Washington Commanders rookie Emmanuel Forbes was benched during the second half of Thursday's 40-20 loss to the Chicago Bears. Ron Rivera had some interesting comments following the loss that suggested the cornerback could lose out on more snaps.
"I think one of the things that we've got to continue to do with him and continue to stress is that work your technique, work your technique, work your technique," Rivera said. "The young man has a tremendous skillset, little all over the place with his technique, work his technique.
Former Washington cornerback, Will Blackmon, was on the air with B-Mitch & Finlay and said all rookie corners will have to take their bumps and bruises early on in their careers and learn some valuable lessons.
"It's part of the process," Blackmon said about Forbes' struggles, adding earlier "You have to learn how to become the nail before you can become the hammer."
In listening to Blackmon's comments, Team 980's Craig Hoffman came to the conclusion that benching Frobes this early is a mistake.
"You're gonna make mistakes and you have to learn what that is and you have to learn what it's like to have that happen and to understand why you were the nail and not the hammer so the next time you can be the hammer and not the nail," Hoffman said.
He added that Blackmon made a good point that these growing pains are "gonna happen at the expense of the team and that's part of the equation."
And Hoffman believed that the coaches have to understand that that calculus is worthwhile. "And I think benching him is a mistake because his long-term prognosis is still good," he said. "... You can't just bench him every time he makes a mistake. That's no way to develop a player, he's never gonna learn, he's gonna have his confidence shattered and you're gonna have wasted a first-round pick that coulda been a Pro Bowl-level player in this league."
The full take and complete comments from Blackmon can be heard on the audio player above!
