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Commanders' Mike Sainristil echoes sentiment of defensive success
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- Commanders' Mike Sainristil echoes sentiment of defensive success
Commanders' Mike Sainristil echoes sentiment of defensive success
Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters spent much of the offseason making this defense younger and faster. During the 2025 season, the Commanders' defense was a massive sore spot, on full display after Jayden Daniels and the offense could no longer carry the team. That gaping wound had to be healed, and Peters hit free agency hard.
Peters made a ton of changes to the defense, letting veterans like Bobby Wagner and Von Miller hit free agency so he could bring in guys like Leo Chenal and K'Lavon Chaisson. Plus, they landed Sonny Styles in the draft and retained a few key players, too. The sheer number of new faces on the roster raised questions about whether new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones could unite the players in time for the season.
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After the Commanders dispatched the Miami Dolphins , many questions were answered, but not all. Third-year cornerback Mike Sainristil was asked about Jones' defense and how it's impacting the secondary after practice on Tuesday.
"I think we're doing a great job of just picking it up," Sainristill says. "Taking the coaching that we're getting and really taking it on ourselves, amongst players, of how to make it our own. I think the way this defense is built is based on how well the individuals work together. For the DBs, I always say the defense goes as far as we go. And that's just simply saying, at the end of the day, we're always gonna be the last line of defense. Whether it's a run play or a pass play, it's gonna come down to us. Because if it breaks through, we're the guys back there. We're the guys that's gonna chase it down.
"Pass plays, we're the ones defending those passes. Deep balls, it falls on us. So I think if we're always on our best, everyone's gonna be at their best. But this is also a defense that rush and coverage works together. I like where we're at right now; there's so much more to build off of. It was good to see this defense in a game setting this past weekend against Miami, even though everyone didn't play. It just goes to show where we can take this thing, and I think the future is very bright for us."
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Sainristil echoes what many other defensive players are saying. Everyone is working hard, Jones is doing well in his first NFL stint as defensive coordinator (he was the DC at LSU in 2021), and the players have built the trust needed to succeed as a unit. Even if they are still a work in progress behind closed doors, the fact that everyone is saying similar things shows that they want to be successful and want to get on the same page.
The desire for success is 80% of the battle, with the other 20% encompassing trust, talent, and coaching. They've already achieved a large portion of what needed to be done this offseason, so things can only continue to improve from here.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders' Mike Sainristil echoes sentiment of defensive success
