What are Washington's position coaches saying about the players ahead of this week's minicamp?
With the mandatory minicamp starting in Tuesday, June 8th, Washington's position coaches addressed the media on Monday to talk about their respective units. The coaches had a lot to say about a number of players.
Wide receivers coach Drew Terrell is excited about the two new draft picks, Dyami Brown and Dax Milne, saying that neither seems like a rookie. He adds that both have been "thrown in the fire" and that he is impressed with what he's seen.
Related: Washington Football Team may have gotten the steal of the draft at the WR position
Terrell also talked about how Terry McLaurin is developing as a leader. Terrell cited the example of Terry off to the side helping the younger receivers in a way that is entirely genuine.
Terrell's strongest positive comments of the day may have been for Cam Sims, the big receiver who has worked for a couple of seasons to move from the practice squad to being the most targeted receiver in last season's playoff game against Tampa Bay. Terrell said the team relies heavily on Sims an and called him "the glue" of the group. Here's Terrell on Sims: "He became a true pro last year. We relied on him a ton; he's done a fantastic job. He's one of the smartest guys in the room."
Tight ends coach Pete Hoener was extremely high on Logan Thomas, saying, "Right now, when I talk about a complete tight end, he's got to be within the top five, six, seven of the league." He added, "In an ideal world, you would want three Logan Thomases out there."
Hoener was positive about developmental prospect Sammis Reyes, dismissing concerns about drops in camp, saying he's not concerned about those. "For never having played football before," added Hoener, "he's got great hands."
Related story: Washington adds tight end with signing of Sammis Reyes
With respect to both Reyes and drafted rookie John Bates, Hoener said that he's waiting to get them to camp to see how they handle being in pads, the heat, increased practice intensity, preseason games nad so on.
Running backs coach Randy Jordan said that the team is excited about UDFA Jaret Patterson, saying that he's showing a good ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and run, which is something they hadn't seen initially on tape. A huge key for Patterson, said Jordan, is his ability to develop as a pass protector if he wants to get on the field in games.
Related article: WFT has a new running back, and he used to be teammates with Chase Young in high school
Jordan talked about Antonio Gibson and compared him to the 2020 version, declaring "It's like night and day." Jordan said that Gibson has improved his understanding of what the offense is doing and why certain plays don't work the way they are supposed to. Jordan added that Gibson is learning how to press the line of scrimmage to get more positive yards -- which is quite a feat considering that Gibson was a league leader a year ago, earning positive yardage on over 92% of his runs.
QB coach Ken Zampese reminded reporters that he had worked with Washington's new quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick before in Cincinnati. He said that the development that Fitzpatrick has made in his career is obvious, but he stressed Fitzpatrick's role as a team leader, saying, "He just drops these one-liners and bombs on guys and they don't even know what happened. He's got a great deal of swag; he's authentic through all of it, which is the important part. Ryan has a lot of humor in him and uses it to build bridges."
Zampese likes backup QB Taylor Heinicke, and says that the thing he needs to do to prove he's not a flash in the pan is to stay healthy.
Travelle Wharton is the Assistant Offensive Line coach. He talked about Sam Cosmi, saying that he is strong and physical at the point of attack and plays with intensity on every snap. He says that Cosmi is working on the details of the position like footwork and hand placement at the moment.
More about Sam Cosmi: The Washington Football Team may have drafted the most athletic offensive tackle in the ’21 class
Wharton added that free agent left tackle Charles Leno had brought leadership and experience to the team and the offensive line group in particular. He added that Leno often points out to younger linemen how to identify what the defense is doing based on alignment and other clues.
ON second-year player Saahdiq Charles, Wharton said that he can play either guard or tackle: "He can play both. He has the quickness to play on the outside and the strength to play inside. He is a big asset."
Linebacker coach Steve Russ was very excited about first-round draft pick Jamin Davis, praising his athleticism, instincts and intelligence. Russ added that Davis is passionate about the sport in meetings and that he cares about learning what's happening with the entire defense, not just his own assignments. This is important for a linebacker, who is in the middle of everything, and especially so if Davis is to someday become the defensive signal caller. Russ said that Davis has been spending time at the MLB position since that is the spot he played at Kentucky and Russ believes it is important to create some familiarity for an incoming rookie, but he stressed that Davis has the ability to play all the linebacker positions. Russ said that he wants all the linebackers to play fast, saying htat he knows Davis will make some mistakes, but Russ wants him to make those mistakes going full speed so they can fix them.
Defensive line coach Sam Mills was high on the return of DT Matt Ioannidis from injury, and added that he wanted the entire group to see 2021 as a new season where they had to prove themselves all over again. In other words, they can't build on the 2020 accomplishments; it's a new season and they must start from scratch.
DB Coach Chris Harris said that safety Kam Curl is playing with more confidence than he did a year ago as a rookie.
Harris also praised CB William Jackson, saying that he had done a good job picking up the scheme and that he has good size, length and feet for the position. Harris said he was confident that the team has more flexibility this year and that, as the coaches come to understand the talents of the players they have on the roster, everyone will be put in the spots where they can best contribute to the team's success.
Details about William Jackson III: Change from Ronald Darby to William Jackson III signals more aggressive defense for Washington Football in 2021
The minicamp was originally scheduled for next week, starting on the 15th, but it was changed by head coach Ron Rivera as a reward for the effort he saw from players in the first voluntary OTAs in May. He cancelled one of the scheduled three OTA sessions and moved minicamp up a week to give the players a longer break before training camp starts in the final week of July.
Minicamp lasts for three day -- June 8-10 -- and it is mandatory. The only player not to attend any of the voluntary OTAs was Chase Young, but he is expected to be in attendance at the mandatory sessions this week.
Most PopularWelcome to NewsBreak, an open platform where diverse perspectives converge. Most of our content comes from established publications and journalists, as well as from our extensive network of tens of thousands of creators who contribute to our platform. We empower individuals to share insightful viewpoints through short posts and comments. It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency: our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. We strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.
Comments / 0