Commanders' Ron Rivera Praises Terry McLaurin 'Leadership' as Practice Gets Chippy
Anyone will tell you that the grind of training camp can take its toll, and we have seen the "chirpiness" of Dallas Cowboys camp, well now it's the Washington Commanders' turn with frustrations coming to the surface.
When third-year corner Benjamin St-Juste broke up a pass intended for tight end Cole Turner, St-Juste didn't help his teammate up, at which point receiver Terry McLaurin made his feelings known and yelled, "Help your teammate!."
Head coach Ron Rivera faced the media after practice and loved what he saw from McLaurin.
“That's leadership right there," Rivera said. "[DE] Chase Young said it best. He said, well, when Terry starts talking, you know, it's serious. And Terry was right, this is about your teammates, you got to be careful. You got to take care of your teammates and, you know, you hit 'em great and, you know, but let's don't go past that. Let's don't go into the extracurricular stuff, and that's what Terry's point was more than anything else.”
With the defense largely dominating practice and not being shy about letting it be known, naturally, the offense is going to get a little irked.
Tensions often boil over in training camp, so these interactions are nothing new to either player and for St-Juste, he understands why McLaurin gave him a talking-to.
“I never take none of that personal," he said. "It's not personal to any of my teammates. I'm just playing. I'm in the middle of the fire and I just made a play and all that stuff. Terry's a good captain, a good veteran to come over and say, we don't usually do that to our own teammate. I respect that.
"That's something to look forward to and just to be careful with. But at the same time, that's all the same fire that brings this team together and creates that competitive aspect that we're going to need throughout the season.”
Iron sharpens iron, and for the Commanders, it has been the defense which has shown out thus far in training camp. Jack Del Rio's unit was ranked seventh for points allowed last season (20.2 per game), and with the addition of a healthy Chase Young, the unit has gotten better.
Which is likely why the defense isn't shy about letting it be known...but there is a line that shouldn't be crossed, and McLaurin was on hand to make sure the whole roster knows it.
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