Daily Slop – 12 Oct 23: Ron Rivera: “Do your job”

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East and the NFL in general

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Commanders.com

Practice notes | Ron Rivera has a simple message for the Commanders

It’s the first thing the Washington Commanders’ players see when they walk into the locker room. Hanging on the door is a sign with one phrase in all caps: “DO YOUR JOB.”

Coach Ron Rivera had the sign put up following the team’s 40-20 loss to the Chicago Bears. It’s a simple phrase and might seem obvious, but after watching the film from the last five games and looking at some of the analytics, Rivera feels that it needs to be emphasized as the Commanders enter the “second quarter” of the season.

“There’s a sense and a feel that we’re not doing the things that we need to do,” Rivera said during his Wednesday press conference.

For players, the sign is hard to miss, and they get the message it conveys to them.

“If all 11 do their job, then you’re gonna be successful,” Logan Thomas said. “That’s the thing that we haven’t done. It hasn’t been 11 every play. It’s been 10, it’s been nine, it’s been 10. But if all 11 do our job, then we’re gonna be doing pretty dang good. If we can start not beating ourselves, then we can actually go against the opponent.”

Riggo’s Rag

Are the Commanders putting too much pressure on quarterback Sam Howell?

The Commanders aren’t doing enough for Sam Howell…

Washington’s offensive line is conceding way too many hits and the once-vaunted defense isn’t performing up to their preseason expectancy to further complicate matters.

Commanders must provide Sam Howell with more balance

This is undoubtedly putting too much pressure on Howell’s young shoulders. In fairness to the player, he’s coping well despite recent results not going in their favor, but head coach Ron Rivera is looking for more balance moving forward based on his comments via USA Today Sports.

“It’s interesting, and I had a conversation with EB [offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy], and that was one of the things that we talked about; we didn’t want to have to do, but we’ve had to do, unfortunately, that has put so much on Sam [Howell] early. That’s expediting his development, that’s for sure, but we don’t want that. We want to be balanced; we want to be able to run, use play action, and drop back passing. We want to be able to use those phases of offense as opposed to getting stuck and saying, ‘Okay, we gotta try and do this and try and do this to give yourself a chance to win.”

– Ron Rivera via USA Today Sports

While this will increase Howell’s belief that he actually belongs, it’s a lot to ask. The North Carolina product cannot do it alone, so figuring out a way to start games much quicker is the most important factor in this equation by a considerable margin.

Riggo’s Rag

5 crucial storylines to watch during the Commanders at Falcons in Week 6

A big weekend awaits for the Commanders…

Commanders RB Brian Robinson Jr.’s big challenge

Brian Robinson Jr. and Bijan Robinson have both carried the ball 67 times this season. The Washington Commanders running back is averaging a mundane 4.0 yards-per-carry, and due to poor blocking, he is doing a lot of that on his own.

The Atlanta Falcons’ highly-touted rookie is averaging a gaudy 5.4 yards per carry. He looks every bit as advertised coming out of Texas, boasting the dual-threat capabilities that already have him tabbed as one of the league’s best at the position.

What makes this matchup even more troubling for Washington is that the Falcons’ run defense is only allowing 3.8 yards per carry to opposing running backs. The Commanders are conceding a full yard more per carry, which is inexcusable for a defensive front seven loaded with first-round picks.

On the surface, that seems to suggest that the Commanders’ RB1 will hit his normal average while the first-year-pro may well explode. And if that happens, I don’t like Washington’s chances of ending their recent skid to relieve some pressure from head coach Ron Rivera’s shoulders.

Sports Illustrated

Washington Commanders DL Efe Obada Returning to Practice from IR – NFL Tracker

The Washington Commanders announced Wednesday they were starting the clock for defensive lineman Efe Obada to return to practice.

Obada has been on injured reserve for the entirety of the regular season and with his window now open to return the Commanders have 21 days to place him back on the active roster.

Meanwhile, fellow defensive lineman Phidarian Mathis who hasn’t played a regular season game since getting injured in Week 1 of last season has not been designated to return to practice.

DC Sports King

Commanders take intriguing workout looks at pair of big-body WRs

According to Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post, the Commanders worked out Dezmon Patmon and held a visit with former Maryland Terrapins star wideout Dontay Demus Jr.

Patmon is listed at 6-foot-4, 225 pounds. Demus is 6-foot-3 and 217 pounds.

The Commanders don’t have a wide receiver taller than 6-foot-1, and neither of its top-four wideouts is taller than 6 feet.

Dontay Demus Jr. was projected to be a first-round pick before knee injury in college

Patmon, 25, was a sixth-round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 2020. He played ten games over three years with Indianapolis. The Buffalo Bills waived him during the preseason this year. Then, he spent one week with the Carolina Panthers before getting released on Sept. 12.

Demus, 23, is a local kid. He starred in high school at Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington, D.C., before having a stellar start at the University of Maryland.

Demus was projected to be a first-round pick, entering his senior season with the Terrapins. Unfortunately, he suffered a gruesome season-ending knee injury against Iowa that seemingly altered the trajectory of his pro career.

After returning for a fifth year at Maryland in 2022, Demus went undrafted in this year’s draft. He signed with the Baltimore Ravens but got waived during the final cuts. He spent some time on the Ravens’ practice squad before getting released on Oct. 3.

Sports Illustrated

‘Very Talented’ Washington Commanders D-Line Praised by Atlanta Falcons’ Arthur Smith

The Washington Commanders defensive line will have to play well if they want to beat the Atlanta Falcons.

The Washington Commanders have struggled on defense all year long, but they are still commanding respect from their opponents.

This week, the Commanders travel to the Peach State to face the Atlanta Falcons, who have been undefeated at home this season. A big point of emphasis for the Falcons to keep that unblemished record at home is to limit the defensive line.

“[They have a] Great front,” Smith said. “They’ve invested a lot in it, four first-rounders. They’ve doubled down on the interior two guys in [Daron] Payne and [Jonathan] Allen. Very talented football team. When you come off a loss like that, we know they had more time to prepare; they’ve had to sit with it. We’ll get their best shot here Sunday.”

Podcasts & videos

Locked on Commanders: Washington Commanders Defensive Deep Dive | Culture Call | Trade Deadline Targets

Curtis Samuel is Just “A Kid from Brooklyn” Who Loves Football | Next Man Up | Washington Commanders

Bullock’s Film Room

New Live Show!

I’m doing a new live show on Twitter/YouTube. First episode is up now!

Hey everyone! This is a quick post to let you all know of a new weekly show that I’ll be taking part in. You may have already seen this on Twitter last night, but my friends Doug McCray and George Carmi are hosting Pro Football Focus analyst Nick Akridge and myself each Tuesday evening at 5:30pm eastern. Nick and I will be breaking down a handful of plays from the game each week. You can watch live on Doug or George’s Twitter (click their names above) or Doug’s YouTube channel and interact with us during the show or catch up afterwards if you miss it.

Here’s the video for last night’s show. Have a watch and let me know what you think!

Photos

Commanders.com

PHOTOS | Commanders practice, 10/11

The Washington began preparations for their Week 6 matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. Check out the top photos from the afternoon.

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Blogging The Boys

The Dallas Cowboys have received very little production from their rookie draft class

In a season with such high expectations, the Cowboys will need more production from their rookie draft class heading forward.

Dallas Cowboys front office has gained a reputation as one of the best at drafting across the NFL. Since 2010, the Cowboys lead the NFL in most All-Pro draft picks with nine. Specifically, the Cowboys have been very reliable when it comes to finding talent in the first-round. They struck gold in 2021 when they selected DE Micah Parsons. In 2021 they had a stellar first two rounds, selecting WR CeeDee Lamb in the first round and CB Trevon Diggs in the second round. The success is evident even as recently as 2022, when they surprisingly selected OL Tyler Smith in the first round. Despite criticism surrounding the pick, Smith had a very effective rookie season. He is following it up with an All-Pro caliber season at left guard. Despite their success at drafting, the Cowboys have received little to no impact from their 2023 rookie class through the first five games of the season.

DT Mazi Smith

The Dallas Cowboys have yet to receive a first-round caliber impact from their 2023 pick, DT Mazi Smith. The Cowboys went need over best player available when they selected Smith with the 26th pick in the draft. Some notable names they passed on were CB Joey Porter Jr., TE Sam LaPorta, LB Nolan Smith, and TE Michael Mayer. The front office chose Smith hoping that he would provide relief in stopping the run, a problem which has plagued this defense for several seasons. Smith has yet to consistently see playing time this year, as DT’s Osa Odighizuwa and Jonathan Hankins have received a majority of the workload through five weeks. However, Smith did receive his largest workload against the 49ers in Week 5, taking 22 defensive snaps.

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