Commanders WR Jahan Dotson Experiencing Plenty of Firsts in NFL

From losing to a hamstring injury, Washington Commanders receiver Jahan Dotson is having some highs and lows in his first NFL season.

ASHBURN, Va. -- It didn't take long for Washington Commanders receiver Jahan Dotson to experience a lot of firsts that most rookies look forward to. 

His first catch was also his first touchdown, and he won Rookie of the Week after Washington beat the Jacksonville Jaguars to start the season 1-0. 

That win was also Dotson's first multi-touchdown game of his NFL career. 

Since then, however, the firsts have been mostly negative, including his first injury forcing him to miss a game for the first time.

And the result was a 21-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans. 

"This is my first time not playing in a game in about seven years, since my junior year of high school," Dotson said on Monday. "It was definitely a weird feeling, just being there and not being able to participate."

Dotson missed the game because of a hamstring injury. 

And it's the first time he's missed a game because of injury since his junior year of high school. 

"I've never really dealt with a hamstring injury," he said. "It is tricky just because sometimes you feel like you can run through a wall, but other times it can pull up on you.

I couldn't really put a timetable on it right now," Dotson continued. "Just working it day by day making sure that when I come back that I'm 100 percent and (there are) no lingering injuries...that I'm ready to play for the rest of the season."

Dotson first injured his hamstring making his last catch against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 4. 

Initially, he thought it was a cramp. But when he went back in to run a corner route on the next drive, he says it pulled up again, and that was it.

Like us, Dotson was forced to watch his team face the Titans, and lose on an interception from the two-yard line with just seconds remaining in the game. 

"Being on the sidelines, it was very tough. I wish I could've been out there just to contribute. It was a very close game, maybe I could've (done) something to swing it," Dotson said. "If I was in there I could've probably contributed. Whether it was a block I could've picked up, the route - I could've scored a touchdown, anything to contribute to the team winning...that's what I want to do and I can't really do that from the sidelines."

Dotson's Penn State Nittany Lions team started the 2020 college football season with five-straight losses. 

But they won their final four games of the year and started 2021 by winning their first five.

Bottom line, losing isn't a routine part of Dotson's football life, and he isn't the only one.

"A lot of these guys in this locker room come from winning college football programs," he said. "You just got to battle back. At the end of the day, all we got is these guys in this locker room. We just gotta trust in each other and make sure on Thursday that we're ready."

We don't know yet if Dotson will be cleared to play against the Chicago Bears this Thursday night. 

Right now, he's doing everything the trainers and coaches ask of him and putting their faith in them. 

Faith alone won't get Dotson back on the field where he wants to be as he and the Commanders both look to put their losing ways behind them, and get back in the win column in Week 6.

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