the most effective way possible. This function will play a vital role in return to play decision-making.
Juarez comes to Washington directly from the University of Nebraska, where he served as the director of rehabilitation. Before his time at Nebraska, Juarez spent time at Mercer University, the San Diego Chargers, the San Diego Fleet of the AAF, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Fresno State football program.
Randall spent the past seven seasons with the Atlanta Falcons as the athletic trainer and physical therapist.