Have we overreacted about the Commanders absent from OTA’s?

Is it a big deal that Young, Sweat and Leno are not at OTAs?

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By now, all our readers are well aware that Chase Young, Montez Sweat and Charles Leno are determined to not attend the Commanders’ OTAs.

Is the reaction a DMV reaction? Is it related to the Commanders not having a winning season since the 2015 and 2016 seasons?

Well, did you catch Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson at the Ravens’ OTAs?

Jackson was asked by Baltimore media regarding Ravens’ fans who had speculated Jackson would not attend the OTAs. Jackson responded that he ignored it and thought it was funny.

His head coach John Harbaugh added that he knew Jackson was going to come in and participate in their OTAs. Harbaugh then added, “He (Jackson) was into it, into the meetings. He was locked in the last two days, completely locked in.”

Harbaugh was also willing to say what many coaches won’t say because the NFLPA will report them if they say anything close to saying the players should be in attendance.

“I think it’s important. I’m a coach, you know. I want everybody here. You know, I want every player here all the time, doing everything they can. Now, is that necessarily the best thing? I don’t know. Everybody’s got their own circumstance.”

The NFL CBA says coaches are prohibited from saying anything that communicates that the OTAs are strictly voluntary. So, we will see soon enough if the NFL considers what Harbaugh said to be over the line.

Leno, Sweat and Young have chosen to not participate. Young was recently refused a 5th-year option for the former second-overall selection of the 2020 draft. Sweat not appearing? Might he be displaying his support for Young not attending? No idea. Leno? Well, he played in Matt Nagy’s offense when with the Bears. So the offense is not entirely new to him. Yet, his play did fall off last season in the closing games.

Then there is LB Jamin Davis. Davis is entering his third season, being drafted in the first round of the 2021 draft. Davis has had a lingering issue with a knee injury since the completion of the 2022 season. Davis needed a cleanup procedure on his knee. But there was Davis in attendance, learning in the meetings and even walking through some things on the field.