Miami Dolphins running back Chris Brooks had just broken through the second level of the Washington Commanders' defense and was sprinting towards the end zone on what he thought would be a house call...until he wasn't.
Tyler Owens, who had seen Brooks run right past him a second before, was closing the 10-yard gap between him and the running back. His angle was a little bit off, so he dove at Brooks' feet. It was just enough to make Brooks stumble. Rather than go up 17-6 to start the second half, Miami was forced to settle for a field goal, giving Washington a chance to at least tie the score.
"It was cool to see Saturday night, him absolutely emptying the tank, both defensively and on special teams," head coach Dan Quinn said of Owens.
On a roster full of new faces and players trying to prove they belong in a new era of Commanders football, Owens has started to make a name for himself in training camp. The Commanders are less than a week away from needing to trim their roster from 90 players to 53, but with his combination of speed and physicality, Owens has made a strong case that he deserves to be one of the players to stick around.
"I'm always going to keep pushing myself and keep trying to get better," Owens said.
The Washington Commanders were back on the field Wednesday in preparation for their final preseason game. Check out the top photos from the afternoon.
There were hints at Owens' athleticism dating back to the NFL Scouting Combine back in March. He led all safety prospects with a 41-inch vertical, while his 12-foot-2 broad jump, which also led the position by 13 inches, was one inch off Byron Jones' unofficial world record set in 2015.
Despite those metrics, Owens went undrafted in April but signed to the Commanders as an undrafted free agent after a five-year college career with Texas and Texas Tech. It didn't take long for Owens to stand out, either, as he caught an interception off a tipped pass from Jayden Daniels in the first few days of training camp.
Owens put himself on the coaches' radars from there, and he has continued to show his value, particularly on special teams. Against the Jets, he was lined up as a gunner and breezed past the Jets player assigned to block him. He engaged with returner Malachi Corley almost immediately after he caught the punt, taking him down for no gain.
Two days later, Owens got a shoutout from Quinn during his pre-practice press conference.
"[He] released, he got singled, made a tackle," Quinn said. "I felt that kind of speed for him, he was somebody that jumped out to me."
The following week against the Dolphins, Owens showed off the other side of his skill set: his ability to send opponents flying with his physical hits. He knocked a Dolphins player back about five yards, which led to the returner tripping at the 25-yard line.
Asked what he thinks has stood out about him over the past month, Owens said. "My relentless effort."
"I am willing to play any position and just be useful in any way I can."
And Owens' plays on the field are backing that up. After his touchdown-saving tackle, he took down Brooks again, this time for a two-yard loss, shedding his blocker and waiting a second before shooting upfield.
"I'm a lot more comfortable," Owens said. "I know the defense a lot better, and I think I'm just learning more [of] what the offense is trying to do to me so I can make more plays."
Owens hasn't outright earned a roster spot yet -- the Commanders still need to wrap up their preseason finale against the New England Patriots -- but there is a clear path to be among the initial 53. Assuming that ends up being the case, it will be interesting to see what Washington does with the numbers game to keep him around. No matter what the team has to do next week, Owens has become a player that's hard to ignore with his 6-foot-2, 213-pound frame determination to make it in the professional ranks.
"I've really been proud of the effort that he's put forth when we were really saying, 'Hey, looking for competitive plays, looking for guys that were absolutely going for it,'" Quinn said.
Owens isn't saying outight that he deserves a roster spot, though; he's letting what he does on the field do all the talking.
"I ain't got nothing to say about that," Owens said with a smile when asked about people predicting him to be on the team. "But yeah, I hope so."
