Commanders coach reveals crucial injury update on rising defender

Washington Commanders defensive back Quan Martin saw a lot of progress to his game from his rookie to second season.

Martin was a second-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft out of Illinois, and while the new front office hasn't loved every pick from the past, he has been someone who has transitioned over smoothly.

Martin dealt with some shoulder injuries last season and underwent some procedures during the offseason, but Commanders head coach Dan Quinn is proud of his progress.

Washington Commanders safety Quan Martin against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium. | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Martin recovering well from injuries

“Going into the offseason after the procedures, we were just not going to miss one step of his healing of that all the way through," Quinn said.

"And so, he's making great progress on that, but I knew he was a pretty rare competitor. Then you find out like, man, this guy is even tougher than you think. To have them both done at the same time, they were a few weeks apart, but you can imagine some of the challenges that go along with that when you have two shoulders in the offseason and not able to use at the same time."

Quinn hopes that Martin will be able to grow even more going into his third season.

"Yeah, the physical attributes we've always seen, he probably has if not the highest vertical, but that type of explosiveness, the speed, how he can burst," Quinn said.

"And so, I thought moving from nickel to safety allowed some of that natural playmaking ability to track, to come off the red line and to use some of that speed from the safety spot. He's certainly fast enough to play nickel, but I felt like that was the right call to move him into that spot. And so, I think he found his home there and all the unique skills that he has to go and so I think like, man, he's going like this, now he has a whole season under his belt of playing safety and now I think he's really going to take off. It's the speed and the hitting ability and you can win with that.”

Martin is expected to participate in the team's mandatory minicamp next week at the team's practice facility.

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