Commanders OTA Notebook: Chase Young, Montez Sweat Return

Playing fast, and emotionally charged, on Wednesday

ASHBURN, Va. -- Attention paid to Chase Young's attendance or absence from Washington Commanders' organized team activities (OTAs) is nothing new.

Last year, as a non-participant, the conversations about whether or not Young would develop in his second season started around this same time. 

A disappointing season ended by an ACL injury followed, and just about everyone has wondered aloud if things might have been different had Young been here the last offseason instead of doing other things while working out on his own. 

This year, Young is here. Well, now he is, after missing the first part of the OTA period and continuing his rehab in Denver, Colorado. But even that, as coach Ron Rivera has said on multiple occasions, is being done with constant communication between the player and the team. 

Arriving in Ashburn for this second week, Young isn't doing drills or practicing with his teammates, but he is present. Something felt as soon as he stepped onto the field Wednesday afternoon. 

While the third-year defensive end certainly stole the spotlight, defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio had his unit on the field preparing to go to battle with the best the NFL has to offer them in 2022. 

And while he didn't have his third-year pass rusher, he did have Montez Sweat back, manning his familiar spot on the end of the formation opposite of where Young usually lines up.

For the second-straight practice open to the media, his first-team got an interception off new starting quarterback Carson Wentz. 

This time, it was veteran cornerback Kendall Fuller snagging the ball for his team, while last week it was Corn Elder.

Once again, as has become custom in the NFL, the defense ran down to the end of the field, and defensive backs coach Chris Harris beat almost all of them down there despite having a 30-yard disadvantage to start. 

Phidarian Mathis continues to get valuable reps with the first-team defense as fellow defensive tackle Daron Payne continues to leave the field after individual drills in hopes of inspiring a contract extension with Washington. 

And Cole Holcomb continues to man the middle of the defense, looking even more comfortable in his improved vantage point than he did last week. 

What wasn't the same, was the linebacker playing next to him. 

Last week Jamin Davis almost exclusively got first-team reps with Holcomb. This week, there was a mixture of Davis and veteran linebacker David Mayo when that unit was on the field. 

Something that may be nothing, but it caught my eye, and I can assure you is a trend I'll be looking at next week when we come back for our third look at the Washington Commanders defense. 

Defenses aren't allowed to go full speed in these sessions, so it's hard to stand out sometimes. But they look fast, are communicating well, and are taking advantage of opportunities when they come for the most part.