Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes did not play a single snap for Washington's defense in the Commanders' 24-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Craig Hoffman has some thoughts about head coach Ron Rivera's decision to bench the team's 2023 first-round pick in the middle of the Week 5 game before having him sit for the entirety of the Week 6 game.
Here's what Rivera said about Forbes's benching after the game Sunday: "I think, in looking at it, it's probably an opportunity for him to get a little bit of a reset. Kinda watch, see how things happen, see how things go. And hopefully, it's something he'll learn from, he'll take as a positive and grow from."
Hoffman said that hopefully everything the head coach just said is correct and that he's "hesitant at this point, right now to go nuclear or even go that hard on Rivera or [defensive coordinator Jack] Del Rio, for that matter when it comes to managing a young first-round pick because – in terms of benching him or public criticism or anything – the last guy they did this to was [Jamin Davis] and he's turned his career around ever since. He's just consistently gotten better since the point that Jack Del Rio called him out last year."
For Hoffman, if the coaching staff sees Forbes as playing out over his skis at this point, sitting him and letting him reset as Danny Johnson (a "break glass in case of emergency" getting playing time) deputizing starters Kendall Fuller and Benjamin St-Juste can make sense for right now.
"We'll see if it works, we'll see how quickly he's back in the lineup," Hoffman added. "And we'll see when he gets back out there."
On Monday, Rivera again spoke about Forbes and elaborated on how well the young cornerback is handling all of this.
"I think he's been great. He really has. He and I had a conversation last week as to what was going on," the head coach said. "Just explained to him that we feel right now a little time down would help you. Good chance to kind of take a step back and watch it and see how things are done, see a little different perspective.
"Again, he's been really good so far and I expect him to continue. He's a young pro who's got a lot to learn and a lot of growth to have, but he's got a chance. We really think this young man has got a great skill set and can be aa good football player. This might take a little bit more time."
