Tag: cole holcomb

LB Mychal Kendricks looking to resume NFL career; does he make sense for Washington?

Mychal Kendricks is a solid veteran linebacker who had six tackles in the playoff loss to Tampa Bay. He could be good depth for Washington at linebacker in 2021.

Free agent linebacker Mychal Kendricks was sentenced to one day in jail on Thursday after pleading guilty in 2018 to insider trading, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.

Kendricks also received 300 hours of community service and three years of probation. Kendricks originally faced up to 25 years in prison. The league suspended him for eight games in 2018.

The 30-year-old Kendricks spent part of the 2020 season with the Washington Football Team. He began the season with the Seattle Seahawks, going back and forth between the practice squad and active roster.

Washington signed Kendricks off Seattle’s practice squad in December. He started in Washington’s playoff loss to Tampa Bay and finished with six tackles.

Washington selected Jamin Davis in the first round of the 2021 NFL draft. He will start. Cole Holcomb will also start. Jon Bostic or Khaleke Hudson will likely be Washington’s third linebacker.

Now that he is free to resume his NFL career, could Washington bring Kendricks back?

It would make sense.

Bostic is strictly an inside linebacker. Washington would like Davis to begin his career inside with Bostic in a reserve role. Kendricks could come to Washington as a backup with the potential to start. There is not a lot of starting experience beyond Holcomb and Bostic.

Kendricks has been a good linebacker throughout his career. If he is willing to return to Washington in a reserve role with the opportunity to compete, the team should not hesitate to bring him back.

 

 

Ron Rivera reveals he brought Luke Kuechly in to speak to Washington linebackers

If there was one position on Washington’s defense that needed an infusion of talent in the offseason, it was linebacker. 

If there was one position on Washington’s defense that needed an infusion of talent in the offseason, it was linebacker.

So, with its first-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft, the Football Team selected Kentucky linebacker, Jamin Davis.

Outside of veteran Jon Bostic, Washington has a young group of linebackers pushing to start this season, including Khaleke Hudson, Davis and Cole Holcomb.

Head coach Ron Rivera, a former linebacker himself, understands the position like no other. Not only did Rivera play the position at a high level in both college and the NFL, but he has also coached some great linebackers in the NFL.

Luke Kuechly is perhaps the greatest linebacker Rivera has ever coached. After selecting him in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft, Kuechly would go on to play eight seasons in the NFL — all with the Carolina Panthers — before retiring after the 2019 season.

Rivera, a guest speaker at Joe Gibbs’ Youth For Tomorrow event on Saturday, revealed he brought Kuechly to talk to his linebackers over the Memorial Day weekend.

What did Kuechly say to WFT’s linebackers?

According to Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post, he spoke of the importance of being able to play all three linebacker spots — something Rivera has stressed since Washington selected Davis in April.

Since Rivera took over as head coach last season, he has often spoken about versatility. The players he targets in free agency and the draft are generally players who can play multiple positions.

Bringing in Kuechly was another smart move by Rivera. It’s a player who recently retired that all of his players watched at one time or another, meaning his words carry weight.

The battle at linebacker will be fascinating to watch this summer. Holcomb and Davis are two of the likely starters. Can a player like Hudson unseat Bostic, leaving Davis in the middle?

Ideally, that’s what Washington is hoping for in 2021.

 

 

 

Injury Report: Terry McLaurin misses second-straight day; Alex Smith returns to limited work

There is some real concern when it comes to both Terry McLaurin and Alex Smith’s availability this week, but Antonio Gibson is seemingly headed in the right direction.

For the second-straight day, Washington’s star wide receiver Terry McLaurin was nowhere to be found on the practice field, which has now caused the fanbase to reach a level of concern that could come pressing for his availability on Sunday. McLaurin has been dealing with an ankle injury for a lot of the 2020 season, and his lack of production over the past few weeks could potentially be chalked up to that. We will see if McLaurin returns to the field on Friday or Saturday, but at this point, it is fair to question his availability for Sunday.

Elsewhere on the field, QB Alex Smith ramped up his workload a bit on Thursday, throwing to receivers in individual drills and putting more exertion on his calf-strain than we’ve seen in over a week. Despite this, QB Dwayne Haskins was still taking first-team reps, and at the moment it appears that he is likely to be the starter on Sunday, though we will keep an eye on Smith’s recovery.

There was also some positive news when it comes to a few other injured players on the roster, especially RB Antonio Gibson and LB Cole Holcomb. Gibson has missed the past two games with a turf toe injury, but he’s gone through individual work this week and could likely see the field on Sunday if all stays on the right course. As far as Holcomb goes, he was held out last week with a concussion but also went through individual drills on Thursday.

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Injury Report: Alex Smith, Cole Holcomb, Kevin Pierre-Louis out; Antonio Gibson doubtful on Sunday

A number of starters for Washington will be unable to play on Sunday, while Antonio Gibson is doubtful to play vs. Seahawks.

It doesn’t appear that Washington will be at full strength this weekend against the Seattle Seahawks, with a number of their starters either being ruled out already or questionable to play.

Among those who have been ruled out are RB Antonio Gibson, who continues to deal with a turf toe injury, and S Deshazor Everett, who was placed on the injured reserve after undergoing chest surgery on Thursday.

We saw some progress from Gibson this week, with him going through some individual work and working to get back onto the field. We got our first real glimpses of him in practice on Friday, with media members finally able to attend, and Gibson looked decent on his feet, but not good enough to be able to play.

Elsewhere on the injury report, Alex Smith has been ruled out, which is no surprise going into the weekend. There was some feeling that he would be listed as questionable so as to force the Seahawks to at least prepare for him to play, but seeing as he was unable to practice at all this week, there was not much chance that he could’ve played.

The defense definitely took a hit this week as well, with linebackers Cole Holcomb and Kevin Pierre-Louis being ruled out for the game. This comes a day after safety Deshazor Everett was placed on the IR after undergoing chest surgery.

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Rivera says he is “concerned at the play of the linebackers” after loss to Giants

Washington’s linebacking core combined for just 18 total tackles on Sunday, and Rivera thinks their being too hesitant on the field.

Coming into Sunday’s game against the New York Giants, the Washington Football Team had one of the top defenses in the NFL, with a No. 4 ranking in DVOA and a cornerback who led the league in interceptions.

So what happened? How were the Giants able to put up 23 points and over 160 rushing yards? The answer is in the middle of the defense, and it’s something that is concerning for Ron Rivera.

“In all honesty, I’m concerned at the play of the linebackers,” Rivera said, via NBC Sports Washington. “I think it’s a group of guys that are hesitant and still aren’t pulling the trigger and letting it go and just getting downhill and making some plays.”

That group of linebackers is Cole Holcomb, Jon Bostic, Kevin Pierre-Louis, and Shaun Dion Hamilton. They combined for just 18 total tackles on Sunday and left a lot to be desired at the position. Going forward, with two former NFL linebackers now coaching the team in Rivera and Jack Del Rio, there is an assumption that things may get better, but comments like these make you think about the upcoming NFL draft, and the guy that many people are pegging Washington to select in LB Micah Parsons out of Penn State.

They need some more talent at the position, and he can bring it.

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‘He looked like a high school JV player;’ Zeke Elliot gets destroyed after hit from Cole Holcomb

Cole Holcomb provided the highlight of the day on Sunday after destroying Zeke Elliott en route to a sack of Andy Dalton.

There were a number of fun moments that took place in Washington’s 25-3 blowout over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday if you’re a fan of the home team, but ultimately one of the most satisfying moments came when linebacker Cole Holcomb blitzed up the middle and absolutely leveled Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott en route to a sack of Andy Dalton.

The clip got dispersed widely on social media, and Zeke became the butt of numerous jokes that only acted as the cherry on top of the disastrous performance that his team put on against the Burgundy and Gold.

Luckily for Washington fans, the joking didn’t stop on Sunday, either. On Tuesday, The Ringer’s popular show ‘Slow News Day’ came out with an interview of NBC Sports Peter King, who piled on the unfortunate performance from Elliott.

“It’s like Zeke was not ready for that play,” King said. “He looked like a high school JV player who got destroyed by a second-year linebacker from North Carolina, who not only destroyed Zeke but then sacked Andy Dalton in the process.”

It may not be Holcomb who is getting all of the attention, but I’m sure any Washington fan is happy to see the piling-on that is happening at the Cowboys expense, thanks to Holcomb’s actions on the play.

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WATCH: Cole Holcomb completely blows up Ezekiel Elliott in route to a sack

Cole Holcomb blew up Ezekiel Elliott on a blitz in the second quarter, giving us an entertaining highlight in the process.

Sometimes you just get everything to go your way. That’s how things were for Washington in the first half of this game against the Dallas Cowboys, with highlight after highlight getting churned up. This one came after LB Cole Holcomb introduced himself to RB Ezekiel Elliott in the backfield, absolutely blowing up the pass-block and bringing down QB Andy Dalton for the sack.

The video of Holcomb blowing up Zeke got major traction on social media, with much of the NFL world reacting to the massive hit. It’s great to have a player like Holcomb back healthy and on the field for Washington.

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Washington’s Cole Holcomb blows up Dallas’ Ezekiel Elliott

The Washington Football Team’s Cole Holcomb ran straight over and through Ezekiel Elliott.

The object is to protect the quarterback. Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott has to think about taking care of himself first after getting destroyed in the second quarter against the Washington Football Team on Sunday.

Check this out as Cole Holcomb freight-trains the super Cowboys RB.

It has been that kind of season for America’s Team.

Injury Report: Brandon Scherff, Antonio Gibson return to full work

Brandon Scherff seems to be well on his way to returning to the field in Washington as he works back from injured reserve.

https://twitter.com/john_keim/status/1316797562632859648

With the good news on Wednesday being that Pro-Bowl RG Brandon Scherff had returned to practice, now with the ability to be promoted from the injured reserve to the active roster, better news came on Thursday when it became clear that Scherff continued his limited work with the starting group. It may not seem like much, but the most important thing to see from a player after they return from an injury is how they do the day after the return, and how their body reacted to the increased strain. For Scherff, it appears that he is well on his way to returning to the field.

As for Antonio Gibson, he popped up on the injure report on Wednesday with a toe injury, but he seems to be working through things okay, and should be okay to play this weekend. The same can be said for C Chase Roullier, who was seen with a knee brace while playing on Thursday.

We will know much more a day from now, when the final injury report is released on Friday, and game-day designations are made.

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Inactives List: Chase Young will play; LB Cole Holcomb listed as inactive

After missing the Week 4 game vs. the Ravens, Chase Young will return to the field on Sunday, alongside Chase Roullier and Wes Schweitzer.

  • No. 7 QB Dwayne Haskins
  • No. 37 CB Greg Stroman
  • No. 50 LB Jared Norris
  • No. 55 LB Cole Holcomb
  • No. 77 T Saahdiq Charles
  • No. 85 TE Marcus Baugh

Good news for Washington football fans who were hoping that their two front-lines would be as healthy as reasonably expected headed into this game against the Los Angeles Rams. According to the team, Chase Young will make his return to the field today after missing last week’s game with a groin strain, and both C Chase Roullier and G Wes Schweitzer will be healthy enough to play as well.

All three players were listed as questionable on the team’s final injury report of the week, but there was a report late on Saturday night that alluded to the fact that all three would likely play, barring any setbacks.

In some more good news for Washington, the Rams leading tackler, LB Micah Kiser, is inactive for the game on Sunday.