Camp notes: Thoughts on Dyami Brown, Logan Thomas and Steven Sims originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
ASHBURN, Va. — After the Washington Football Team completed its stretching on Wednesday, everyone circled up for a pre-practice hype speech. The man who delivered it launched into a quick but loud tirade, imploring his guys to, among other things, “get it going!” Once the huddle broke, it became clear who was behind the inspiring (and, again, loud) words.
It was Tress Way.
Punters aren’t usually (or ever?) charged with firing a squad up, but Way sure got the job done. It was a Pro Bowl outburst from a Pro Bowl specialist.
Now that you know how the session began, let’s get you caught up on everything else that followed…
- Jonathan Allen returned to the field after being hampered by a hamstring issue the past couple of days. As for his fellow Allen, Kyle Allen, he has yet to take a snap here due to an ankle problem. Matt Ioannidis was once again working off to the side as he works back from a stint on the reserve/COVID-19 list, and Sammis Reyes was held out and was spotted with a wrap on his right knee.
- The running backs were going through an interesting drill in the early portion of individuals. One by one, they’d each high-step through a set of pads that were laid on the ground, and as they were doing so, coach Randy Jordan would hold up a number between one and five and make his players call out the digit. That way, he’d know if they were running with their eyes up as opposed to focusing on the obstacles at their feet.
- Dyami Brown’s college highlight tape features a lot of clips of him running straight.down.the.sideline for scores, which is simultaneously fun to watch but also brings up the question of what other routes he can execute. Well, on Wednesday, he went one-on-one with Benjamin St-Juste and, well, you can judge for yourself how he looked doing something other than a fly pattern:
- Here’s a name that’s never been written on this website before, and may never be written again, but it’s one that’s deserving of recognition: Torry McTyer. McTyer is an undrafted corner who broke into the NFL in 2017 with the Dolphins. He’s also had brief tenures with the Chiefs and Bengals, and his dad, Tim, made it to the league, too. Torry joined Washington on a reserves/future contract in January, and he’s been super involved in both 1-on-1s and 11-on-11s in terms of pass breakups and tight coverage. Now, he’s doing that against backups and third-stringers, but he’s consistently standing out regardless. Perhaps he can pop in the preseason, and if he does, remember who warned you.
- Up front on the offensive line, both Sam Cosmi and Cornelius Lucas rotated in a bit at left tackle in 9-on-9 action. Charles Leno Jr. assumed his starting spot back in 11-on-11s, but both Cosmi and Lucas have past experience there, so it makes sense for coaches to let them sharpen those skills every so often.
- Logan Thomas is so damn reliable, which is a wild sentence to put down onto virtual paper considering that, last year, he was still such a project. On Wednesday, he caught everything, as per usual, and many of those grabs came well past the first-down markers. His counting stats will likely go down due to the influx of talent around him, but Thomas will be an enormous factor in the red zone and also be a focal point earlier in drives. He’s just an incredibly solid tight end.
- Steven Sims’ 2020 was frustrating because he didn’t manage to build off a surprising 2019. He reminded those in attendance on Wednesday of his ability, though, when he hauled in a middle slant from Taylor Heinicke, made one hard juke on a safety and then raced 50-some yards to the end zone. Sims’ hands aren’t always the most dependable, and there’s always an injury concern with someone of his size, but when he’s right, he can be electric. We’ll just have to see if he can regain this staff’s trust after a poor campaign. When chatting with the media, Sims explained he feels like he has “two good wheels,” and that’s a difference for him compared to last season.
- Jamin Davis is business-like and a part of a loaded defense, and those are a pair of reasons why he may not get the attention of a typical first-rounder. That said, he did show off his speed on a late-practice blitz, where he started in the middle then sprinted around the right end to get to Fitzpatrick. It would’ve gone down as a sack, and it felt like the type of play he’ll make a handful of times as a rookie.
