Washington Commanders defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio has never been known to mince words and opinions, and he did just that on Thursday during a Week 1 assessment of Jamin Davis that was honest to its core.
The Commanders took Davis with the 19th pick overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. With a pick that high, the hope for any organization is that young talent can have some solid growth as a professional and make an impact on the season eventually. Unfortunately for Washington, that wasn’t the case with the middle linebacker. He was only allowed to start in half of the 16 games he played in, and while he had a solid number of tackles — 76 combined — he had major issues in pass coverage.
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In 2021, Davis was targeted by opposing quarterbacks in his limited action on 42 occasions, and they connected on a whopping 86% of their throws. While Davis did play well this summer, his problems covering slot receivers continued in the team’s Week 1 win against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was targeted five times and beaten in three instances. It should have been four if not for an overthrow by Trevor Lawrence on what should have been a touchdown pass to Travis Etienne.
Washington Commanders defensive coordinator expecting more from Jamin Davis in Week 2
That fact was brought up during Jack Del Rio’s weekly press conference when giving his brutally honest thoughts on Davis’ performance last week and trouble defending the Jaguars’ various receivers.
“Jamin was just OK in the game. I think he practiced better throughout the offseason. It was just a so-so performance. I think he’ll do better as the year goes on. Wouldn’t want to live in that look. [The Jaguars] got to it a time or two, and when we do get to it, we expect [the linebacker] to hold up. He didn’t hold up very well in that situation. Gave up some big completions.”
Commanders’ media members looked to press the team’s defensive coordinator further on Davis. While the former Jaguars head coach didn’t add any new points to his response, he still hammered home the hard fact that Davis did not get off to the sort of start he needed in his second season in Washington.
“I gave you guys plenty there. I mean, he’s gotta play better. He didn’t play very well last week. I know he expects to play better. He’ll be challenged to play better. You guys can make it whatever you wanna make it. I said what I had to say. I’m trying to be honest. I’m not burying a guy. I’m being fair. I think he’s worked really hard. I think he prepared to play better than he did in the opener. We expect him to play better going forward.”
The Commanders look to move to 2-0 on the road versus the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon.