{"id":4316,"date":"2026-06-19T09:05:06","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:05:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4316"},"modified":"2026-06-19T09:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T09:05:06","slug":"commanders-rookie-sonny-styles-has-the-green-dot-and-the-green-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4316","title":{"rendered":"Commanders rookie Sonny Styles has the green dot and the green light"},"content":{"rendered":"

The former Ohio State linebacker will play a central role in Washington\u2019s revamped defense.<\/strong><\/p>

Read more These American women are making history as referees at the men\u2019s World Cup<\/a><\/p>\n

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Rookie linebacker Sonny Styles is taking on major responsibility with the Commanders. (Luis M. Alvarez\/AP Photo\/Luis M. Alvarez)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The little dot is hard to miss. At first glance, it looks like a banana sticker on the back of linebacker Sonny Styles\u2019s helmet. But so many of the Washington Commanders\u2019 hopes for this season depend on that speck of green and all that comes with it.<\/p>\n

The dot \u2014 which Styles wore at Ohio State and now dons in Ashburn, Virginia \u2014 means he is the one defender with a speaker in his helmet, into which coaches call formations. It means he must organize his 10 teammates on the field, telling them where to be, where to run and what to look for when the ball is snapped.<\/p>\n

The responsibility is enormous \u2014 especially when given to a rookie. Washington drafted Styles seventh overall<\/a> in part because of his maturity, the constant sense that the game never seems to be going too fast for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a demeanor that is very much in control,\u201d Coach Dan Quinn said Tuesday as the team opened its three-day minicamp.<\/p>\n

Much of the Commanders\u2019 optimism about their defense is based on their confidence in Styles. They imagine him racing from one side of the field to the other, stopping running backs and knocking away passes. The team also will rely on his ability to take the words shouted into his helmet speaker and convey them to the rest of the defense.<\/p>\n

Quinn has raved about Styles\u2019s performance through the offseason program and now into this week\u2019s minicamp, saying Styles has \u201chit all the marks that you can hit at this time of year.\u201d The coaches, he said, love the way Styles has instinctively attacked in the team drills.<\/p>\n

But the Commanders have essentially been operating glorified walk-throughs. Players wear shorts and don\u2019t have pads. No hitting is allowed. It\u2019s more a teaching time than a football time.<\/p>\n

With a new defensive coordinator running a new defense \u2014 new schemes, new formations, new language and calls \u2014 the Commanders are placing a lot on Styles\u2019s shoulders before they have even gone to training camp. He\u2019s not concerned about the pressure.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have high expectations for myself, so expectations from other people don\u2019t really bother me,\u201d he said \u2014 almost as if he expected to have the green dot even before he was drafted.<\/p>

Read more Spencer Carbery signs multiyear extension as Capitals\u2019 coach<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u201cI think you\u2019ve got to play linebacker … with that violent mindset,\u201d Styles said. (Nick Wass\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Styles said Daronte Jones, the new coordinator, is teaching his defense well, making it easy for everyone to understand. He added that the formations coming through the helmet speaker aren\u2019t too complex and that he hasn\u2019t struggled to convey everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re all communicating within the play,\u201d Styles explained. \u201cThere\u2019s so much going on, but [I\u2019ve] just got to make sure we\u2019re on the same page when the ball stops, [so] we play fast.\u201d<\/p>\n

Styles has been practicing by watching tape, running through different calls and matching them to what he sees on the screen. He doesn\u2019t act as if any of this is too much for him as he tries to adapt to being an NFL player.<\/p>\n

Then again, he is the son of a former NFL player \u2014 Lorenzo Styles, a fellow linebacker who won a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams. Much of Sonny Styles\u2019s ability to handle so many things at once has been attributed to his father\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy dad\u2019s an even-keel kind of guy,\u201d Styles said. \u201cAs I\u2019ve got older, I\u2019ve become a little bit more like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

He smiled a bit.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut no, you get between the lines, especially when the bullets start flying, [and you] get a little excited,\u201d Styles continued. \u201cI think you\u2019ve got to play linebacker that way \u2014 with that violent mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n

The violence will come in late July when the training camp shoulder pads are donned and the hitting and tackling begin. Quinn said he is looking forward to the way linebackers coach Ken Norton Jr. will coach him then.<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, we are pumped\u201d with Styles, Quinn said.<\/p>\n

The green dot, it seems, will stay on Styles\u2019s helmet. The Commanders need it to be there. They need to know he can be the relentless, versatile and smart player they drafted. Their new defense almost depends upon it.<\/p>

Read more NYCFC teammates Freese, O\u2019Neill and Trewin to clash in crucial World Cup group match<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The former Ohio State linebacker will play a central role in Washington\u2019s revamped defense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4313,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nCommanders rookie Sonny Styles has the green dot and the green light - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4316\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Commanders rookie Sonny Styles has the green dot and the green light - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The former Ohio State linebacker will play a central role in Washington\u2019s revamped defense.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=4316\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T09:05:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/278709249c6ee0a9c3b484d920cb3f30-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Commanders rookie Sonny Styles has the green dot and the green light\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T09:05:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316\"},\"wordCount\":809,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9bd2cae3ac7bea912505f8d2ae9a8a6d-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316\",\"name\":\"Commanders rookie Sonny Styles has the green dot and the green light - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9bd2cae3ac7bea912505f8d2ae9a8a6d-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T09:05:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=4316#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9bd2cae3ac7bea912505f8d2ae9a8a6d-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/9bd2cae3ac7bea912505f8d2ae9a8a6d-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1707,\"caption\":\"Washington Commanders linebacker Sonny Styles walks to the field before an NFL football practice at the team's training facility in Ashburn, Va., Tuesday, June 16, 2026.(AP Photo\\\/Luis M. 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