Olamide Zaccheaus tells Rooster & Nell no matter who is under center Sunday, the focus is the same

Olamide Zaccheaus is new to the Commanders this year, but he has become a big part of the team going 5-2 heading into Sunday’s showdown with the Bears, third on the team in both targets and receptions while also showing off his noted blocking prowess.

He also got to show off his media chops on Thursday, joining Chris Russell and Lynnell Willingham to set the mood ahead of Sunday’s clash with the 4-2 Bears.

“It’s just continuing the grind of just getting better each day. That's one thing we always preach no matter what week it is, or who we're playing: we want to have the same mindset going to practice or games,” Zaccheaus said.

Jayden Daniels did practice in full Friday and could possibly play Sunday – but if he doesn’t, it’s Marcus Mariota under center, as he was for three-quarters of last week’s win over Carolina. If anyone on the team knows Mariota well it’s Zaccheaus, who played with him in 2022 in Atlanta and then last season in Philadelphia, the former of course ending poorly with Mariota being benched and placed on IR.

“He's one of the best teammates I've ever had, throughout my career, just playing football and just the type of person that he is,” Zaccheaus said. “He's super humble, and how he approaches each day, nothing ever changes no matter the circumstances or whatever is going on. He’s just a really good teammate, really good guy.”

But as OZ said, Mariota is a pro, and he showed it when stepping in for Daniels last week after getting exactly zero first team reps in practice.

“It felt normal and natural. Marcus does a good job of finding a way to prepare and be prepared throughout the week, and it shows,” Zaccheaus said. “At the end of the day, it just comes down to executing the game plan with whoever's in there.”

And that goes for Zaccheaus, too, who does all the little things – you may remember him chasing down Austin Ekeler’s fumble a few weeks ago – and he learned to be a pro at an early age at St. Joe’s Prep in Philly.

“That was a huge part in who I am not only as a football player but as a person as well. Coach Infante did a tremendous job of hounding in certain principles of how to go about life that carry over to the field, and that’s just something that I still live by to this day,” Zaccheaus said. “That time shaped me, and there are times throughout my career where you look back at the film and had somebody been running after the ball, you would have recovered a fumble or been in position to make a play on the ball. If you watch my film, that’s just who I am and how I’m wired, and how this team is wired – I wasn’t the only one running after that ball. This is just the DNA of the team, and for me, it’s always been that. All it takes is one time.”

So to him, it doesn’t matter who is under center or elsewhere on the field – the challenge remains the same, as does the mindset.

“It just comes down to protecting the ball and executing the game plan, the things that we practice,” Zaccheaus said. “Execution and turnovers, that'll play a big part in the game this Sunday.”