During Jonathan Allen’s previous seven seasons with Washington, the NFL team has not posted a winning record in any of them. But in 2024, the Commanders are off to a 4-2 start and hold the top spot in the NFC East standings.

Washington will have to try to hold that spot without the defensive tackle. Commanders coach Dan Quinn announced the former Alabama All-American had sustained a torn pectoral muscle in the third quarter of Washington’s 30-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

“It’s a big blow for us,” Quinn said on Monday. “Jon Allen’s obviously been a staple player here in the play style and the attitude, so we’re really bummed for him as the man and the ballplayer. We’ll certainly miss him this season. And he should likely get surgery in the days ahead.”

The 17th selection in the 2017 NFL Draft, Allen has spent his entire career with Washington. He received Pro Bowl recognition in the 2021 and 2022 seasons.

“It’ll be a multitude of people in roles,” Quinn said of replacing Allen, “and how we can feature guys to do that because Jon’s rare and he’s got unique skills and talent, so it’s not just plug and play. The good news is we got a big, deep crew, and we’ll feature all of them a little bit differently in finding the ways that we can do that.

“We’ll certainly miss Jon and the strength and the attitude that he brings inside.”

The Commanders’ other starting defensive tackle is Daron Payne, another former Alabama standout who prepped at Shades Valley.

Allen had played 230 defensive snaps this season. Payne has played 242.

The top candidates to replace Allen are Phidarian Mathis, another former Crimson Tide defensive lineman, and Johnny Newton. Mathis has played 127 defensive snaps in 2024 after two injury-affected seasons, and Newton has played 117 defensive snaps as a second-round rookie.

The Commanders play the Carolina Panthers at 3:05 p.m. CDT Sunday at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland.

At Alabama, Allen swept the national Defensive Player of the Year awards in 2016 by winning the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award. He also won the SEC Defensive Player of the Year Award, the Rotary Lombardi Award as the nation’s best lineman and the Ted Hendricks Award as the nation’s best defensive end. Allen was a unanimous All-American in 2016, when he earned All-SEC selection for third season in a row.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.