Commanders safety Bobby McCain visited with the press Wednesday, and he was certainly preaching better communication.
McCain relayed communication has certainly been coached. “It’s just the point of emphasis we made from the start of camp. As long as we are all on the same page, not too many people can beat us athletically. So understanding that it’s got to be all across the back end. Everybody’s got to communicate.”
When asked how that is different from 2021, the seven-year veteran responded, “Teams lose more games than they win in this league and that one thing starts with communication, especially in the back seven, because if you’re not on the same page, you have no chance.”
The former Miami Dolphin believes Kansas City will be a good test, Saturday. “It’ll definitely be good for us. We know what kind of offensive firepower they have. So having a good strong defensive stand will be nice.”
Fromm the quarterback's hands to Bobby McCain's 💥
📺 » FOX #WASvsNYG pic.twitter.com/aT2N1C4kbV
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) January 9, 2022
A fifth-round draft choice (145) in 2015, McCain is impressed with some of the younger players developing in the secondary. “One thing I see out of Percy (Butler) and I told him from the first day, you’ll be in this league a long time, as long as you don’t make the same mistakes twice. And he really hasn’t made the same mistake twice. He’s playing a lot faster. The game’s slowing down to him, and he’s understanding the defense really well.”
The former Memphis Tiger believes the Commanders are having a good training camp and will need to “Build off of it and start fast. Understand that just because you’re out here and it’s happening out here, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen every Sunday. ”
With the poor performance in 2021, especially on third downs, he stated, “We try to let you guys worry about that, and we just got to worry about going out, playing football…We’ve been talking about it all OTAs all ever since last year. Really just making sure because situational football is all that wins games in this league.”
McCain is seeing second-year safety Darrick Forrest progress as well. “He is so much smarter. You can see the jump, you can see the year-two jump. He’s out there communicating with me and Kam (Curl). He understands, he knows where he needs to fit. He knows his role and he’s been a good ball player, but now you can see he’s playing really fast.”
Asked a second time about third-down defense, “It’s the most important down in football, to be honest with you. Because it’s going to get you off the field and it’s going to keep the guys fresh.”
