Former Maryland defensive lineman AJ Francis has been on the road a lot since graduating from UMD, during both his NFL career and his highly publicized stint as an Uber driver. So the 26-year-old must be thrilled that his next step as a pro will put him close to home.
On Wednesday morning, the defensive lineman announced on his Instagram and Twitter that he was joining the Washington Redskins. In the caption of his Instagram post, Francis says, “It feels great to be back” in the area:
It’s presumed that Francis is landing with the team’s practice squad, because it had a vacant spot there. However, the Redskins are very weak at defensive line, so it says something that they’ve chosen to sign the 26-year-old and monitor his development, perhaps with an eye of calling him up in the future.
If Francis does get elevated to the 53-man roster — and that’s a big if, mind you — he’d be the second Terp to play for the Burgundy and Gold this year, joining tight end Vernon Davis.
