Nobody wants to overreact because the Washington Commanders are struggling in preseason, but it's difficult to ignore the warning signs when an All-Pro player is the one reacting.
Safety and special teams demon Jeremy Reaves sounded the alarm bells after his team endured a nightmare joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens. Reaves bluntly told reporters, including 7News DC's Scott Abraham, on Wednesday, August 26, "how we started, that's how you win five games. We gotta be way better."
The reference to last season's 5-12 record was stinging, but Reaves pulled no punches about the Commanders facing similar problems this year if they don't improve.
He warned, "The season is a couple of weeks away. And we start off in the division! Like I said, the margin of error is very slim, and if you're not on top of it now, you can't wait 'till you're in the fire to realize it's hot."
The Ravens turned up the heat on the Commanders by exposing some fatal flaws on both sides of the ball. Those flaws included an injury-hit offensive line , but there's a potential silver lining from the rough session for the Commanders' most important player.
Reaves' strong words summed up a day when the Commanders' offense was brutally called out as "inoperable." Yet, Reaves also made sure Washington's defense didn't escape blame.
The 29-year-old admitted the unit must "communicate at a high level. They say 'play the play before it happens' all the time, right? See what's happening before, and that's also me. I'm a prominent communicator, I have to be better too."
Reaves knows this is an important moment for him, after the Commanders released a 17-game starter at his position. That move elevated Reaves within an already strong competition for reps at free safety with Quan Martin .
The latter had been showing improvement as part of a new-look defense designed by first-year play-caller Daronte Jones to generate more pressure in creative ways .
Reaves and Co. were earning good reviews this offseason, but the narrative changed against the Ravens. Mostly because the Commanders' "Defense didn't create much pressure around Lamar, who often has his choice of receivers," per Last Man Standig writer and host Ben Standig .
The Commanders weren't helped by edge-rushers Odafe Oweh and K'Lavon Chaisson still being sidelined . It meant there was a lack of pressure on Ravens' two-time NFL MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson .
While Jackson frequently enjoyed throwing from a clean pocket, Commanders' signal-caller Jayden Daniels had no such luxury. Instead, he directed an offense that endured "Some issues with snaps; a false start; one explosive (to McLaurin); run game struggled. Just a rough showing," according to ESPN's John Keim .
The Commanders' struggles were summed up by what The Washington Post's Tashan Reed called "The lowlight: Matt Gulbin had an errant snap, Jayden Daniels recovered it and threw it right to Kyle Hamilton ."
Issues in protection were inevitable with center Nick Allegretti and Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil both injured. The way the Ravens harassed Daniels on almost every pass attempt was ominous, but at least he gained valuable knowledge from the session.
Learning lessons the hard way can be good for the Commanders. Particularly when Daniels got to test himself against the elaborate schemes of a defensive guru like Ravens' rookie head coach Jesse Minter.
Daniels also saw firsthand how Jackson deals with pressure. Getting to pick the brain of an elite QB with similar dual-threat skills can only make Daniels better.
Finding ways to get better along both sides of the trenches is the immediate priority for those around Daniels. The process will start with masking some of the injury woes on each line.
Doing so will not only help Daniels stay clean in the pocket. It can also ensure Reaves and others on the back end of the defense see plays more clearly.
Those things are how the Commanders avoid a repeat of last season's five-win finish.
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