Kevin Sheehan reminds to temper expectations, good and bad, after just one week of preseason
Jayden Daniels looked good, especially with the play where he checked into a dime to Dyami Brown on his own, and a lot of other Commanders flashed in the preseason opener.
But in reading a listener email about that play specifically showing he was right about Jayden, Kevin Sheehan was moved to remind people that whether it’s good OR bad, you have to temper expectations from looking at just one preseason game.
“Remember this about the game and the joint practice: we don’t know anything about our team at this point, and don't even know much when the actual real games begin. How much of a head fake is the first four or six weeks of an NFL season for most teams?” Kevin asked. “The difference between teams in September versus October versus December is night and day, and we don’t know a lot until Week 8 or 9. Deep breaths, people.”
So yes, folks were high on Jayden after a good practice and preseason debut, and down on Emmanuel Forbes after he didn’t look great in either, but again, it’s ONE weekend.
“I went back to last year’s reaction to the joint practice with the Ravens, because my memory of it was that the practice and that game had people pumped up – and it just goes to show that none of this is necessarily indicative of anything,” Kevin said. “You just have to understand that the NFL in general is the one league that is the most fun for sure, but it’s the thing that we know the least about, especially this time of year.”
Kevin read some of those takes that did not age very well about Forbes, Eric Bieniemy, Sam Howell, and more, and yeah, see also Kenny Pickett last year.
“Anyone who freaks out over a joint practice, or anybody that thinks Jayden Daniels is lit and the offense is lit and we're ready to see him take off - you might be right, but it can't be based on 11 snaps in a preseason game against the Jets’ twos and threes,” Kevin said. “These games mean nothing! The joint practices actually mean a bit more to the coaching staffs because they've got their players out there participating, but they don't know much, and we don't know anything. We do this every year, but you have to take a deep breath and not overreact to anything you see or read because it just doesn't mean much. All that’s being assessed is individual man-on-man performances operating smoothly, and there’s no game planning.”
