“Toyota! Toyota!” Wentz yelled.
“Silver! Silver!” center linebacker Cole Holcomb countered.
On the second play, receiver Terry McLaurin dropped a troublesome catch close to the left sideline. The subsequent play, Wentz went again to him brief proper for a few yards.
“Even! Gizmo!” Wentz yelled.
After a pleasant achieve to rookie tight finish Cole Turner, Wentz overthrew rookie receiver Jahan Dotson down the left sideline after which at his ft on a crossing route. Over 4 days, Wentz’s throws have commonly included spectacular strikes and inexplicable misses.
Now it was third and 10. Wentz drew defensive deal with Daron Payne offside, however the play went on, and when Wentz checked right down to tight finish Sammis Reyes for about 5 yards, senior offensive assistant Jim Hostler hollered, “That was a first down! It was third and five!” The protection vocally disagreed.
On fourth down, Wentz once more checked right down to Reyes, who managed sufficient for the first down. In apply, Wentz has typically held the ball for a number of seconds, and in a daily season recreation, it appears unlikely he would’ve gotten via his reads to Reyes. Overall, Wentz has seemed finest when making fast selections.
Two performs later, with three seconds on the clock, Wentz threw a 20-yard dot to Dotson over the center — and the rookie elevated for the seize in the long run zone. The offense, for at some point, had completed with a landing.
After a news convention saying his retirement, defensive finish Ryan Kerrigan watched apply on Saturday. Players, coaches and workers typically approached to congratulate him on an 11-year profession, and within the post-practice huddle, Rivera honored the franchise’s all-time sack chief (95.5).
Many gamers didn’t take part in Saturday’s apply. Rivera referred to as it a veteran relaxation day for defensive deal with Jonathan Allen, defensive finish Montez Sweat, left guard Andrew Norwell and left deal with Charles Leno.
Running again Antonio Gibson (hamstring) participated in particular person drills for the first time however remained out of group drills. Center Chase Roullier (fibula), who was activated from the bodily unable to carry out record Thursday, did the identical.
Receiver Curtis Samuel was restricted once more out of “an abundance of caution,” as Rivera has stated. Right guard Trai Turner didn’t take part. Swing deal with Cornelius Lucas remained on the non-football sickness record and didn’t take part.
Players engaged on the facet discipline additionally included tight finish John Bates, security Jeremy Reaves, nook DeJuan Neal and defensive again Troy Apke. Bates and Apke wore sleeves on their decrease left legs.
Already brief on offensive linemen
With so many offensive linemen out, the Commanders’ prime two strains seemed fairly completely different. The first-team unit, left to proper, was Saahdiq Charles, Nolan Laufenberg, Keith Ismael, Wes Schweitzer and Sam Cosmi. The second unit included two gamers — left deal with Alex Akingbulu and proper deal with Rashod Hill — whom the group signed within the morning.
The group launched Beau Benzschawel, a veteran of the apply squad, to make room. Hill, a seven-year veteran who’s largely performed with Minnesota, and Akingbulu, an undrafted free agent from Fresno State, appear prone to be momentary fill-ins.
In the approaching days, probably the most urgent questions for the unit — aside from well being — embrace at proper guard and the way Roullier seems to be in his return. After fracturing his fibula final October, medical doctors carried out in depth surgical procedure, placing plates into the bone and reattaching ligaments.
“There’s new hardware in my ankle that will never feel fully the same again, so I have to adjust,” Roullier stated.
Fourth operating again battle
With the highest three operating backs solidified — Antonio Gibson, J.D. McKissic and Brian Robinson Jr. — three backs are competing for a possible fourth roster spot: Jonathan Williams, Reggie Bonnafon and Jaret Patterson.
Whether the group retains 4 operating backs will rely on quite a lot of components, most importantly particular groups.
Special-teams coordinator Nate Kaczor “carries a lot of weight when putting his core guys together, and if he’s a core guy, then that could factor into it,” operating backs coach Randy Jordan stated of protecting 4 backs. (The group stored 4 in 2020 and three in 2021.)
Special groups would seemingly favor Patterson. Last 12 months, when he was the third operating again on the depth chart, he took 71 special-teams snaps. But what if the participant who could possibly be the best asset on particular groups just isn’t the identical participant who has probably the most potential at operating again?
On Saturday, Williams entered the two-minute drill with the first group due to Jordan’s need to see how Williams would react. Pleased with the outcome, Jordan praised Williams’s clear route operating and his deal with of the quick tempo.
