Commanders Reacts Survey - First team offense and concerning injuries

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We have two questions in this week’s Reacts survey, and they are related, I guess.

The first question is a simple yes or no: Should Ron Rivera be playing his 1st team offense against the Bengals on Saturday? It’s clear that that the players are struggling with aspects of Eric Bieniemy’s offense. The screen game, for example, which we’ve been frequently told will be not only a much bigger part of the Commanders attack than it was under Scott Turner, but also better executed, has simply not looked right in the first two preseason games.

Should Sam Howell and his companions spend time on Saturday fine-tuning the timing of the screen game and other aspects of the offense? Or should they basically be taking the day off, and looking on supportively as their less established teammates fight for spots at the end of the roster based on special teams prowess or to prove themselves worthy of practice squad consideration?

The second question focuses on the list of players who have reportedly gotten nicked up in OTAs, minicamp or training camp or the preseason, with the latest being the reported ‘turf toe’ injury to Terry McLaurin in the 2nd quarter of the Ravens game.

You are asked, in this question, to declare which player you are most concerned about. The list of candidates is:

Terry McLauren - ‘turf toe’

Danny Johnson - sprained AC joint (shoulder) from being body slammed by Ravens tight end Mark Andrews after a practice rep had been blown dead in the joint practice

Chase Young - self-reported a ‘stinger’, apparently in his neck, during the first preseason game. He left that game after playing just 4 snaps, and has been held out of team practices and the Ravens game since that time.

Logan Thomas - has not participated in practice for a couple of weeks, and missed both preseason games, due to a calf strain

Phil Mathis - The big defensive tackle came off the field briefly during the Browns game, then re-entered and played some more snaps. By the time the team arrived in Baltimore for joint practices, Mathis was in a walking boot and has not been seen on the field since.

Tress Way - Ron Rivera has reported tightness in Way’s back. It’s been bad enough that the team has signed punters to boot the ball in the first two preseason games, but not bad enough to stop Way from performing his holding duties for Joey Slye, even in games.

Charles Leno - Leno sat out the end of practice with the Ravens on Wednesday, didn’t practice on Friday or Saturday, and was held out of the Ravens game on Monday night.

Jonathan Allen - plantar fasciitis, per Ron Rivera

Ron Rivera:

These are not long-term things that we think these guys are going to miss anything. We just want to make sure that they’re sharp and ready to roll. We’ve had a few good, really good weeks of camp and we’re just trying to be really smart about some things. Jon Allen, he’s just messing with plantar fasciitis, nothing serious right there.

Comments & Results

Of course, we invite you to answer the survey questions below, but also feel free to expand on your answers in the comments section. I rely on those comments when discussing the results of the survey when they are posted in a separate article the next few days.

POLL QUESTIONS