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Daily Slop – 28 Nov 24 – RB Brian Robinson: “if all goes well, yes, I will play on Sunday…I’m in a great spot”

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The Athletic (paywall)

Commanders CB Marshon Lattimore practices for first time since trade

Lattimore has been dealing with a hamstring injury since before the acquisition, last playing with the New Orleans Saints in their Week 8 game against the Los Angeles Chargers. Before the injury, Lattimore was allowing a career-low 42.9 completion percentage and a career-best of just 4.4 yards per target allowed through seven games, according to Sports Info Solutions. Now, Lattimore makes his potential return for a team still in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Commanders head coach Dan Quinn emphasized caution with Lattimore’s injury recovery timeline but couldn’t hide his excitement, describing his return to play as “awesome.”

“We’re really following a rigorous process with him,” Quinn said. “And that’s not just with Marshon, but especially with soft tissue injuries. We have a great staff and working together with him, and the feedback that goes with it, and also keep him safe as well.”

Other injury news

Brian Robinson Jr. practicing is good news following a limited role against Dallas after suffering the ankle injury on the opening drive. Washington is 2-3 this season in games Robinson either missed or was hurt in-game.

Austin Ekeler seems like a long shot to face the Titans after his second concussion of the season (Week 3) and unofficially fourth of his NFL career. Andrew Wylie joined his teammates for stretching on Wednesday, but his status likely won’t be determined until Friday. Trent Scott or Cornelius Lucas are the backup options.

Commanders Wire

Commanders RB Brian Robinson Jr. discusses injury and if he’ll play in Week 13

After practice, Robinson offered an update on his chances of playing Sunday.

“It was a surprising day today, actually,” Robinson said. “I was actually able to go out, put strength on it, and move around. I felt pretty good for what I was doing today. I’m just looking forward to making some great progress this week, which I expect to do. If all goes well, yes, I will play Sunday. I am glad I was able to go out there today and move around and see where I was at. I think I’m in a great spot.”

Commanders.com

Practice notes | Quinn wants Commanders to get back to identity

As the Commanders get set to usher in December — the most critical part of the season – with a home matchup against the Tennessee Titans, coach Dan Quinn wants his team, players and coaches included, to get back to their identity.

“I want to see this identity just reveal itself about how we play,” Quinn said Monday. “And those things will play out as we’re going and that’s what I want to see from the guys — that the speed, the effort, the finishing, and if we do those things right, the score will certainly take care of itself, but that’s what I want to see.”

There’s no doubt that the players wanted to win, and “the fight that we have,” as Quinn put it following the 34-26 loss to the Cowboys, was part of the reason why Washington was in position to win all its previous three games. That showed itself in more memorable moments like Terry McLaurin’s 86-yard touchdown in the final seconds of regulation and in subtler plays like Jeremy Chinn delivering a lick on Jalen Brooks to knock the ball loose on a third-and-12.

Conversely, the ability to finish has not been present, at least not consistently, and it stems from the Commanders’ struggles earlier in games. For example, although Washington did rush for 145 yards against the Cowboys, the running game — a key piece of the offense’s identity — has not been nearly as successful during its losing streak. Over the last three weeks, the Commanders have rushed for 99.3 yards per game, which ranks 19th in that span and far below their ranking for the season (5th).

Bullock’s Film Room (subscription)

Emptying the notebook: Commanders defense

Breaking down a few different parts of the Commanders defensive performance against the Cowboys

In this post I’ll look at rookie cornerback Mike Sainristil’s continued improvement, Benjamin St-Juste’s continued struggles, why the Commanders need more out of Daron Payne and a nice play by safety Jeremy Chinn. Let;s start with the biggest positive, Mike Sainristil.

Mike Sainristil

I wrote about Sainristil’s progress just a few weeks ago after his impressive performance against the Eagles. While he still has improvements to make, he continues to make lots of good plays. I wanted to quickly highlight two that stood out against the Cowboys.

This play is a terrific demonstration of Sainristil’s football intelligence and instincts. The Commanders are running a disguised Tampa-2 simulated pressure here. They start with safety Quan Martin in the deep middle of the field, but he actually steps up into the hole. Meanwhile, both defenders in the slots drop back to play a deep half each. Bobby Wagner joins the rush up the middle while the two edge rushers sink back into coverage. It’s a good scheme that has worked well for Washington this season.

But we’re here to talk about Sainristil. He lines up to the right of the offensive formation, all the way outside the numbers. He’s responsible for the flat to his side of the field, but he’s also very aware of other factors around him. The first of those factors is Cowboys star receiver CeeDee Lamb, who is lined up in the slot to Sainristil’s side of the field. The second factor is that the defender meant to drop into zone coverage over the slot is defensive end Dorance Armstrong, which is obviously a bad matchup for the Commanders. Armed with that knowledge, Sainristil goes outside of his assignment to make a fantastic play here.

At the snap of the ball, Sainristil looks inside and spots Lamb breaking off on a quick hitch while also seeing the quarterback looking at Lamb. So while Sainristil is responsible for the flat outside, he can see where the ball is likely to be thrown. Instead of just leaving that to someone else and sticking to the flat that he is responsible for, Sainristil makes a quick decision. He begins to drive on Lamb’s route inside. You can see that he plants his foot and begins to drive inside before the quarterback has even begun his throwing motion. That’s how quickly Sainristil reads this play, identifies the issue and then works outside of his own responsibility to make a play. He arrives just a fraction after the ball does, landing a big hit to knock Lamb over immediately. Lamb does well to hold onto the catch, but Sainristil’s tackle means he gets a very small gain and the defense is set up with a third and nine situation.

Another play worth highlighting for Sainristil was his pass break up.

Washington Post (paywall)

Terry McLaurin lines up primarily on the left. Does it matter?

The star wideout has been in the same spot consistently under coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, but his targets have dropped during the Commanders’ three-game skid.

Just about every season — no matter the Washington Commanders’ coach, play caller, scheme or quarterback — wide receiver Terry McLaurin’s targets, or lack thereof, become a topic of concern.

It’s happening again this year, even though McLaurin is fourth in the NFL with 823 receiving yards and in just 12 games has matched his career high with seven touchdown catches. There’s a new wrinkle in the annual McLaurin target saga, though: his route location.

This season, in new coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s offense, McLaurin leads the league with 497 snaps lined up on the left side — Chicago’s DJ Moore is second at 470 — and is tied with Denver’s Courtland Sutton for the most targets as the No. 1 wide left receiver (53), according to TruMedia. McLaurin has been the wide right receiver for just six targets and has been in the slot for 15. Conversely, the Commanders’ Noah Brown leads all NFL players with 38 targets as the wide right receiver.

It wasn’t a hindrance for Marvin Harrison, as Coach Dan Quinn noted. Harrison, the Hall of Famer and former Indianapolis Colts star whom McLaurin idolized as a kid, played every snap of his career on the right side. Fellow Colts standout Reggie Wayne typically was on the left or occasionally in the slot.

“I would say it’s a little bit specific to the club,” Quinn added. “And the reason I say that is you can be left and right like [former Colts offensive coordinator Tom] Moore did utilizing those guys, and you can do in-breaks from the same location to the same side to catch the same pass all the time. You can make cases for that as well as moving people into different locations.”

Before Washington’s three-game skid, McLaurin’s alignment was rarely, if ever, perceived as an outside concern. But in the past three weeks, Washington’s offense has looked stagnant, and McLaurin has been targeted just 14 times, including a season-low two times in the Nov. 14 loss at Philadelphia. Diversifying McLaurin’s alignment could give opponents more to consider before the snap. It also could take advantage of McLaurin’s skill set.

Hogs Haven

From Bust to Breakout Star: Dante Fowler’s Roller Coaster NFL Career

Many Commanders know of Dante Fowler and praise him for his contributions as a pass rusher. He is often regarded as one of Dan Quinn’s best free agent signings as he sits third in the league in sacks as of November 13th, 2022. Fowler has had many solid years throughout his career but it hasn’t always been smooth sailing. In this article I will explore the interesting career of Dante Fowler and his ascent from a disappointment to one of the league’s best pass rushers.

Early Career

Following a solid combine, Fowler was taken at #3 overall by the Jaguars. This move was not a surprise as Fowler, himself stated that he would be shocked if he was not the 3rd pick. The excitement ended there as Fowler tore his ACL just one day into minicamp. He would go on to make his debut in 2016 recording 3 tackles including 1 for a loss in a close loss. The next week he totaled 2 sacks in a blowout loss to San Fran. Although this was a good sign, new acquisitions Yannick Ngakoue and Malik Jackson made playing time harder to come by. Fowler only started one game in his first season and played around 53% of the team’s defensive snaps.

Upcoming opponent

Music City Miracles

Chidobe Awuzie logs limited practice Wednesday

Chido was back on the practice field for the first time since his groin injury.

Chidobe Awuzie returned to the practice field for the Tennessee Titans for the first time since injuring his groin in week three against the Green Bay Packers. He was listed as a limited participant. The Titans opened his window to return from the IR this week. They will have three weeks to activate him. I would be surprised if he plays this week.

Here is the full injury report from today:

Podcasts & videos

Feasting on Turkey and Titans + Terry McLaurin is HIM | Command Center | Washington Commanders

Can the Washington Commanders Revive Jayden Daniels and Their Offense in Week 13?