Daronte Jones and the Commanders are not asking Sonny Styles to play it safe.
They want the rookie linebacker to find the edges of his game - and then lean past them.
That’s a different kind of coaching message for a player with the kind of tools Styles brings to Washington. The No. 7 overall draft pick out of Ohio State has the athleticism, size and football instincts to do things most NFL linebackers simply can’t.
But at this point in camp, the bigger challenge isn’t talent. It’s getting him to trust it.
Right now, Styles is wired to be right. He wants the rep clean.
He wants the assignment handled. That’s good in a lot of ways, but the Commanders are using training camp to pull more out of him than caution.
They want him taking shots, making aggressive reads and seeing how much he can get away with before the game speeds him into a mistake.
“We’ve challenged him in that way and, you can see at times that he cuts it loose,” defensive coordinator Daronte Jones said after Tuesday’s training camp practice. “You can really see that speed on tape.
That’s what most guys who are young and still playing tentative a little bit. That happens, but, alright, let’s go.
I’d rather you go full speed and make a mistake than to be too slow and be right. That’s something all young players have to learn, their range of what they can and cannot do.”
Head coach Dan Quinn has been saying the same thing. Last week, he made it clear the staff wants Styles to test the limits, not tiptoe around them.
”I want to push him to make a mistake. Go for it,” Quinn said, per ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
“Take the shot right here. I want to encourage him.
He’s such a respectful, do-it-right [guy]. No, you can make that play and the other guys can’t.
So, you have permission to try it. Where are the spaces I can get to?
If you can, all right. If not, we know it’s not the right call.”
Styles is hearing that message loud and clear. He’s not launching himself recklessly into contact, though there have been moments when he’s thudded a ball carrier instead of trying to blow them up. But he is starting to open up a little more and trust what the defense is asking him to do.
The scheme fits his mindset, too. Styles said in a Saturday interview with NFL Network that the Commanders’ defense is built on aggression and control.
“We like playing offense on defense. We like to determine the numbers,” Styles said in a Saturday interview with NFL Network.
“We’re playing on our terms. I love that mindset.
The way he teaches it, too, is so easy to digest information. ... The stuff is just super easy to understand.
Sometimes you look at it and it seems complex, but it’s easy for us. He has done a great job with that.”
Even with his speed, Styles is still learning how fast everything happens in the NFL. The adjustment isn’t just physical. It’s about shrinking the space for hesitation.
At Ohio State, when he moved from safety to linebacker, he began picking up routes more naturally. Now that process has sharpened even more, but the league’s pace has forced another adjustment.
“When switched to linebacker (from safety, at Ohio State), I started to feel routes a little bit,” Styles said in that NFLN interview. “As I’ve gotten better over time, I’ve started feeling them more and more.
Now, the biggest adjustment is that the ball’s coming out so fast and so precise that you have to get there faster. You can drop and the guy’s five yards away, but if No.
5 (Jayden Daniels) is throwing the ball, it’s going to be there now. The timing and the accuracy on throws ... you have to get there faster.”
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Commanders May Have Found A Surprise Answer To Their Pass Rush
Washington has spent the offseason trying to add more teeth to a pass rush that needs more reliable pressure, bringing in edge rushers Odafe Oweh and KLavon Chaisson while also using the draft to add linebacker Sonny Styles. The broader idea is clear: the Commanders want more disruption off the edge and more help making life uncomfortable for opposing quarterbacks, and camp has already started to sort out who fits into that mix.
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Jake Moody Is Putting Washingtons Kicking Decision In Real Doubt
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Moody is trying to reclaim the consistency that made him a safer bet earlier in his career, yet the urgency around the job keeps growing. With his future in Washington far from settled, every practice kick now carries a little extra weight, and the Commanders are getting a reminder that even one of the least glamorous positions on the roster can become one of the most scrutinized. [Read more 🡒]