JP Finlay was FIRED UP to talk to “Lights Out” Shawne Merriman on Thursday, who has a lot of irons in the fire personally and professionally these days – but given he was the sack machine, JP had to ask him how excited he would be to play against a team like the current Commanders, who have seen Sam Howell get sacked 40 times in seven games.
“People often ask if I miss the game and I say no, but when you see opportunities to sack quarterbacks like that, maybe I can come back and win!” Merriman laughed. “But it’s unfortunate because he can play, but what happens often, especially with a young QB, is when you’re hit a lot you lose confidence. And sometimes you can never get that back. It’s almost in a sense like Joe Burrow when he first got into the league – with young QBs, you start to gain this mentality that you’re going to get hit no matter what, and it really takes a toll on your confidence.”
If there’s a fix, though, Merriman thinks it has to be a combination of coaching, scheme, and players.
“Eric Bieniemy has done a great job being able to open those guys up and do more, but the problem is when you don’t have a full team built to open up the playbook, you’re going to get hit,” Merriman said. “I would almost want them to do things to not get him hit – get the ball out on timing routes, get rid of it. There’s no need for him to take those hits, but I also watch games and see he wants to make a play so bad, and that’s a problem. When you’re trying to get your team out of a hole, you try to do too much instead of going through your progressions and getting rid of the ball. They have playmakers, but when you’re trying to do too much, you’re going to get hit.”
Contrary to what you might think, though, when facing a QB who holds the ball longer like Howell does, the pass rush isn’t as straight-forward as usual.
“If a quarterback holds the ball for three seconds, you have a really good shot at getting a sack,” Merriman said. “If he’s holding it longer, which Sam has been, you’re not in a rush to get into your pass rush moves; you don’t mind running up the field a bit and letting him step up and pat the ball.”
On the other side, though, when it comes to the Commanders’ own star rushers, Montez Sweat and/or Chase Young could be gone this time next week – and if Merriman was the GM, he has a plan for how or why he would think about making a deal.
“Sweat has been more consistent, and I think that Chase is just coming around from the injury – when you have a big injury like that, you’re not yourself right away,” Merriman said. “Bending your knees and turning the corner is the last thing to come back, but you’re starting to see those things coming. Still, I would say this: I think it depends on how far they think they are from winning. If they feel they’re not far off, you keep one and trade the other for some picks – it depends on how much they need to be a complete team, but I don’t think your team gets better by trading them both.”
Take a listen to Merriman’s entire segment above, as he discusses his upcoming fight night and coat drive and other endeavors, as well as some general NFL topics and Terps football as well!