Category: Latest Washington News

Jonathan Allen says he’s ‘tired of losing,’ doesn’t care about defensive expectations

As one of the leaders on the defense, Jonathan Allen takes some of the responsibility for the unit, and he knows everyone needs to be better.

One of the veteran voices in Washington that the new coaching staff, especially Ron Rivera, will call upon a lot this coming season is defensive lineman Jonathan Allen, who slots in as one of the core players on the potentially dominant front-seven.

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So on a day when Rivera let his feelings be known about the team’s effort levels and production in practice, Allen took the mic and talked to the media about how he thought things went. His basic sentiment? Agreement. Allen said that he knows guys are a step slow here and there since they haven’t played football in eight months, but that’s no excuse for not flying around. Basically, he’s tired of losing and wants things to change.

Expectations for this unit are definitely high, but they won’t be able to reach any of them if they don’t practice hard and take care of the little things when they can. That’s something that Rivera has been stressing his whole career, and Allen seems to be on board in Washington.

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Ron Rivera rips into Washington players for ‘lackluster effort’ after practice

Rivera has constantly stressed that tempo and pace were key to a good practice session, and he ripped into the team for it on Saturday.

Remember after coach Ron Rivera’s cancer diagnosis became public knowledge, and he reportedly told his team that they should try not to make him mad because he’d likely be more cranky going forward?

It seems that they didn’t quite get the message.

As training camp booted back up again in Washington on Saturday, the practice came to an end with Rivera lighting up his team for a “lackluster effort” and using a number of harsh words to tell them how they need to be better. One of the main components of Rivera’s tenure is expected to be tempo and pace in practice, and that apparently hasn’t been taking place to his liking thus far.

Discipline has long been an issue for Washington, especially under the prior coaching staff, and it’s going to have to be something that Rivera harps about constantly if he’s going to change the bad habits that have been instilled in the franchise over the years.

Until things start to shape up, he will keep yelling. Eventually, the players might get the picture, and a new culture can be established.

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CB Greg Stroman has made a case for himself to make Washington’s 55-man roster

Stroman was forced to sit out all of 2019 due to injury, but he’s back and better than ever now, making a case for a roster spot.

Training camp got going again in Washington on Saturday morning, and it was another strong showing for the defense, as you would expect from such a strong unit.

However, the unit that is stepping up more than expected is in the secondary, specifically at the cornerback position. It was a dire situation for CBs in Washington last year, with very little experience among the group, and even less production. This year,  however, Washington has brought in some new blood in Kendall Fuller and Ronald Darby, and even the players underneath them in the depth chart are stepping up quite a bit.

The latest player to break out in camp in Greg Stroman, Washington’s seventh-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

Stroman played in 15 games during his rookie season but was added to the injured/reserve list last season. His return to the team now seems to be incredibly valuable, though, as Washington looks for some depth at the position behind the starting line.

With a couple of weeks left before the start of the season begins, Stroman is definitely a name to keep your eye on. If he keeps this production up, there is little doubt that he will make the final roster cut, and chances are that he can get into the CB rotation as well.

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Washington releases rookie TE Thaddeus Moss with injury designation

One of the fan favorite storylines of the summer was the addition of Thaddeus Moss in Washington, but the team released him on Friday.

One of the most fun storylines for the Washington Football Team over the summer is now over, as news has broken that rookie TE Thaddeus Moss has been waived from the squad.

Moss was a member of the National Championship-winning LSU team in 2019, but he went undrafted in April and signed with Washington shortly after the draft came to a close on Saturday. After working out with the team throughout the summer and the start of training camp, Moss has been released, and will now look to sign with another team that may want him.

Rapoport also reported that Washington added G Joshua Garnett, as well as David Steinmetz, which we reported earlier.

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Report: Rookie LT Saahdiq Charles dealing with calf injury; could miss several days

Rookie LT Saahdiq Charles is expected to compete for starting spot, but a calf injury could sideline him for the majority of training camp.

One of the most contentious position battles going forward in Washington is on the offensive line at the left tackle position. There are three contenders for the starting LT spot — Geron Christian, Saahdiq Charles, and Cornelius Lucas — but only two of them have been present in training camp so far.

According to a report from The Athletic, rookie Saahdiq Charles has been dealing with a calf injury that is holding him out of camp so far this past week. Through the early days of training camp when coaches are looking to get a feel for their depth at certain positions, this is a tough thing to deal with in Washington, as Charles stands to be one of the leading contenders to protect QB Dwayne Haskins’ blindside this season.

Not only has Charles missed the first few days of practice because of this injury, but it’s likely that he misses some time going forward as well, according to the The Athletic’s Ben Standig.

The Washington Football Team resumes its on-field work Saturday for the opening of five consecutive practice sessions. Current expectations suggest Charles’ return comes later.

Though practice time this year is precious for all players but especially rookies, the 6-foot-4 tackle may remain sidelined for several more days out of precaution, according to sources. The training camp concludes on August 30.

Following the first practice of the week, Rivera described injuries to Charles and defensive end Ryan Anderson as “minor.”

So if you’re holding out hope on seeing Charles in training camp practices, you may want to have some patience. We will continue to monitor this situation as it goes forward, but chances are that the rookie won’t have enough time to win that starting LT spot before the 2020 season begins.

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Trainer says Saahdiq Charles has build of a Greek god but needs to mature

Charles’ trainer, who worked with Shaq and Ray Lewis, says Saahdiq has the intangibles to be great, but needs to keep head on straight.

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The Washington Football Team draft pick in April who got all of the attention was Chase Young, taken with the second overall pick. Next to that, though, the most pivotal pick might have come when left tackle Saahdiq Charles was selected out of LSU in the fourth round.

Every Washington fan has heard a bit about Charles, who was suspended for a period of time in college and is said to have character concerns. While there’s hope that Ron Rivera might be able to help clean those up, there’s also a lot of hope from the fan base that Charles can be the franchise player who replaces Trent Williams on the line for years to come.

If you were to ask Charles’ trainer, Roc Shabazz, he has a shot at greatness in the NFL. Here is an excerpt from Sam Fortier’s story in the Washington Post about Charles:

Shabazz has trained elite athletes, such as Ray Lewis and Shaquille O’Neal, and he says Charles’s blend of length, strength and balance gives him the build of “a Greek god.” Yet Shabazz grades Charles’s work outside the weight room — sleep, recovery, nutrition — a 3 out of 10. He’s supposed to eat five meals a day, no excuses. But a few weeks ago, the scale showed he was a half-dozen pounds short of his goal weight (about 310), revealing that Charles had been shirking some meals, eating too much popcorn and not enough steak.

It’s stories like those that should get you excited about the potential that Charles brings to Washington. If he is able to get his head on straight and keep his mind set on being the best version of himself, there is no doubt that he can become one of the best blockers in the league, and Washington will have him in the burgundy and gold for years to come.

Luckily for Washington, they also have one of the best players coaches in the league. Who better to keep Charles on the straight and narrow than Rivera?

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Is Troy Apke an early favorite to win the starting free safety job in Washington?

It’s tough to say who is winning position battles this early in camp, but Apke may be playing his way into a starting spot.

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If there was ever any doubt as to which side of the ball will be the most dominant in the 2020 season, the Washington defense made that answer loud and clear in practice on Thursday.

While the offense was playing with a few men down thanks to a rest day before the five-day stretch of practice that starts on Saturday, the defense was still able to dominate at every level of the field, constantly coming up with big plays and turnovers throughout the day.

So far this week, we’ve focused a lot on the secondary in Washington, as the team tries to find the best group of players to fill out each position. It’s still early on, but the four cornerbacks seem to be set, with Kendall Fuller, Ronald Darby, Fabian Moreau, and Jimmy Moreland standing out. Deeper in the secondary, Landon Collins is no surprise to get the starting nod, but a candidate for starting FS might surprise some people.

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Troy Apke has been consistently slotted in with the No. 1’s on defense, playing in front of guys like Sean Davis and Khaleke Hudson. The third-year safety has been a rotation player in Washington so far, but he might be in for a bigger workload going forward.

“He’s doing a great job,” Collins said of Apke, via WashingtonFootball.com. “He’s understanding what he’s supposed to be looking at. We’re talking all the time on the back end, making sure what he sees. He’s picking my brain on my knowledge about how to play different things and playing within the defensive calls and how we’ve got to see things and see different adjustments. Just being on the same page.”

This early in camp, Ron Rivera has made it clear that the rotation of players will be fluid, and just because someone is starting with the ones right now doesn’t mean that will be there by the time the season rolls around. Still, though, for Apke, it’s all about doing what he can and staying prepared to take the field whenever called upon.

“I’m just trying to go out every day and compete, and whoever I’m out there with, whether it’s Landon or someone else, just getting our communication down and the details of the defense.”

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Rivera says doctors encouraged him to keep coaching despite cancer diagnosis

Rivera said on Thursday night that he has no plans to stop coaching, as long as he is feeling strong enough to do so.

Despite his recent cancer diagnosis, Washington’s coach Ron Rivera plans to keep on coaching, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

After the news broke that Rivera had been diagnosed with a ‘very treatable and curable’ form of lymph node cancer, Schefter went on to detail a bit of his conversation with Rivera, learning that the original diagnosis came a couple of weeks ago and that the coach has been working with team doctors and specialists to formulate a plan going forward. While he continues to keep coaching, there is a back-up plan being put into place should Rivera be forced to miss some time.

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The weight of this news was heavy on Thursday night, with many former players and fellow coaches in the NFL wished Rivera well on social media, many of whom remarked that cancer didn’t stand a chance against Riverboat Ron.

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Ron Rivera says cancer diagnosis made him angry, told players ‘don’t piss me off’

The news that he had lymph node cancer reportedly shocked and angered Rivera, who warned his team that he’d be more cranky going forward.

The harrowing news broke on Thursday night that Ron Rivera, coach of the Washington Football Team, has been diagnosed with a ‘very treatable and curable’ form of lymph node cancer.

The news was broken by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, who reports that Rivera has been working with team doctors in Washington already, and that he plans to see different specialists to figure out a treatment plan going forward. While is is “business as usual” at the moment in Washington, there has also been a back-up plan put into place, should Rivera be forced to miss some time with the team.

After the news was out, Schefter reported that Rivera told him that the news of his cancer diagnosis was shocking and that it made him angry at first. When he told players in Washington on Thursday night, Schefter says that Rivera warned them not to make him angry, because he will likely be more cranky going forward.

The good news is that the diagnosis seemingly came in the early stages, and Rivera should be able to tackle this challenge going forward. We are with everyone around the sporting world wishing Rivera a successful and safe recovery.

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Breaking: Ron Rivera diagnosed with ‘very treatable and curable’ lymph node cancer

News broke on Thursday night that Ron Rivera has been diagnosed with lymph node cancer that is reportedly very treatable and curable.

According to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Washington coach Ron Rivera has been diagnosed with a lymph node cancer that is “very treatable and curable.”

The news broke on Thursday night, with Rivera reportedly undergoing a self check, which diagnosed the cancer. River is reported to have let his team know about the situation on Thursday night, and he is going on to see a number of specialists and establish a plan to take care of this.

Rivera, who is in his first year with Washington, has reportedly been setting up a ‘Plan B’ with his fellow coaches in case he is to miss some time for treatment, but the plan is business as usual, according to Schefter.

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