Chase Young Feels ‘Night And Day’ Difference Entering Contract Season

Entering a contract year, Chase Young feels more like himself following two injured-plagued years.

Chase Young became one of the young faces of the NFL after a breakout rookie campaign in 2020. He now looks to bring back that same steam in 2023, entering a contract year.

Young told reporters there's a "night and day" difference in how he feels compared to the end of last season. It's why he was content with the Washington Commanders not picking his fifth-year option and understands that the NFL is a business first. 

The former Ohio State star returned to action for the Commanders' three-day minicamp after missing more than a month of the voluntary workout sessions. This time of the offseason is dire for a player like Young, who hasn't played more than nine games a season over the previous two years. 

Young's decline is based more so on injury instead of attitude. A torn ACL in mid-Novemeber sidelined him for the remainder of the 2021 season. Setbacks last summer limited him to three games in 2022. 

Young's first step to returning to complete form is remaining healthy through the summer. The second? Remain humble and block the noise coming from the outside. 

"Since I came in the game, I was in the game to prove myself," Young said Tuesday. "So I'm not really thinking anything different. Going out there and playing my game."

Timing is essential to Young's recovery, so it's why he didn't try to rush back to action. Any setback likely ends his tenure with the Commanders and sends him into free agency with a long-term deal in the works. 

It's still early, but Young says he feels like his old self. After being selected No. 2 overall in 2020, the former Buckeye terrorized teams opposite Montez Sweat, recording 7.5 sacks, forcing four fumbles and recovering three. The year prior in Columbus, Young became a Heisman finalist after posting numbers in sacks (16.5), tackles for losses (21) and forced fumbles (7). 

"We just want to see him pick up where he left off," Commanders coach Ron Rivera said. "He was starting to play faster and faster and just love to see him get out there and really run around and kind of cut a loose and not be tentative. And that's probably the biggest thing for him."

Attention for Young is on bettering his body, not his bank account. He also isn't interested in discussing the past with reporters on sight, hoping his production in practice will do most of the talking. 

When asked to elaborate on the "night and day" differences, he declined, telling reporters to "watch the film from today's practice." 

"I felt pretty explosive out there," Young added. 

Washington's success under Rivera has come on the defensive side. The Commanders will start their ninth different quarterback to start Week 1 since 2009 once second-year option Sam Howell or veteran Jacoby Brissett wins the starting job. Last season even without a sack, Young helped Washington finish top 10 in total yards allowed (191.3 per game) and scoring (20.2 points per game). 

If Young returns to Pro Bowl form, Washington will have a problem on its hands. The franchise could elect to tag him while working on a long-term deal with Sweat or allow one of the two to walk in free agency. 

Rivera said he hopes that declining the fifth-year option for Young will serve as motivation. Young said after his struggles following Year 1, there's "a lot of things” he can use fuel to keep his engine running at full speed.

“All of them, they’re stuck in my back pocket,” Young said. 

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