Commanders HC Dan Quinn Discusses Recent Signing of Veteran Wide Receiver

Head coach Dan Quinn comments on the recent signing of Martavis Bryant.

Sep 16, 2018; Denver, CO, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Martavis Bryant (12) before the game against the Denver Broncos at Broncos Stadium at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports / Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Commanders brought in veteran wideout Martavis Bryant for a workout early this week and on Tuesday morning before practice, the team announced that they had signed Bryant. Before the Commanders took the field for Tuesday's practice, head coach Dan Quinn spoke to the media about signing the controversial wide receiver.

"Martavis has a really cool skill set. He's got size and length and the ability to use him in the red zone, so when you see him today, you'll definitely be, he'll stand out," Quinn said. "He looks like a linebacker playing wide out from a size standpoint. So, I got a chance to work with him previously when I was in Dallas. And, so I'm looking forward to having him here today.”

Quinn has familiarity with Bryant after Bryant spent last season with the Dallas Cowboys on their practice squad after having his indefinite suspension from the league lifted last November. Quinn continued his discussion on his new signee by describing what he learned about Bryant last season when the two were together in the big D.

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“You know, competing against him, he was on the practice squad, and so seeing the skills, seeing how we'd compete against him, oftentimes in practice we put him into a certain spot to simulate the size of a receiver, the speed of a receiver," said Quinn. "So, getting here now and starting with [LB] Bobby [Wagner] and getting the process started, we'll find out the things that he can do well and then how we feature them into it," said Quinn. "But he's got real size, like the catch radius, you know, throw it over here, he’s got length to throw it away from somebody on an option route. So those are the things, with somebody with that kind of size, whether it's the red zone for a guy who can get up to go or option routes where you can throw away from a defender knowing, ‘Hey, this is incomplete or my guy's getting it’.”

It appears that Bryant still possesses some of the unique traits that led to him being an up-and-comer in the league after being drafted in the fourth round of the NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers back in 2014, but now at 32 years of age, it will remain to be seen if Bryant will be able to stack up against today's NFL.

The last time Bryant played any meaningful minutes came back in 2018 with the Raiders, but that era of his career quickly came to a halt after Bryant was suspended from the league indefinitely for multiple violations of the NFL's banned substances policy - particularly marijuana.

Bryant has been trying to work his way back into the league and now will have another shot at doing so despite his "older" age. When posed whether he has any reservations regarding Bryant's six-year absence, HC Dan Quinn doesn't read too much into it.

“No, it wasn't up like reservations because the practice part is what you want to see now, how soon we can get him up to get him here in the preseason. That's what we'll find out today," the coach said. "But, going through practices with him last year and seeing him compete, he was ready to do that. We didn't elevate him from the team didn't, but he was certainly ready to do that.”

It's unknown what kind of role Bryant will have in the Commanders' offense if he receives one at all, but it's a good sign for him that a team and staff is willing to give him another opportunity at what has likely been his dream since a child. Bryant will have to prove himself to make the Commanders roster, but with question marks around the depth of the WR position group, Bryant could find himself back on an NFL roster if he can put everything together.

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