It's clear by now that Eric Bieniemy has a high standard for his players, and he gives them constant reminders that they must perform up to his expectations if they hope to get on the field.
The latest admonishment was directed not at one player, but the entire starting unit. He barked at the group to get off the field after a botched play, which ended with a fumbled snap, during team drills. That's been Bieniemy's method of operation this offseason; if a player doesn't execute the way he wants, someone else will take their place.
His players love his style.
"It's awesome to have someone who holds you to such a high standard," Jahan Dotson said after practice. "He only wants success out of you. That's all he wants to see. He wants to see you succeed at all times."
Bieniemy has given Dotson multiple coaching points this offseason. He reminded the receivers not to "fall asleep" on a certain play during the installation period of practice because the ball could end up going his way. Last week, Bieniemy chastised Dotson for dropping a pass, and Dotson responded by making every catch for the rest of practice.
The margin for error is small with Bieniemy as a coordinator, but that's only because he wants to push his players to achieve more.
"I ran into him yesterday after meetings, and he said, 'You have so much potential, and I'm gonna make sure I get it out of you,'" Dotson said. "That's what you want in someone."
Washington's offense will need to improve if it hopes to compete for the postseason in 2023. The team was 20th in yards, 24th in points and 21st in passing yards. In order to do that, the players must adhere to Bieniemy's styles and standards.
They have no problem with that.
"He's holding us accountable," Charles Leno said. "That's the No. 1 thing you want as a player … We want to be great."
Here are some other observations from today's practice.
-- Montez Sweat was putting the pressure on Sam Howell during blitz and team periods today. On the second play of the series, Sweat chased Howell as he scrambled to his left before hitting Logan Thomas for a completion. Later on in the practice, Howell avoided a leaping Sweat to dump off a pass to Antonio Gibson, earning some praise from Sweat.
Sweat finally got to Howell on the second to last play of the day for the starter. He swatted Howell's pass back at him, and the defensive end made sure to let Howell know about it.
-- A couple other defensive linemen were able to get home on some pressure during blitz drills. Efe Obada batted down a pass from Jacoby Brissett, and Andre Jones was able to tip a pass from Brissett before it was ultimately caught by Jonathan Williams.
-- Dax Milne is starting to make a habit of making unlikely catches. Troy Apke couldn't hold onto what would have been an interception, causing the ball to fly in the air. Milne was in the right spot as it plummeted back to the ground, securing what ended up being a decent gain.
-- Speaking of impressive catches, Brian Robinson and Thomas both had some of the better plays of the day. Robinson made a one-handed grab from Howell on a screen and navigated through defenders, earning some positive words from Bieniemy. As for Thomas, the tight end fought through contact with Benjamin St-Juste to come down with the pass from Howell.
-- There was one interception today, and it came from Jeremy Reaves. Howell tried to give Mitchell Tinsley a shot on a play, although there were three defensive backs around the receiver. The ball was overthrown, and Reaves plucked it out of the air before running out of bounds.
-- Chase Young looked good in his first practice with the team, and that continued on Wednesday. During team drills, Young got past Cornelius Lucas and appeared to tap Brissett on the shoulder to signify that he would have gotten a sack on the play.
-- There were some flashes from the depth at defensive end today as well. Will Bradley-King used his speed to get around Trent Scott during blitz drills and put pressure on Brissett before the quarterback was allowed to complete a pass to Jalen Sample.
