Tag: D.J. Swearinger

Former Washington safety makes his case for a return with recent injuries

D.J. Swearinger letting the Commanders know he’s ready.

The Washington Commanders placed two safeties on injured reserve Monday. Head coach Ron Rivera hopes Darrick Forrest and Jeremy Reaves are only out for the minimum of four weeks, but their statuses will be determined later in the week.

Reaves is a captain and an All-Pro on special teams, while Forrest is a starting safety alongside Kamren Curl. Rivera said rookie Quan Martin and second-year safety Percy Butler will be in line to replace Forrest while he’s out.

To fill one of those spots, Washington signed safety Terrell Burgess from the practice squad. Burgess spent training camp and the preseason with the Commanders.

However, another veteran safety made his case to join Washington’s roster. D.J. Swearinger, who played two years for Washington from 2017-18, went on Twitter to let the Commanders know he’s ready for a return.

Swearinger is 32 now, and this isn’t the first time he’s spoken of wanting to return. Swearinger played well for Washington but was released late in the 2018 season after repeated public criticisms of the coaching staff.

He’s spent time with seven different NFL teams and played for the XFL’s D.C. Defenders earlier this spring.

While Swearinger’s return is a long shot, you can’t fault him for trying.

DC Defenders improve to 8-1 after overtime win over Arlington

The Defenders are 8-1 and finish the regular season next week.

The D.C. Defenders improved to 8-1 Sunday after a narrow 28-26 overtime win over the Arlington Renegades in front of a sold-out crowd at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.

With the win, the Defenders clinched a home playoff game in two weeks for the North Division championship.

D.C. jumped on the Renegades early as quarterback Jordan Ta’amu threw two touchdown passes and D’Eriq King also had one to give the Defenders a 20-9 halftime lead.

D.C. struck again in the third quarter when former Washington Redskins and longtime NFL safety, D.J. Swearinger intercepted Arlington quarterback Luis Perez and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. At this point, the Defenders led 26-9.

The sold-out crowd went wild when Swearinger took it to the house.

While the two teams went scoreless for the remainder of the third quarter, the Renegades made a furious fourth-quarter comeback after a pair of De’Veon Smith touchdown runs and a field goal to suddenly tie the game on a Taylor Russolino 27-yard field goal with five seconds remaining.

The game went into overtime where Ta’amu found Jake Hammond for the score and another Defenders’ win.

Ta’amu completed 14 of 20 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns and one interception. King completed six of nine passes for 76 yards with a touchdown and interception.

Swearinger finished the game second on the team in tackles with seven in his second XFL game.

Next up for D.C. is a trip to San Antonio to close out the regular season before returning home in two weeks to host either St. Louis or Seattle for the North Division championship.

WATCH: Former Washington safety D.J. Swearinger has pick-6 for XFL’s Defenders

Swearinger had the sold-out crowd at Audi Field excited.

D.J. Swearinger was playing a home game Sunday for Washington for the first time since Dec. 2018 when he played for the NFL’s then-Redskins.

Only this time, Swearinger was making his home debut for the XFL’s D.C. Defenders after signing with the team on April 5. Swearinger appeared in his first game for the Defenders last week, a win over Seattle that improved the Defenders to 7-1.

The former NFL second-round pick last played in an NFL game in 2020 for the New Orleans Saints. Swearinger was on the Indianapolis Colts practice squad in 2021 but did not appear in a game.

Still just 31, Swearinger felt like he still had plenty of football left, so he decided to join the XFL and return to Washington. In part, he said, to play in front of his five-year-old son.

Back to Sunday. Swearinger was making his home debut for the Defenders in front of a rowdy, sold-out crowd at Audi Field. He reminded Washington fans why he was a fan favorite during his two seasons with the team, taking a third-quarter interception and returning it 62 yards for a touchdown.

The touchdown gave D.C. a 26-9 lead, and the Defenders would eventually pull out the win, clinching a home playoff game in two weeks that will determine the North Division champion.

XFL’s DC Defenders sign former Washington safety D.J. Swearinger

Swearinger was released in December 2018 after repeatedly criticizing Washington’s coaching staff.

No, this is not an April Fool’s joke: Safety D.J. Swearinger is returning to Washington to play football — but not in the NFL. The XFL’s D.C. Defenders announced Wednesday that they’d signed Swearinger.

At 6-1, the Defenders sit atop the XFL and are coming off their first loss of the season.

The 31-year-old Swearinger entered the NFL as a second-round pick f the Houston Texans in 2013. Swearinger bounced around a bit, having stints with the Texans, Buccaneers, Cardinals, Washington, Raiders and Saints. He had a brief stint on the Colts’ practice squad in 2021 and did not play in 2022.

Back to Swearinger’s stint with Washington. It was arguably Swearinger’s best work in the NFL. Swearinger came to Washington in 2017 and became an immediate impact player. However, it was his constant criticism of his coaches that led to Washington releasing him in December 2018. Had Swearinger not kept going to the media and criticizing the coaching staff, there’s a good chance Washington would have offered him a contract extension.

As for heading to the XFL, good for Swearinger. He still wants to play and can play. He’s playing for the love of the game and to get one last shot at the NFL. Here’s wishing him the best of luck.

Former Saints safety D.J. Swearinger signs with XFL team

Former New Orleans Saints safety D.J. Swearinger signs with the XFL’s D.C. Defenders, the team announced Wednesday:

This is cool: the XFL’s D.C. Defenders announced Wednesday that they have signed former New Orleans Saints safety D.J. Swearinger to reinforce their secondary. Swearinger played college football at South Carolina and spent stops in the NFL at Houston, Arizona, Tampa Bay, Washington, and Oakland before coming to New Orleans in 2019. He appeared in 13 games for the Saints, including the playoffs, providing quality depth behind Marcus Williams, Malcolm Jenkins, and C.J. Gardner-Johnson.

Now he gets a chance to continue his career. The Defenders have three games left on their regular season schedule (against the Seattle Sea Dragons, Arlington Renegades, and San Antonio Brahmas) and their 6-1 record, best in the upstart spring league, means they’ll be looking to make some noise in the playoffs. We’ll see how much Swearinger has left in the tank on a defense run by (who else?) controversial former Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

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When they last met: Indianapolis and Washington

The Colts and Washington last met in 2018 when it was Andrew Luck vs. Alex Smith.

“When They Last Met” is an ongoing series during the NFL season, recalling the preceding game between Washington and the next opponent on the Commanders’ schedule.

Indianapolis 21, Washington 09 – Week 02, September 16, 2018

Washington fans were excited and encouraged, after Washington had gone out to Arizona and really looked good, easily defeating the Cardinals 24-6. While the Colts had lost their opener at home 34-23 to the Bengals.

The DMV was a buzz with excitement, as Washington had traded in the off season to replace free agent departure Kirk Cousins with Kansas City’s Alex Smith.

Week 2 brought a sudden jolt of reality to Washington fans, as the hometown team was outplayed from start to finish by the Colts. The Colts had led 14-3, and Washington had two opportunities to follow but could manage only Dustin Hopkins’ field goals, falling 21-9 at FedEx Field in Landover.

Even with a D.J. Swearinger second-quarter interception halting a Colt drive in Washington territory, the Colts still manufactured two 75-yard drives resulting in an Andrew Luck 7-yard TD pass to Eric Ebron and a Nyheim 8-yard TD run for an 11-point halftime lead.

Ironically, the Colts generated and delivered on another 75-yard drive in the final quarter, culminating in Luck’s 3-yard pass to T.Y. Hilton for the final score of the day.

The Washington run offense, effective in week one against the Cardinals, was shut down by the Colts. Adrian Peterson had a long run of 14 yards, yet managed a mere 20 total rushing yards in his 11 carries.

Alex Smith completed 33 of 46 for 292 yards and no interceptions. However, Smith was sacked ending one fourth-quarter drive, resulting in another Hopkins field goal from 49 yards.

The next Washington possession moved the ball down to the 20-yard line; however, Jordan Reed fumbled, ending that scoring threat as well.

Chris Thompson led Washington with 13 receptions for 92 yards, while Reed recorded 6 receptions for 55 yards.

Swearinger intercepted his second pass of Luck in the third quarter for Washington.

Colts sign C Joey Hunt among roster moves

Colts signed C Joey Hunt, added OT Greg Senat to the active roster and signed D.J. Swearinger to the practice squad.

The Indianapolis Colts made several roster moves, including the singing of center Joey Hunt, the team announced Tuesday.

Hunt has plenty of experience with the Colts over the last two seasons so they bring in a familiar face to the offensive line—one that is dealing with the absence of the entire starting front.

The Colts also activated offensive tackle Greg Senat from the practice squad and signed safety D.J. Swearinger to the practice squad.

The Colts need the depth at offensive tackle with Eric Fisher dealing with several injuries and Braden Smith testing positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

The safety room is also thin as Andrew Sendejo remains in the league’s concussion protocol until further notice and both Khari Willis and Jahleel Addae are on the COVID-19 list.

The roster, including starting quarterback Carson Wentz, is getting shuffled around amid a COVID-19 outbreak so expect moves to be made all week.

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Lack of safety depth is a concern for Chargers

The Los Angeles Chargers could afford to add a veteran at the position.

Two months into the offseason and the Chargers have done a fine job of reconstructing a roster under first-year head coach Brandon Staley.

For the most part, each position group has quality starters followed by depth, but Los Angeles’ situation at safety still remains a bit shaky.

Prior to the draft, there were only three players at the position – Derwin James, Nasir Adderley and Alohi Gilman. The team added two more; Mark Webb, a seventh-round pick and Ben DeLuca, an undrafted free agent.

James will be returning from his second lengthy injury that he’s suffered with the Chargers since being drafted in 2018.

Even though can Staley unlock Adderley’s potential in 2021, he’s still coming off a rough sophomore season.

Gilman doesn’t offer much position flexibility.

Webb, the wide receiver convert, didn’t start playing on the defensive side of the ball until 2017.

It’s easy to think that L.A. will have a dynamic defense with James on the field, but considering he’s only played five games in total the past two seasons, the team can’t consider it a complete guarantee.

In addition, under Staley, this will be a defense that relies heavily on their defensive backs.

Bradley McDougald, Bobby McCain, Malik Hooker, Adrian Colbert, Andrew Sendejo, Tre Boston, Kenny Vaccaro and D.J. Swearinger are just to name a few free agent safeties that could be brought in on one-year deals.

The Chargers banking on what they have at the position isn’t surprising, knowing that Staley is capable of getting the most out of his defensive players.

However, for a team that has been hit with the injury bug for years now, they should know that having more might actually be better.

Saints activate D.J. Swearinger, shuffle practice squad for playoffs

The New Orleans Saints activated safety D.J. Swearinger from COVID-19 reserve and shuffled their practice squad for the postseason.

The New Orleans Saints filed a number of roster moves on the daily NFL transactions wire Monday evening, including the return of veteran safety D.J. Swearinger from the league’s COVID-19 reserve list. But the team also brought in emergency options for their specialists, like kicker Blair Walsh and long snapper John Denney.

Here’s a quick recap of each roster move:

 

D.J. Swearinger the latest Saints player ruled out with COVID-19

The New Orleans Saints will be without veteran safety D.J. Swearinger for Week 17’s game with the Carolina Panthers after he caught COVID-19

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After months of careful management amid a pandemic, the New Orleans Saints appear to be on the verge of a team outbreak. The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan reports that safety D.J. Swearinger will be joining defensive back C.J. Gardner-Johnson and running back Alvin Kamara on the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list. A group of players and a Saints coach were also ruled out for Week 17’s game with the Carolina Panthers as high-risk close contacts to Kamara.

Swearinger’s loss is another big hit to the secondary; he was the go-to replacement for Gardner-Johnson in slot coverage, and the Saints are already without starting safety Marcus Williams (ruled out with an ankle injury). While veteran cornerback Patrick Robinson has been designated to return from injured reserve, he hasn’t been given the green light to play just yet. Duncan added that he anticipates backup corner Ken Crawley to fill in for Gardner-Johnson as the team’s nickel back instead.

It’s creating the conditions for a perfect storm, where the Saints are just short-handed enough to fall to Teddy Bridgewater and the Panthers on the eve of the playoffs. New Orleans does need some help to earn higher playoff positioning — the No. 1 seed is theirs if they beat the Panthers while the Green Bay Backers lose and the Seattle Seahawks win their matchups — but it all hinges on whether or not they can win their own game. That’s a tough sell with so many injuries at key positions.

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