Commanders Minicamp Notebook: Warren Sapp Visits, Secondary Making Strides

Notes and observations about the Washington defense following Day 2 of minicamp practices

ASHBURN, Va. - Washington Commanders coach Ron Rivera is happy with the development of his secondary, and someone from the linebacker group has a secret admirer. 

Rivera wasn't the only one smiling on Wednesday, however, as the always energetic Warren Sapp visited Washington's minicamp. 

And that's how we lead today's defensive notebook. 

GOLD JACKET ADVICE

When Warren Sapp speaks, you listen. And Washington's defensive linemen have been doing plenty of that this minicamp after the Hall of Famer was invited in by team leaders to bring some perspective and motivation to the practice field. 

"I know Warren," Rivera said when asked about Sapp's presence at practice. "Coached against and played against him actually and just know who he is and he's the right kind of guy. The really neat thing about watching it too, is there are some things that guys that have done it, it gives them a little something extra in terms of when, when you can get guys attention. I think that's been really good for us.”

No, Sapp isn't looking into entering the coaching ranks. Asked about it he said the hours are too long, but he enjoys dropping in on teams and sharing some of his experiences as well as getting to know the next generation of great defensive linemen. 

YOUNG SECONDARY CONTINUING TO GROW

At the post-practice press conference, Rivera was asked about second-year cornerback Benjamin St-Juste's growth. Particularly how he looked after suffering multiple concussions in 2021. 

While praising St-Juste's continuing development, he also broke off into a tangent about other secondary players with an emphasis on figuring out their buffalo nickel position. 

"One of the things that we really have looked at has been the different combinations of who can play the Buffalo nickel," Rivera said. "With Bobby [McCain] there as one of the two safeties, if we get into a mismatched situation and we're in Buffalo, we can drop Bobby down and take the safety and put the safety back into the post or into the half...The thing that we're real excited about has been the play of the young safeties. We have got [Jermey] Reaves and [Darrick Forrest], and Percy [Butler] have all done a really nice job."

SECRET CRUSH AT LINEBACKER

This offseason there's been a lot of talk surrounding the linebacker position. 

First, we expected the team to look at the free-agent market. They didn't. 

Then, we expected Washington to draft one, likely on Day 2 of the NFL Draft. They didn't. 

Finally, the post-draft free-agent market was a pool the Commanders would likely dip into for help at the position. Even Rivera himself said at one point they'd look at adding a player in the room. They haven't. 

What gives? Turns out, there's already a guy or two Rivera has his eyes on. 

“We’re not too worried about bringing a veteran guy in," Rivera said. "We want to really take a look that we've identified three of these young guys that we really like and probably only may only be able to keep one of them, maybe two, but we wanted to give them opportunities."

Of course, Rivera was asked to identify them and declined. 

Let the speculation, begin.

There's one more day of Washington Commanders minicamp left, and we'll be there to wrap up the week, so make sure you come back for that on Thursday.