The Washington Commanders completed one of the most unlikely plays in the NFL to earn a win over the Chicago Bears on Sunday – a 52-yard Hail Mary as time experied. How often do they actually practice for that play?
"We talk about it, you rep it in walkthroughs," tight end Zach Ertz told Kevin Sheehan from the victorious locker room. "You're never gonna ask guys in practice, the end of a practice, to go sprint 60 yards downfield for a play where a lot of guys are jumping up into one another.
"Rarely do you rep it full speed in the NFL. But I think it's a testement, guys have played a lot of football in this league, guys know that play like the back of their hands."
Ertz explained that he is a "jumper" with one receiver behind him – about five yards back – and another in front of him.
Has the veteran tight end, appearing in his 159th career game over 12 seasons – ever been a part of a successful Hail Mary? Nope.
"Crazy to be a part of it for the first time," he told Sheehan. "And obviously the vibes are high after a game like that."
Ertz said the locker room was "jubiliant" with "so much joy" after the victory, but a bit of self-criticism for their performance on offense: "As an offense we feel like we did not hold up our end of the bargain."
"We shoulda put up so many more points in our eyes as an offense," he said. "I don't know if that game should even to come down to that point. But for us to believe, and that never stops."
What might be forgotten about that game is that the Hail Mary was the fourth play of the drive that included an incompletion, an 11-yard pass to Ertz and a 13-yard out route to Terry McLaurin that put Jayden Daniels in position to be able to uncork a pass that traveled 60 yards in the air.
"If we're 10 yards further behind we're not able to throw a Hail Mary," Ertz said of the completion to McLaurin. "So there's just little plays that continue to add up in the football game and you can't stop believing."
Coming into the game, the health of the rookie quarterback was a big question mark. Ertz said Daniels "looked like himself."
"That dude is the leader of this team," the veteran said of Daniels. "People will call him a rookie – I was just telling some of these other reporters – I think the rookie label has got to be off.
"The guy is just one of the best players on our team. The leader of this team. The dude plays with his heart and soul each and every week for us. And so the rookie labels off to me."
Ertz said it was "the same Jayden" out there even with the rib injury.
"Jayden's done a phenomenal job being able to buy time and just give us a shot to be downfield," Ertz said of the Hail Mary. "Obviously, the way the game went, we feel like we probably left a lot of points on the board. And just allowing us to be able to go out there and find a way to win, just shows the testament to the character of this team.
"We're never gonna give up whether 20 seconds or 12 seconds or 60 minutes. We got a lot of belief in the guys in this locker room and it was a really good game."