Chase Young was one of three players, along with Charles Leno and Montez Sweat, who did not show up for the Commanders’ voluntary OTAs on Tuesday.
We know Young’s absence sent Danny Rouhier into a tizzy, and while Leno ‘is the least of my concerns’ and Sweat is ‘a bit intriguing, but he has missed before,’ Pete Hailey of NBC Sports Washington is also zoomed in on Young, as he told BMitch & Finlay Tuesday.
“Maybe we get out there tomorrow and he’s there, and he just had a sickness or his plane was delayed or whatever,” Hailey said, “but we always have to wonder what’s going on. I get if he’s pissed about the fifth-year option or training with people he likes to train with, but once again, it’s a story, and it’s a bit of a headache.”
This is the third straight year Young has been absent, although last year was due to injury – but Brian Mitchell wonders why it’s such a big deal for everyone in the media.
“I think Chase, largely, has underperformed, and it’s an easy connection to make,” Hailey said.
JP Finlay did say “there often appear to be sagas with Chase,” but also noted that Leno is the starting left tackle for a new offense with a basically-rookie quarterback, so maybe he’s the guy who could use the reps the most?
“Yes, it’s a new offense and quarterback, but Leno has that veteran equity built up and is established in the NFL – Young doesn’t have that,” Hailey said. “He had one good year, and since then, he was invisible, then got hurt and took a long time to come back. He knows that the coaches want him there, and he’s not – so to go back to why we make a big deal, maybe there’s no connection to missing OTAs and performance, because Terry McLaurin did it last year, but he’s now adding another variable to the equation, assuming there’s nothing easy to explain going on. It opens up all the questions and is a big story when there doesn’t need to be one.”
Mitchell didn’t buy that, calling it ‘laziness’ in the media, making a big story out of missing voluntary activities, and his teammates ‘probably don’t give a damn.’
“This is supposed to be your franchise cornerstone,” Hailey said, “and maybe they didn’t pick up his option because they’re wondering about his dedication to the sport. Some players, when they get told no, make it a point to try to stick it to the team, and for me, I’d want my players to show up like that. The image right now, and this could again be corrected when we find out why he’s not there, is that he’s not there because he’s pouting.”
Finlay, then, said the team could create this on their own, because the Commanders are the only team that allows fans into OTAs, so they’ve created the buzz that Young isn’t here.
“When I first started covering this team, Trent Williams very rarely came to voluntary stuff, and I didn’t think it mattered, because he was the best player on the team,” JP said. “The performance of all three of these guys aren’t on that caliber, and when you’re not in that category, you create situations that aren’t great for your future. You’d like to see players who need to perform better take advantage of the extra work.”
To that, Mitchell went back to wondering why it’s such a big deal if they’re still wondering why he’s missing, given that it could be a huge jump to a conclusion the media wants and one he ‘despises.’
“That’s very fair Brian, and I hate that kind of hot take, talking head journalism, so I try to stay away from it, which is why I keep adding the caveats,” Hailey said, “
It was quite the three-way disagreement between Brian, JP, and Pete – take a listen to it all above!
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