How did the Commanders‘ defense fare against the New England Patriots in Wednesday’s scrimmage?
Mitchell Tischler of Monumental Sports described it to Craig Hoffman on Team 980’s “Hoffman Show.” “Drake Maye looked really good. He looked way better today than the limited action I saw him last year. He was decisive with the football, and he did a good job of finding open receivers.”
Open receivers? Well, Tischler went on to convey to Hoffman that Patriots slot receiver Demario Douglas, “had a very good day.” He said he did a good job of getting open, and Maye connected. This would have been against the coverage of Commanders second-year slot corner Mike Sainristil. Tischler revealed the Commanders were in man coverage, and the Pats receivers were getting open for the most part. Not to unfairly single out Sainristil, Tischler did state that there were plays where the three corners Sainristil, Marcus Lattimore and Trey Amos were each beaten at times.
Being lined up against Stefon Diggs most of the time was a good test for Amos, according to Tischler. He added, “Amos did a good job when they were jamming at the line of scrimmage, getting his hands on him and kind of staying in his hip pocket, right behind him. He did a really nice job on a couple of deep balls.”
What about Marcus Lattimore? “I thought he was a little more consistent on the other side…You see these guys wanting to fill the Joe Whitt, Dan Quinn style of football with turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. You know, go get those picks, go get those picks. Mikey had a tip at the end of the two-minute drill on a tip drill off of Bobby Wagner, which is a really nice play.”
In summary, Tischler concluded, “The Commanders’ defense wasn’t as good as the Patriots’ offense, but ultimately I think some of that was playing an ultra-aggressive style and we’re going to see a little less of that come the regular season.”