Washington Commanders New-Look Defensive End Group 'Did Some Nice Things'
FOXBORO, Ma. -- The Washington Commanders drew a lot of attention leading up to their Week 9 20-17 win over the New England Patriots with the trades of defensive ends Montez Sweat and Chase Young stealing headlines.
Following those moves, four Commanders surfaced as players to watch moving forward: Defensive ends James Smith-Williams, Casey Toohill, KJ Henry, and Andre Jones Jr.
After one game I don't think we can call this an addition-by-subtraction equation as some thought it would be, but there wasn't a noticeable drop-off from Washington's defensive end positions either.
And the team came out of it looking pretty comfortable with what they have moving forward.
"I thought they went out and played with a lot of energy, they did some good things, but (there are) some things that obviously they're going to have to clean up and get better with," coach Ron Rivera said of his group. "I thought the guys we tried to rotate in did some nice things."
New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (10) throws the ball away while Washington Commanders defensive end James Smith-Williams (96) defends during the first half at Gillette Stadium.
Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
One of those young guys who rotated in was Henry, the fifth-round rookie who hasn't seen the field much in his NFL career outside of preseason.
"I didn't get drafted to not play," Henry joked in the locker room after the game. "I've been ready to go, just waiting my turn. I know it's a business and we have a lot of great defensive linemen in our room, so just trying to be ready when my name (is) called."
While Henry continues to wait with anticipation for his name to get called for on-field action, the new starters Smith-Williams and Toohill are more veteran players who know what the job entails and how to get it done.
And they've earned the trust of their coaches over the years who helped provide the foundation for making this week's trades with confidence.
"Every year they've gotten better," Washington defensive line coach Jeff Zgonina said about Smith-Williams and Toohill. "They've corrected little things here and there to be better football players and they're both very smart football players and so we're relying (on) them."
The foursome combined to make just four tackles, but prevented Patriots quarterback Mac Jones from finding room to run on the edges and also contained the opposing run game for much of the night.
While it may not leap off the stat page, it's important work that helped the Commanders weather a storm in the middle of Week 9 and come away with their fourth win of the season.
