Redskins Rookie Report: Post Lions Game

CB David Amerson:

-It was a rough day overall for the rookie, who did make a couple nice plays breaking up some slants. Amerson was clearly lost in coverage one time allowing a fairly big gain to the Lions. On at least two other occasions he simply got beat and allowed big gains by the Lions. All three of Amerson’s miscues led to big gains that eventually led to Lions points. It was another learning experience for the rookie and one that he needs to fix his miscues from quickly.

TE Jordan Reed:

-Reed had a really good day, catching 5 of the 6 passes targeted to him for 50 yards. He was open on a few other occasions that Griffin went in a different direction to. He also did that in less than a full game as he had to leave early due to a thigh injury. With how the Redskins were throwing to their underneath targets down the stretch he may have come close to 100 yards if he didn’t have to leave early. Reed also had a key block on Alfred Morris‘s TD run that helped spring him. He did miss a couple other blocks early on, but it’s good to see some improvements. His status for next week is up in the air, and is probably more likely than not going to miss the game.

RB Chris Thompson:

-Thompson once again opened as the return man, but was replaced later in the game by Josh Morgan. Thompson had two official punt returns of 7 and 5 yards, and two official kick-off returns (had a 3rd as well that was negated by a Lions penalty). His two official kick returns were for 26 and 19 yards, unfortunately despite the 45 yards in return yardage, they started from the 22 yard line and 19 yard line. His return that was negated was even worse a 16 yard return from the goal line. Thompson isn’t showing any sort of dynamic return ability on punts and kicks, and with him now not even returning every kick, it’s tough to justify the game day roster spot for him.

LB Brandon Jenkins:

-Jenkins was active, but only saw action on special teams. Partly this was due to the Redskins staying in a base front to stop the run, but part of this has to stem from Jenkins not making a bigger impact in the first two games. Hopefully the team will give him some looks going forward, but Jenkins has to be proving his worth on special teams right now.

S Bacarri Rambo:

-Rambo went down with an injury on the opening kick-off that was later determined to be a cramp, even if he didn’t cramp up, he wasn’t going to be part of the game plan that day. The Redskins substituted an extra corner in for him and went with just one safety, so they could keep their base personnel in to try to stop the run. Despite Rambo being the free safety and ideally the better cover guy, the Redskins felt they couldn’t trust him on defense. Mike Shanahan also didn’t speak too highly on him during his press conference the next day, suggesting that Rambo may not being giving the most effort, and warning that if that doesn’t change he will find himself inactive.