Tag: Kevin Sheehan Show Podcast

Chris Cooley: Commanders miss Matt Ioannidis and Tim Settle

Washington fans can certainly relate to Chris Cooley’s film review.

“They have a ton to correct,” said former Washington tight end Chris Cooley.

Cooley was a guest on Kevin Sheehan’s Wednesday podcast providing a film review of the Commanders’ 36-27 loss to Detroit. He disagreed with Ron Rivera that the defense missed a few explosive plays, feeling Detroit could have made even more big plays. The defense was a mess.

Sheehan pointed out that under Ron Rivera, Washington has been down 25 of the 35 games and in most of those have been down double digits in the first half.

Cooley felt an issue early was Carson Wentz took too long to get into a passing rhythm. He faulted Scott Turner for not providing quick rhythm throws, the offensive line for not protecting well, and Wentz for taking too deep of drops, moving too much in the pocket, and didn’t see the couple of receivers he did have open. He praised Wentz for bouncing back in having a good second half and Terry McLaurin for his effort in chasing down a long pass reception from Wentz.

“I didn’t feel like Turner got any of the first four drives going. I didn’t love the lack of balance I thought he had going early against Jacksonville…I don’t think they had balance to get into 3rd & 2. I still feel like they are going to struggle to run the football, don’t feel like they are good enough up front. I don’t feel like they are committed enough to run the football.”

Defensively, Cooley was flabbergasted at how badly the Commanders played the fly sweep which St. Brown ran for 58 yards with Washington having narrowed the 22-point lead to 22-15. He called out Jamin Davis, Darrick Forrest and William Jackson as simply clueless as to what was transpiring on the play. Cooley was aghast that St. Brown was uncontested, declaring this is not a new play in the NFL.

The D’Andre Swift 3rd & 15 touchdown play? Cooley clearly questioned why Washington was rushing six and dropping only five when the Lions needed 15 for a first down. He called out how Swift could fall down, pick himself up and still easily score, citing that William “Jackson was loafing.” Cooley said the Commanders’ defense on that play made Swift look like he was Barry Sanders.

Cooley said the zone run by Swift early was an embarrassing display of defense. “Their linebackers are terrible in terms of reacting and instinct. There were actually more big plays out there.”

“They don’t talk well, they don’t communicate well, they are not good enough at the line of scrimmage and they are not covering well on both levels.

“I don’t think they are as good up front as they have been in the past.” Then he pointed out how the backers are not filling gaps, and they are getting gashed in the run defense.

“I think Matt Ioannidis and Tim Settle were good players and they were consistent run-stop players. Why don’t you keep those guys? When you get 5th and 6th round picks that develop, just keep them. From what was an unbelievably built defensive line, they are now not that.”

Cooley pointed out the defense had zero tackles for loss in the run game. He added the game film was not fun to watch.

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Rick ‘Doc’ Walker: ‘Detroit was tougher’ than Commanders

Doc Walker had plenty to say about the Commanders and the coaching staff Monday. He’s not wrong.

Former Washington tight end Rick “Doc” Walker still loves Washington NFL football.

Walker still wants to win as well. There are times like Monday when Walker is a good listen. While a guest on the “Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast, Walker had some compelling/provocative things to say about the Commanders’ 36-27 loss to the Lions in Week 2. Here are a few excerpts.

“They don’t seem to be clear about what it is they are trying to accomplish.  It’s like I don’t know who is really in charge. I have no idea. From a conceptual standpoint, we keep leaning on our defensive line, and that is good. But we have seen other people destroy us, disrupt us and we don’t seem to have that level of disruption.”

“It would seem we have to create more immediate presence through blitzing or play more man coverage than zone, to where we dictate the outcome. We seem to be a punching bag. I, for the life of me, don’t understand why we don’t contest our opponents’ passes.”

“Our opponents are catching balls uncontested. We are giving them too many junk plays, and that is confusion, disorganization, or incompetence.”

“If Jackson (William) is so good at what he does (man coverage) let him do what he does well. Same thing with 52 (Jamin Davis). ‘Well, he’s really athletic and fast.’ Well then, when in doubt, why don’t you have him rush the passer?”

“I’m telling you, it’s their job (coaches). They selected him (first round) and then said, ‘Oops, we want him to do something different. Oops, we are changing that.’ Come on, man. It’s a classic clown show act! You figure it out, and then we will follow you. The kid seems to be confused. It appears to be a mixed message on the defensive side of the room.”

They (Detroit) were tougher. They were more aggressive. That’s how they train. They were exactly what we thought they would be. I thought we had more talent, but we couldn’t get it cranked up. When we did, it wasn’t enough. And then we became analytics and all that other crap that goes into it. At that point, you can stick a fork in yourself.”

“It’s the new way out. It’s the new thing, the new jive. You can just say, ‘It’s the Analytics.’ Oh, ok, He (Ron Rivera) is really lucky that there are a lot of people who are not in that press crew.”

“We had Carter (DeAndre) last year, and he was a threat. But that was not a high enough priority for us. We figured it out. Maybe the Analytics didn’t allow us to think he had a value.”

“What matters is are we going to have people that can come up and fundamentally tackle people? This is the worst (pause), I don’t even want to call them linebackers. I don’t know what you call them, But I do know this, the guy that they don’t want to sign (Landon Collins) tackles better than anybody on their defense right now except 22 (Darrick Forrest). The best they have been is when he was at his best. They need an offensive lineman and a guy who tackles, and they are playing badass.”

Regarding the Commanders not bringing in more defensive help, “Yea, the Analytics said they didn’t need anybody.”

“Forget the publicity, forget where they went to college and all that crap. Just look at how they (Detroit) performed. People are different than we are. We get close, but we don’t get the prize. Our guy 90 (Montez Sweat) who I consider a freakish guy, is really good but he doesn’t finish. He doesn’t get the desired results. He’s close; our guys are close.”

“Payne (Daron) is playing like he just got out of lockdown. You see that difference? That is the difference that you either have to be coached into that, punked into that, or forced into that. We don’t have THAT. ”

“We have good guys, they are doing a good job, but there is not canine in them that comes out. You don’t get gashed like that. It just doesn’t happen. There is a disconnection, a communication void that is going on. It’s as clear as day to me because I’ve been on winners.”

“Right now if this was a soap box this would be a best-seller; it would be a No.1 rated sitcom because that’s what it is, a sitcom. You think I’m laughin’; I’m not laughin’. It’s pitiful.”

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Is Commanders DE Chase Young’s injury combo rare?

Chase Young’s knee injury was rare, according to one doctor.

Was Chase Young playing injured prior to his ACL tear?

Kevin Sheehan and guest Dr. Jesse Morse, MD discussed Young’s injury on Sheehan’s podcast Wednesday.

Morse, a Board Certified Sports & Family Medicine physician in Miami, is a Cell Therapy Specialist at The Osteopathic Center. He follows sports, is known as “The Fantasy Doc” and has professionally helped many athletes.

Here are some excerpts from Dr. Morse regarding his opinion of the Chase Young injury. With the link provided above the interview begins at 42:50.

“Even a patellar tendon rupture in its isolation is a rough injury. Combining that with an ACL is a BIG deal. I don’t think I have ever heard of this combo together. I don’t know how he would even do it. It is a very strange combo.”

“The Patellar tendon is the tendon that attaches the knee cap to your shin. Essentially it pulls down on the shin anytime you want to walk or anything. It is a weird combination of tearing that and the ACL at the same time.”

Traditionally the ACL is going to be minimum of 9 months up to 12 months of rehab without any setbacks. The problem with an ACL tear by itself is you pretty much need to get started on rehab pretty quickly. But with the Patellar tendon you need 4 to 6 weeks of allowing it to heal before you can start pushing it. You can’t do both at the same time because that would obviously counteract what you are trying to do.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t come back until November. Given his stature, how important he is to the team, his position, the fact that you don’t want to bring him back and say, ‘Hey, we are only going to bring you back for ten plays a game.’ They want to bring him back and let his motor go. So, I think they will bring him back when he is 100 percent ready, really trust that knee, fortify that knee.”

“Is there a possibility he doesn’t play in 2022? Yes. It’s probably only a 30% chance of that now. Maybe a setback, maybe the team is not doing the best and they say, ‘You know what? It is probably not worth it to bring him back this year.’ A just in case type of thing. I could see that coming to fruition.”

When Sheehan expressed Young was not effective prior to the ACL tear, and his production was considerably less than his rookie 2020 season, he asked Dr Morse, “Was it possible he was playing injured?”

“Definitely. I will tell you; I see all different positions, linemen, quarterbacks, wide receivers, everything. I would say we probably know about 20 percent of their injuries from the media. Even then, whenever I ask them, ‘What is bothering you today?’   They could answer ten things. But it is only the thing that is bothering them the most (that they express). They all have crazy injuries.  Most of the time they function through them, push through them.”

“Could it be something that was changing his mechanics that was causing him to not have the same level of explosiveness? Could he have had a partial injury to that Patellar tendon? Very much so. It is very common actually. If you throw an ultrasound on it, you can see it in a minute.”

“A lot of guys just push through it and hope it gets better because they are used to everything getting better. They are genetic freaks. They are used to being the best of the best. But unfortunately, ligaments and tendons don’t heal, and they learn the hard way.”