Camp has been open for about three weeks, and Thursday, the Commanders were in Florham Park, New Jersey, for a joint practice with the Jets at their facility. Saturday at noon, they’ll take a likely sloppy field at MetLife Stadium for the preseason opener, and football is officially, officially back.
And THIS is what get Brian Mitchell’s juices flowing.
“This is the time of the year where I get excited about football; even when I played, this was the time I was getting excited, because you get a chance to go out there and test against people, and they all have different skill levels,” Brian said. “This is where coaches really wanna understand that you understand what you're doing and don’t get swayed by someone else's stupid actions. Can you keep yourself under control, and how hard will you be going?”
And also, it’s the first time there’s no one to, as a turn of phrase, hold players’ hands through a rep.
“Most times in practice in camp, there's a coach in the huddle who's talking to people and telling them what to do. When they get you in this situation, sometimes they put you out there and they want to see what you retain,” Brian said. “A lot of times when a guy is playing slow, it's because he don't know what he's doing. The level of talent the Jets have on their team is phenomenal, and this is a time where you could take a huge step. A lot of these rookies on this team are wondering if they’ll get enough reps today, and you can make that happen by going out there and doing something to make these coaches start to say, ‘you know what, let's find a way to get him on the field.’”
Brian recalled how he made some hay against Greg Lloyd one joint practice against the Steelers and his reps started increasing, because he was showing out against a proven stud defender – and in this era, now fans will be able to see this, as you could have had you watched the Jets’ live stream today.
“When you see the actual game, you see a finished product; right now, it’s not finished, it’s everything coming together,” Brian said. “Every position goes out there to do certain drills, and you're hoping when you finally put this puzzle together, everything works positively. The key is that no one gets injured, but you have to get guys getting prepared to play. Everybody that you decide to keep on your team should be able to play, and everybody has to be prepared to play. You will see guys get prepared to play when they get the proper opportunity and coaching; I believe this team is getting it, and I love this challenge they have today, against a team whose coach thinks very much like this one.”
And all that said, Brian had one last warning:
“If you're not used to looking at practice, don't expect a lot of game breaking stuff - it's practice, and practice sometimes is very damn boring.”