Sky injury report: Carrington still a return mystery

DiJonai Carrington remains in rehab from ankle surgery with no firm return timeline, while Azura Stevens says her minutes restriction is still shaping her load after a knee bone bruise. The Sky are managing with eight fully healthy players as their defense hol

Washington has been watching the same question linger around the Sky: when will DiJonai Carrington be back on the floor?

Carrington, the All-Defensive wing, is still in rehab after ankle surgery in October. On media day. she said she didn’t want to publicize a specific timeline. and the team has provided no clear update since then. There’s been no indication whether she could return to practice before the All-Star break in July. after it. or somewhere in between.

Coach Tyler Marsh pushed back on a report that said the Sky signed Carrington knowing she might not play until after the FIBA World Cup break, which runs from Aug. 31 to Sept. 16. That schedule would leave just eight days in the regular season.

“We shouldn’t believe everything that we see and read,” Marsh said. “We are committed to the timeline that has been established. She’s progressing well, into on-court activities. … We’re looking forward to getting her back.”

Carrington appeared to back up Marsh’s message. She reposted a tweet citing the report with a “cap” emoji, slang for “false.”

For now, the Sky are down to eight fully healthy players on their roster. Their defense has held up through the injuries and still ranks sixth in the league overall. but it’s shown signs of sputtering—especially with rookie wing Gabriela Jaquez out with a knee injury. It’s the kind of drop that makes Carrington’s eventual return feel even more necessary: the Sky could use the intelligence and athleticism she brings on that end. even as fans are left waiting for a concrete timetable.

The clearest glimpses of her progress are limited to the portions of practices open to the media. That’s when Carrington typically is rehabbing and doing individual workouts.

Her injury path has been long and specific. She sprained her ankle in the playoffs last season, then underwent offseason surgery and rehab. After that, she had a follow-up procedure in mid-April to remove hardware from the joint.

Forward Azura Stevens is another piece the Sky want at full throttle. She remains on a minutes restriction—around 16—and says she’s still getting her legs back after missing the first five games of the season with a bone bruise in her knee.

“My body’s just getting used to the load that I’m taking on,” Stevens said at the Sky’s shootaround Tuesday.

Stevens said there isn’t an exact science to her minutes. They depend on how she feels on the day of the game. If she’s feeling better, the medical team might bump them up; if not, the restriction stays in place.

She acknowledged the difficulty of building rhythm in spurts.

“It’s really, really hard,” she said. “Just trying to get a flow because right when I feel like I’m getting going, I have to come out. But I understand it’s just the process right now.”

Even with Jaquez missing her third consecutive game, there was a small piece of comfort in the locker room: she got to have dinner with two former UCLA teammates in Mystics rookies Lauren Betts and Angela Dugalic.

Dugalic said she was excited to talk about Jaquez.

“Gabs is one of those players I hope I play with again someday,” Dugalic told the Sun-Times. “She’s so versatile. She does the little things, which end up being the big things.”

Dugalic added what stands out to her most: “She can do anything, from scoring in different ways to defending different people. She will be so tired, gasping for air, and still somehow finds a way to be the first one down the court.”

Betts said she misses seeing Jaquez’s face every day.

“But thank God we all have phones, so we text and FaceTime all the time,” Betts said.

Chicago Sky DiJonai Carrington ankle surgery Tyler Marsh Azura Stevens minutes restriction bone bruise Gabriela Jaquez knee injury All-Star break FIBA World Cup