Running back Clinton Portis will be placed on the Injured Reserve list with a third-degree groin pull that failed to heal. (Photo: Associated Press)

Clinton Portis is headed for the Injured Reserve list after he suffered a setback to the groin injury that kept him sidelined for five games and forced him out of Sunday’s win at Tennessee.

The Redskins have yet to officially comment on the season-ending move, but some of his teammates had been told about it and spoke of it in the locker room this morning. Shortly after, a league source confirmed that Portis to IR is definitely the case.

“That’s going to be tough,” cornerback DeAngelo Hall said of going the final six games of the season without Portis. “He’s a veteran guy, a guy that knows what’s going on, the system and the scheme, but our young guys have been doing pretty good. We’ll put all the carries on their back and ride them.”

Said rookie left tackle Trent Williams: “It’s a huge blow. He’s one of the leaders on this offense, somebody that everybody looked up to because he’s been getting it done for an amount of years.”

Portis this season has rushed for 227 yards and two touchdowns on 54 carries with all but five carries and 32 yards coming in the first four games of the season. Portis suffered a third-degree groin pull in Week 4 against the Philadelphia Eagles, an injury that was so serious that the muscle was separated from the bone.

After five games on the sideline, Portis returned on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans and started. He was averaging 6.4 yards a carry and had one catch for 14 yards, but then aggravated the injury while trying to break a tackle. Portis left the game in the first quarter and never returned.

Redskins coach Mike Shanahan had said on Monday that the running back had gotten an MRI done and was seeing several doctors to determine how serious the injury was.

Portis’ injury puts in doubt his chance of surpassing John Riggins’ as the Redskins’ all-time leading rusher. Portis has 6,284 rushing yards as a Redskin, and needed 684 yards to catch Riggins, who rushed for 7,472 yards as a Redskin.

Portis has said that achieving that mark was very important to him, but next year he is due to make $8.3 million and would have to restructure his deal for the team to bring him back given his injury history. Portis has not finished a season for two straight years now. Last year he was limited to just eight games because of a concussion. At 29, Portis still isn't quite yet considered old, age-wise, but for his career, he has 9,923 rushing yards on 2,230 carries, which means a lot of wear and tear and little tread left.

Without Portis, the Redskins will have to continue to lean heavily on young running backs. Keiland Williams two weeks ago started with both Ryan Torain and Portis still injured, and he rushed for 89 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries, and also had four catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. Last week he took over for Portis against the Titans and rushed for 68 yards on 23 carries and had 27 receiving yards on six catches.

Torain has missed the last two games with a hamstring strain, and Shanahan said on Monday that his availability for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings is “a long shot.”

The Redskins on Sunday also lost backup running back Chad Simpson, who broke a bone in his foot and is on Injured Reserve. The Redskins on Monday moved running back James Davis from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, and on Tuesday signed former Florida standout Kestahn Moore to the practice squad.

Running back was expected to be a position of good depth for the Redskins when in the offseason, they added high profile veterans Larry Johnson and Willie Parker to the roster. But Portis, Johnson and Williams ended up being the only two to make the initial 53-man cut, and Torain was on the practice squad. After two games, the Redskins cut an unproductive Johnson, however, and Torain was promoted to the roster.

When Portis went down, Torain stepped in, rushing for 391 yards and three touchdowns on 91 carries and started four games. Williams stepped in as third down back and has gradually seen his role expand.