The defense was supposed to be the Commanders’ top unit, and while the front four is playing up to its rep most of the time, the secondary is underperforming – and now without one starter and one key possible backup with Darrick Forrest and Jeremy Reaves on IR.
A former Redskins DB, Will Blackmon, joined BMitch & Finlay Wednesday to discuss the struggles, and it seems like the problem isn’t so much technique or scheme, but aggression?
It’s interesting watching the secondary, because it’s not even specifically the Bears game – it’s not as if guys are just getting routed up and aren’t in the vicinity, it’s they’re taking chances and just not making the play,” Blackmon said. “When you go against someone like D.J. Moore or Deebo Samuel, a running back with receiver abilities, basically, it’s tough to watch.”
Tough with both vets and rookies, as Blackmon was in DC when Kendall Fuller was a rookie and has seen him grow into the player he is now, and can understand how first-round pick Emmanuel Forbes
“To see Kendall missing those ops, because he’s a smart player, it was tough to see him not making those plays,” Blackmon said, “and on the other side with Emmanuel, you watch him, and you know you’re going to have your rookie rolls, and you have to go through it.”
Blackmon gave a quote from his son’s wrestling coach, UFC fighter Mark Munoz, who said “you have to be the nail before you become the hammer,” meaning you have to know how to get hit and move forward before you can do the same.
He gets it, as he had his fair share of time in the toaster in his career, but you have to have a short memory as a young DB, or else your career could be just as short.
“It’s at the expense of the team, and you don’t want to lose, but it’s going to happen. You learn from those things, and hope they happen early,” Blackmon said. “I got beat a couple times so bad I almost had anxiety about it, and I never made any plays because I was just trying to do right and protect myself. But then, I got to coach at Deion Sanders’ Prime U camp in Texas, and he and Rod Woodson were there talking about those who are afraid to get beat are going to get beat – and they talked about getting absolutely annihilated. So, I think the best thing to do as a group is study and learn from this.”
BMitch gets that, but wondered if a lot of times, it comes down to knowing game situations and knowing when to take those chances…and the answer is yes and no?
“Kendall could have played it safe and maybe got the tackle, but he knew with his experience they were sending the house and the ball was gonna come out, so there weren’t going to be any double moves,” Blackmon said of one of the Bears’ explosives. “He read everything perfectly, it just happened to be just enough outside and he missed it. He makes that play, it’s a whole different conversation. Sometimes you have to take these risks in order to make big plays, but yeah, on the other side, you do have to be smart.”
Blackmon gave some examples of being on both sides of that coin, and how he recovered from the down side, and how you have to live and learn – even deep into a career.
As for early, well, now that Forrest and Reaves are out, will Quan Martin, the second-round pick who has zero snaps on defense through five weeks, get thrown into the fire, and what can we expect if he does?
“The biggest thing is his preparation during the week, or the time he’s not in. It’s really key when you harp on the mental reps,” Blackmon said. “I spent the entire offseason with Dallas, teaching those guys the key of mental reps. You can’t get lost because you’re not in and just wait because you’re going to repeat plays, you have to go through the situations.
That’s the hardest thing as a young guy, is to play the game in your mind; it took me three years to not just want to do it, but actually to even how to watch film, but I got through it. That, and just trust your ability, because it’s all situational.”
Take a listen above to Blackmon’s entire segment, which also includes a breakdown of how he got to Dallas to be a fellowship consultant, his thoughts on a future in coaching, and more!