Kidd's confusing P.J. Washington injury update has Mavericks fans panicking again

The Dallas Mavericks have been destroyed by injuries over the last few months, and the health of the team has undoubtedly been their biggest roadblock this season. Every time the team got healthy, a different player went down, and this has caused the team to battle all-time high levels of adversity.

Dallas' three key bigs, Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Dereck Lively II won't be reevaluated until March 6, and Dallas has also been without Caleb Martin since they traded for him as he is dealing with a hip injury. Injuries have been the story of the season for Dallas, and they desperately need to get healthy before the playoffs to have a shot at contending for a title.

P.J. Washington is someone who was out of the lineup at the beginning of this month as he sprained his right ankle against the Houston Rockets on February 8 (the same game in which Davis suffered an adductor strain), but he has played the last three games and seemed to be fully recovered after the All-Star break.

Jason Kidd's shocking P.J. Washington injury update fuels new worries

That doesn't seem to be the case after Jason Kidd's confusing injury update before Thursday night's game against the Charlotte Hornets, as he made it seem like Washington being held out of tonight's game is somewhat serious. Washington was originally questionable for the game against Charlotte due to the right ankle sprain he has been dealing with, but he was ruled out just under two hours before the game.

"The concern is high," Kidd said when asked about the concern level for Washington's injury. "Coming off this road trip and coming back home and for his ankle, hopefully he can heal here quickly and is ready to go for Saturday, but unfortunately he can’t go today."

Kidd is known for being reserved with injury updates during media availability, as he typically holds his cards extremely close to his chest when it comes to how his players are recovering, but saying that there is serious concern about Washington's ankle was not expected.

It did not appear that Washington re-injured his ankle in Tuesday night's game against the Los Angeles Lakers, and holding him out for the Charlotte game is likely just precautionary as he manages this right ankle sprain, but Kidd saying this opens up the slim chance that he is dealing with something serious and that he could miss time.

Washington had his roughest offensive game of the season against the Lakers on Tuesday, as he finished with zero points while shooting 0-9 from the field, and while his defense was stellar, the Mavericks are going to need much more out of him offensively. Him sitting out against Charlotte and getting some rest should allow him to be ready to roll moving forward, and we should know more about Washington's management of this injury as time goes on.

While Kidd sounded optimistic about Washington returning to the floor on Saturday for Dallas' game against the Milwaukee Bucks, him being out for that game is what would really cause some concern. Players taking nights off as they recover from injuries they suffered weeks before is normal, but him missing the Bucks game after having multiple days of rest is when the concern would really start for Mavs fans.

Dallas needs Washington badly for the final stretch of the season, and time will tell how serious Washington's right ankle sprain actually is.