It’s that time of training camp when the offense and defense are ready to hit someone on the opposing team. For the Washington Commanders, the first bit of chippiness occurred earlier in the week when linebacker Khaleke Hudson took exception to a block from center Nick Gates.
Hudson shoved Gates, and fellow linebacker Cody Barton joined in on the fun, throwing a punch before teammates arrived to end it quickly.
Typical training camp.
However, after a frustrating day for the offense on Friday, things heated up with a couple of skirmishes.
There was one instance where right guard Sam Cosmi got into it with defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis. After practice, Cosmi spoke to reporters.
It was a spirited Washington Commanders practice.
Sam Cosmi got into it with Phidarian Mathis.
After practice Sam said, "we work hard, we do our stuff, but at the same time we are not going to take any crap from anyone."
Welcome to the dog days of training camp! pic.twitter.com/gzo5JkbZ71
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) August 4, 2023
While the offense has been up and down throughout training camp, Friday was a particularly tough outing for Eric Bieniemy’s side of the ball. And the defensive players were happy to let the offense know they were having their way.
One play, in particular, had wide receiver — and team captain — Terry McLaurin fired up. After making contact with tight end Cole Turner, cornerback Benjamin St-Juste stared over Turner and didn’t help him up, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post.
That drew the ire of McLaurin.
Benjamin St-Juste popped Cole Turner and stared over him, refusing to help him up. Terry McLaurin rushed over and lit into St-Juste.
Bieniemy yelled from the sideline “Stop with the dumb shit and do your f’in job!”
McLaurin yelled back, “Cant do that shit to your own teammate,…
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 4, 2023
It takes a lot to upset McLaurin, but at the same time, it shows why he’s the ultimate leader. He came to the aid of one of his offensive teammates and wasn’t afraid to get in the face of a defensive player. Everyone on the team respects McLaurin.
After practice, head coach Ron Rivera wasn’t concerned with the skirmishes; in fact, he expected them.
“I expected it to be exactly what it was, a little chippy,” Rivera said. “This is our ninth practice and our fifth one in a row. Quite honestly, I kind of thought that was going to happen.”
It’s easy to be concerned with the offense at this point. But as we’ve said numerous times over the past two weeks, the defense is ahead of the offense. And they should be. This unit has been together for four seasons, while Bieniemy is installing a new offensive scheme with multiple new offensive linemen and a quarterback with 19 career passing attempts.
The concern would be real if the offense were getting the best of the defense. Things are going as they should. There’s still a long way until Week 1.