Ben Sinnott reflects on his first NFL catch, touchdown: 'It felt great'

Ben Sinnott waited until the second half of Game 7 for his first NFL target and catch, but it was a big one: a three-yard touchdown snag from Marcus Mariota in the third quarter of Sunday’s win.

“It felt great. I've been kind of hoping it for a little bit, just putting in the work and waiting for my opportunity to come, so when it did, I just took advantage of it,” Sinnott told Chris Russell after the game. “It's pretty cool to have your first NFL catch be a touchdown.”

He hadn’t been looked at in the passing game, but his blocking and special teams play have gotten him noticed, and perhaps his role in the former area helped deke the defense a little bit to open up his chance?

“I think it definitely helps to being able to contribute in all the different ways. You always have the run game being able to set up your pass game, so just being able to be out there and have the defense think it's run and throw a pass…the run sets up everything,” Sinnott said. “You have specific run plays that are designed to give a defense a certain look, and then you can throw a pass off the next time.”

Of course, it would have been cool to have had fellow rookie Jayden Daniels toss him that pass, but in the end, the Commanders offense is confident in any signal caller.

“This is a tight knit group with a next man up mentality, and we have full faith in whoever is back there,” Sinnott said. “Having Marcus be able to step in and show us what he can do and keep the offense running smoothly, it just shows the love we have for each other and the chemistry that we have in the locker room.”

Zach Ertz also caught a TD, making this game the first time two different Commanders tight ends caught a touchdown pass in the same game since 2013 – so why not three next time?

“That’s cool; we have a lot of different guys who can do a ton of different stuff, so it makes it really fun to see what Kliff is going to do and to see the initial game plan pop up during the early week,” Sinnott said. “We have a lot of guys who are talented and we're going to just continue to use this.”

Sinnott initially forget about getting the ball, as he spiked it while celebrating, but a someone retrieved it, and he will keep the ball and the gloves he wore as the first NFL game merch in his burgeoning trophy case.

And hopefully, those souvenirs will come from a lot more wins, something the Commanders have already seen surpass last year’s total before Halloween.

“It’s awesome; it’s such a blessing to be a part of this organization and be able to go out and attack with these guys,” Sinnott said. “We feel the support from the fans each and every day and we're really excited to see what we can do, and how the rest of the season is going to go.”