Dan Quinn doesn't have the best answer for Marshon Lattimore's struggles against Mike Evans
It's certainly fair to say the early goings of the Marshon Lattimore trade haven't worked out like the Washington Commanders intended them to.The vast majority of the issues stem from a hamstring injury that held Lattimore out for almost six weeks and was re-aggravated during the Week 16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. But his […]
It's certainly fair to say the early goings of the Marshon Lattimore trade haven't worked out like the Washington Commanders intended them to.
The vast majority of the issues stem from a hamstring injury that held Lattimore out for almost six weeks and was re-aggravated during the Week 16 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. But his play on the field, when healthy, has also been an issue.
In the 11-ish quarters that Lattimore has played as a Commander, he's faced the rudderless New Orleans Saints offense, but then saw good competition in the aforementioned Eagles and most recently, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
And it's easy to see he's had his fair share of struggles in both games.
Things really hit a head on Sunday when Lattimore allowed Mike Evans to bat 1.000, essentially, as he reeled in all six of his targets for 84-yards and a touchdown. Every catch went for a first down and he also drew the defensive pass interference penalty that led to Evans' one-yard touchdown. Lattimore would've allowed another catch to rookie wideout Jalen McMillan, but he dropped an easy one on the sideline.
The Commanders have been very patient and judicious with Lattimore's hamstring injuries, but the performance makes you wonder just how much "bouncing back" from the latest one affects his play. Dan Quinn even told reporters Monday that Lattimore was on a pitch count against the Bucs and that's why he wasn't covering Evans later in the game. Lattimore played 79% of defensive snaps, which comes out to 10 missed reps, in all.
"It sure looks like that to me, in terms of the competitiveness [and] the strength," Dan Quinn said when asked if Lattimore is able to do the things he wants and needs to do on the field. "We're still honestly working back all the way into it. So there's an element of that, just from doing the right thing to make sure we don't over overload it into that spot. It's a fine line to do that. But certainly, all he brings to us as a competitor, that's such a big deal for us."
It's highly unlikely the Commanders would rush their in-season acquisition back into action, so Lattimore's struggles are likely chalked up to him trying to regain his footing, since he's played so little over the last two months. I mean, the guy has played 154 snaps since November 3.
Still, this is the playoffs – there isn't time for that. Yet, at least in front of the media, Quinn didn't seem concerned about Evans' production against Lattimore.
"I would say for us, it's about winning. That's the name of the game," Quinn said when asked about Evans' production. "We love what Marshon brings to us. We don't look at the game as one box score [or] one player. We look at it as a as a collective and I said there was other plays that you know wouldn't show up to make a tackle, to hold them to a field goal at the end.
"Those are important moments for us, as well. And give, you know, Tampa and Mike their credit, too. They've been excellent this entire season. So I don't want to short change that as well."
Quinn's right, to an extent. There are other plays that are made that don't show up in the box score, but the overall discussion is a valid one: The Commanders need Lattimore to be the lockdown corner they traded for. They can't expect to beat the Lions if he allows the plays he allowed on Sunday.
When Quinn speaks of the collective, Lattimore's issues could and would certainly affect the defense as a whole. Ben Johnson is one of the best offensive minds in the NFL and if Lattimore can't stop Amon-Ra St. Brown or Jameson Williams, then Jared Goff and Co. are going to be able to whatever they want to on Saturday night. That in itself goes against the idea of winning be the most important result. More Lattimore struggles could easily mean a loss this weekend.
The bad has outweighed the good with Lattimore, so far, and while it takes time to get back to full speed after a hamstring injury, things have to change or else this special season ends in Motown.
