Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera did not hold back his criticism of star defensive ends Chase Young and Montez Sweat.
Speaking to Michael Silver for the Washington Football Team’s website, Rivera highlighted the struggles of Young and Sweat.
“We would like to see a little bit more from those guys,” Rivera said. “They need to stop pressing and trust their teammates. Sometimes when a guy tries to chip them, instead of running through the chip and blowing that guy up, you’ll see them duck underneath or slip around and miss a chance to make a play. Sometimes Chase starts outside and plants his leg and cuts inside — because he’s trying to make a play — and the quarterback gets flushed to the outside. If Chase stays outside, he has an easy sack, but instead he dives underneath.”
Washington enters their bye week with a disappointing 2-6 record. They’ve lost four straight games, including a 17-10 loss to the Denver Broncos last week.
The struggles of the defense has played a large part in Washington’s downfall this season. While the secondary has been the emphasis of blame, it’s hard to dismiss the drop-off of the vaunted defensive line.
The dynamic pass-rushing duo of Chase Young and Montez Sweat has not lived up to expectations this season. Sweat has four sacks through eight games. Meanwhile, Young, last year’s NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year, has a mere 1.5 sacks and three tackles for losses.
With the Broncos trying to run out the clock in the final seconds for a win, Young forced a fumble of running back Melvin Gordon. Washington recovered to give the offense a last-ditch chance to tie the game.
“That’s great,” Rivera said, “but where were those plays earlier in the game? When they know you’ve got to take the ball away from them, and you still take it away from them…that’s impressive, but where was that earlier? Why do we have to always put ourselves behind the 8-ball to play that hard? We should always be at that level.”
The offense got possession of the ball on the Broncos’ 24-yard line. However, Washington’s offense was held out of the end zone of the game’s final drive. Rivera wishes there were more impact plays by his defense earlier in the game.
Rivera addressed other areas of concerns around the roster. But, his challenge to his defensive line, particularly Young and Sweat is intriguing.
It’s not often Rivera is critical of his players publicly. Yet, his choice to do so this time, it appears he is looking for a constructive method to get his point across.
Hopefully, his message is received well and used as motivation for Young when Washington comes out of the bye to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Nov. 14. Rivera will have to wait to see how Sweat responds.
Sweat suffered a fractured jaw against the Broncos. He could miss a month of action. Not having Sweat playing on the opposite side of him will make Young’s task of getting back on track a bit more difficult.
