The Jets and Commanders held their joint practice in New Jersey on Thursday, with our Lynnell Willingham and JP Finlay on the scene covering it live for Audacy DC.
Shortly after it ended, Doc Walker, in for Kevin Sheehan this week, welcomed in London Fletcher, who was also up at the practice ahead of broadcasting Saturday’s preseason game. So what did he see?
“It was kind of wet, but all in all, even with the conditions, the offense did a great job of keeping the ball fairly secure, so it was a great practice from that standpoint,” London said. “This was a good opportunity to see the defense against the Jets’ personnel, and I thought there were some times the defensive line had some outstanding push, getting into the backfield and being disruptive – things that you want to see. I thought that guys ran to the football, and there were some times where some of the safeties came up and made some big hits that I thought that might end up leading to a scuffle, but it didn't happen. So definitely happy with the way they got those guys ran around and made plays on the football field.”
One of the guys on defense who impressed was a second-year man who was much maligned in 2023.
“Emmanuel Forbes made some plays in the final period where they went at him, maybe three or four times in a row, and he probably had three pass breakups,” Fletcher said. “It was a tight coverage, so I thought Forbes made some nice plays.”
Fletcher singled out Dyami Brown and Zach Ertz as impressing on offense, but the biggest impression came from the sideline, and the continuation of the Dan Quinn culture.
“He sets that tone of how you want to practice, how you want to go about your business on a day-in, day-out basis, and it’s been refreshing, man,” Fletcher said. “I love those type of intense practices, especially this time of the year. That's what it takes in order to be a great football team; this time of camp is supposed to be hard, you’re supposed to be sore and tired and have to go out and grind, and this is an opportunity to really grow as a football team. I thought being up here, practicing in these conditions, really forced guys to focus a lot more and make sure ball security was the key. And, the respect these two coaches have for each other, you can tell they emphasized not getting into scuffles.”
Take a listen to Fletcher’s entire recap above!