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Treylon Burks ready for opportunity to compete
Burks was waived by Tennessee on Oct. 7 after suffering a fractured collarbone while making a diving, one-handed catch at training camp in July.
The search for his next NFL team started sooner than he had thought, and Burks didn’t know what to expect when he arrived at BigBear.ai Performance Center for a workout on Oct. 15. Although visiting with the Commanders wasn’t his first workout, the free agent experience marked the first time Burks was trying out for an NFL team since he had participated in the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine as a draft prospect.
“It was definitely different, just never going through that type of process before, but I believed in my abilities and God, and it went well,” Burks said.
Burks put his best foot forward in every workout he attended. He ultimately ended up with a couple offers from NFL teams, and in choosing his next team, Burks prioritized feeling appreciated by the organization. No matter where he went, Burks wanted a team to want him as much as he wanted them.
Burks felt valued by the Commanders during his visit and ultimately decided to sign with Washington’s practice squad because he felt they had chosen him just as he had chosen them.
Burks’ signing with the Commanders comes at a time the team is experiencing tumult at the wide receiver position. Veteran Noah Brown was placed on Injured Reserve with a groin injury on Oct. 15, while Terry McLaurin has missed four games with a quad injury and Deebo Samuel Sr. missed Week 6 with a heel injury.
Since arriving in Washington, Burks has been working hard to learn the Commanders’ offensive system. His physicality and size make him a good fit for offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury’s scheme. Burks finds the offense to be like the one he ran in college at Arkansas and is excited and grateful for the opportunity to work in a system that shows off his skillset.
Riggo’s Rag
Commanders’ path to saving their season starts and ends with Jayden Daniels
There’s still that lingering feeling that, if Jayden Daniels is on the field, the Commanders have a shot.
The second-year quarterback hasn’t had the linear rise some expected following a sensational rookie campaign that won him NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. Injuries have limited him, and other varying outliers have minimized his impact.
But his mere presence on the field transforms the energy of the roster — the rhythm, the confidence, the execution. The former LSU phenom’s ability to mask offensive inefficiencies is the great equalizer. For all of Washington’s holes — protection breakdowns, inconsistent weapons, and a running game that’s been up and down — Daniels gives them a chance to compete.
The difference between a Commanders offense led by Daniels and one without him isn’t just visible — it’s visceral. The entire tempo of the unit changes when he’s under center. He’s decisive, fearless, and has that rare improvisational instinct that can turn broken plays into game-defining moments.
Inside the pocket, Daniels continues to mature as a processor. He’s learning to pick apart zone looks, manipulate defenders with his eyes, and find intermediate windows with consistency.
Despite his exuberant personality, there’s a calmness to his game, a quiet confidence that’s palpable when he’s operating the offense. Then there’s the other part — the chaos, the creativity, the dynamism that makes him special.
When he breaks containment, the defense panics. His speed isn’t just a luxury; it’s a weapon that demands a spy, compresses coverage, and forces defensive coordinators to play honestly. It’s the kind of dual-threat gravity that makes everyone around him better. Receivers get more space to separate. Tight ends find soft zones. The running game opens up.
A to Z Sports
The Commanders have missed Will Harris’ leadership
Harris was a very underrated free agency signing heading into the season, but he turned out to be a valuable piece of the defense when it came to coverage and communication on the backend. It’s something that the secondary has struggled with since Harris went down, and his presence has been missed. Defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. was asked about communication last week, and Harris was the one player he brought up.
“You know, it’s been a little bit like the play,” Whitt Jr. said. “It’s been, you know, certain guys have been really good communicators, some haven’t. You know, nobody really talks about the loss of [S] Will Harris, who was a really good communicator, but that’s one reason that we will, you know, pare some things back to eliminate some communications that we might have in reduction play. So, it’s been like we played. It’s not been good enough, and how we’ve played hasn’t been good enough. So, we’ve been really diligent in looking at every aspect of it, and we have to get it turned.”
Commanders.com
Quick Hits | Commanders vs. Seahawks
Offense
Season Averages: Rushing (106.1 YPG); Passing (244.4 YPG), Total (350.6 YPG), Scoring (27.6 PPG)
Season Rankings: Rushing (21st), Passing (8th), Total (11th), Scoring (6th)
The Seahawks enter Week 9 in the top 5 of the NFL in scoring (5th – 27.6 PPG). Seattle hasn’t had a top-5 scoring offense since 2015, when it finished 4th.
The Seahawks are also 11th in total yards (350.6 YPG). Seattle hasn’t finished that high in NFL rankings in total yards since 2019 (8th).
Seattle is coming off its second-lowest yardage output of the season in Week 7 vs. the Texans (316 total yards). Its season low is 230 yards back in its Week 1 loss to the 49ers.
QB Sam Darnold leads the NFL in yards per pass attempt this season (9.1). He also ranks in the top 10 of the league in passing yards (1,754 – 10th) and passer rating (109.2 – 7th).
Since the start of last season, Darnold’s teams are 19-5 in games he starts , and he has thrown 47 TD passes since the start of last season.
The only other QBs in the league with 40 or more TD passes and five or fewer losses since the start of last season are Patrick Mahomes (saw him last week) and Jared Goff (will see him next week).
Darnold leads the NFL in passer rating on pass attempts of 10 or more air yards (137.2), according to NFL’s Next Generation Stats.
WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba is having the best season of his career. He leads the NFL in receiving yards (819), receiving yards per game (117.0) and receptions of 20+ yards (14).
The 14 receptions of 20+ yards by Smith-Njigba match his total for all of last season
Smith-Njigba is trying to become the first player to average 100+ receiving YPG and 16 or more yards per reception since Julio Jones did it in 2016.
Smith-Njigba has accounted for 46.3% of Seattle’s receiving yards, the highest percentage of any player in the NFL.
With at least 75 receiving yards in Week 9, Smith-Njigba can join Adam Thielen (2018), Antonio Brown (2014), & Michael Irvin (1995) as only players since 1985 w/ 75+ rec yds in the first his eight games.
Smith-Njigba is already the youngest player with 75+ rec yds in each of his first 7 games in a season
Mistakes have been a problem for Seattle this season. It is tied for the second-most turnovers this season with 12, with only the Titans (13) having more. (Note: six other teams also have 12 turnovers).
In their Week 7 win over Houston, the Seahawks had four turnovers, the first time they won a game with four or more turnovers in nearly six seasons (Week 10, Nov. 11, 2019 at San Francisco).
Defense
Season Averages: Rushing (75.7 YPG); Passing (230.1 YPG), Total (305.9 YPG); Scoring (19.4)
Season Rankings: Rushing (1st), Passing (23rd), Total (10th), Scoring (7th)
Seattle ranks in the top 10 in both scoring defense (7th) and total defense (10th). The last time they ranked in the top 10 in both categories was 2016 (3rd in scoring defense, 5th in total defense).
The leader of the Seahawks’ defense that season? Bobby Wagner, who led the NFL with 167 tackles.
Seattle has held six of seven opponents to 20 points or less. The only exception came in Week 5, when Tampa Bay scored 38 in a 38-35 win over the Seahawks.
The last time the Seahawks allowed 20 or fewer points in six of their first seven games was 2012.
The Seahawks have held five of their last six opponents under 300 total yards, the only exception coming in that Week 5 loss to the Bucs (season-high 426 yards allowed).
Seattle is one of two teams (Patriots the other) that has four players with more than 20 pressures this season.
Uchenna Nwosu (25), Byron Murphy II (25), DeMarcus Lawrence (22) and Boye Mafe (21)
The Seahawks have the league’s No. 1 rush defense, allowing just over 75 rushing yards a game (75.7).
Seattle is also leading the league in yards allowed per rush attempt (3.3) and rushing touchdowns allowed (2 – tied with the Rams).
Only one opponent has rushed for 100 or more yards this season: 49ers in Week 1 (119)
So since Week 1, Seattle has allowed just 411 rushing yards total over its last 7 games (68.5 rush YPG allowed)
The Seahawks have eight takeaways this season, but seven of the eight came in the first four weeks of the season. Over their last three games, the Seahawks have forced just one turnover.
Commanders.com
’I’ll wear it with pride’: Players feel excitement, significance of Super Bowl Era uniforms
A relic of Daron Payne’s past will make its way off the shelf and onto the field this Sunday for the Washington Commanders’ Week 9 matchup at Northwest Stadium.
“I’ve still got the throwback helmet at home, and I see it every day, so it’s cool to have it back,” the veteran defensive tackle said. “The stripes back on the pants; old school with the yellow number and stuff. I feel like it’s nice.”
Washington will debut its Super Bowl Era uniforms, a modern take on an iconic look from one of the NFL’s most dominant runs ever, on Sunday Night Football against the Seattle Seahawks. The chance to rock the uniform, which pays homage to legends and conjures up nostalgia for fans, is one the players are especially excited for.
Jeremy Reaves is also a member of that small cohort that was around to wear the old brand. The safety and special teamer recognizes that there’s “a lot of pride” and “a lot of heritage” stitched into the look the players will don on Sunday. It evokes some of the greatest to ever be involved with sport like Doug Williams, the Hogs and Joe Gibbs, to name just a few.
“It’ll be exciting,” Reaves said. “I know they [the fans] have been waiting for these forever, so it’ll be an electric atmosphere, and I’m looking forward to it.”
The Week 9 Washington fit has a classic feel and gives a nod to arguably one of the most recognizable uniform combinations in league history. Perhaps because of that, wearing these isn’t just meaningful for players who have been with the franchise for years. Bobby Wagner, for example, can easily pull up a memory of his first time seeing the burgundy helmet with the thick white and gold stripe.
“I remember the first time I’ve seen a helmet like that was Sean Taylor, watching it, thinking it was cool,” Wagner said. “Never thought that I’d be able to wear that helmet, so I’ll wear it with pride for sure.”
Podcasts & videos
HC Dan Quinn Previews Seattle Seahawks vs. Washington Commanders | The Gameplan | NFL
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Bleeding Green Nation
Eagles-Ravens trade: Philadelphia acquires CB Jaire Alexander
The Eagles are working hard ahead of the NFL trade deadline, and among some of the roster decisions they’re making, they’ve placed veteran safety Marcus Epps and OLB Azeez Olujai on the injured reserve list — moves they announced while also dropping the news of the Jaire Alexander trade.
Epps was placed on IR Saturday with an undisclosed injury after re-joining the team just ahead of the regular season. The safety was elevated from the practice squad the first three games, and was then added to the active roster. He predominantly took special teams snaps (119) and didn’t have many opportunities on defense (15 snaps).
As for Ojulari, the OLB suffered a hamstring injury in Week 7 against the Vikings, and must need more time to heal. The edge rush depth has taken a lot of hits, with Ojulari being the most recent, but they’re hopeful to get Nolan Smith back from IR soon, and Brandon Graham should be sneaking into the rotation in Week 10.
Big Blue View
Giants roster moves: New York QB Jaxson Dart gets a new target
The Giants are elevating wide receiver Ray Ray McCloud for Sunday’s game. The Giants signed the 29-year-old McCloud to their practice last week, just one day after he was released by the Atlanta Falcons.
McCloud has 158 career receptions in 98 regular-season games. He had a career-best 62 receptions for Atlanta last season.
The Giants had elevated wide receiver Lil’Jordan Humphrey from the practice squad for the last three games. Humphrey is out of elevations and would have to be added to the 53-man roster.
No fine for Eagles’ player who injured Cam Skattebo
This news won’t be received well in the Giants’ fan base
The NFL apparently does not believe the tackle that dislocated Cam Skattebo’s ankle and landed him on injured reserve for the rest of the season was an outlawed “hip-drop” tackle. We know that because Zack Baun, the Philadelphia Eagles’ linebacker who dragged Skattebo down last Sunday and ended his season, is not being fined.
The only fines from that game went to Rakeem Nunez-Roches (23,816) for unnecessary roughness (use of helmet) and $5,790 to Jeremiah Trotter unnecessary roughness (blindside block).
Here is the Skattebo-Baun play:
Skattebo has surgery for an open dislocation and associated injuries to and around the ankle on Sunday night in Philadelphia.
Cardinals to start Jacoby Brissett at QB for 3rd straight
Arizona Cardinals backup quarterback Jacoby Brissett will start a third straight game Monday night against the Dallas Cowboys, coach Jonathan Gannon said Saturday.
Gannon said starting quarterback Kyler Murray’s foot injury isn’t healthy enough for Murray to get the start, though Gannon added that Arizona will see over the next 48 hours if Murray could have a role on game day.
Brissett has been efficient in his two starts this season despite not winning either game.
He is averaging 299.5 passing yards per game and 7.5 passing yards per attempt and has thrown four touchdowns against one interception in the past two games, both of which Arizona has lost by four points each.
Despite his strong numbers, Brissett said he hasn’t played “good enough to win.”
Blogging the Boys
Why Jerry Jones remarks about not fixing the Cowboys defense is no reason to get worked up
The Cowboys are an adventure. For as long as I have been alive, that’s never not been true. Everything about them garners attention, and it’s been exponentially exacerbated since Jerry Jones bought the team in 1989. And while it’s easy to fall into this belief that the Cowboys have an incompetent front office that will never amount to anything because they are led by an inept, power-hungry, wealthy old man, we should stop and think about this a little bit before drawing conclusions.
Jerry’s recent comments where he indicates he is more concerned about the potential gains of $100 billion worth of new oil than he is about fixing the Cowboys’ defenseare pretty incriminating. And it’s a slap in the face to Cowboys’ fans who have to sit and watch their red carpet defense struggle week after week. Understandably, people are upset about this, but there are other elements here that should be taken into account before getting too out of sorts about this.
Upcoming opponent
Sources: Seahawks field trade calls on Boye Mafe, Riq Woolen
Teams have inquired to the Seattle Seahawks about the availability of standout linebacker Boye Mafe and former Pro Bowl cornerback Riq Woolen, sources told ESPN on Saturday.
Seattle hasn’t wanted to trade Mafe or Woolen, according to sources, but it will be interesting to see how aggressive another team might be ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline.
The Seahawks have some big contracts to pay in their future -- wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, offensive tackle Charles Cross and cornerback Devon Witherspoon -- and they can’t afford to pay everyone.
Mafe, who turns 27 later this month, recorded 15 sacks the past two seasons, but he enters Sunday with zero sacks and only one tackle for loss in seven games this year. The 2022 second-round draft selection is set to become a free agent after this season.
Woolen also was drafted in 2022 by Seattle -- in the sixth round -- and has struggled this season after a great start to his career. He tied for the league lead with six interceptions as a rookie but has no interceptions and three passes defensed this season. Woolen’s rookie deal also is set to expire after this season.
NFL league links
Dolphins ‘highly unlikely’ to trade Jaylen Waddle, source says
The Dolphins are willing to listen to offers on any of their players ahead of Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline, but it is -- in the words of one well-placed source -- “highly unlikely” that Miami will trade wide receiver Jaylen Waddle.
The Dolphins are expected to trade away at least one of their pass rushers, according to league sources, but a trade involving Waddle would be exceedingly difficult to pull off for a variety of reasons.
For starters, the Dolphins are expected to ask for -- in the words of a source -- “a 1-plus” in any potential trade for Waddle, meaning they believe they would have to receive a first-round draft pick plus other compensation.
Even though Waddle might be the wide receiver who has drawn the most interest around the league ahead of the deadline, sources do not expect that a team will be willing to part with a first-round pick along with other compensation, even as attractive as Waddle is to multiple teams.
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