{"id":8639,"date":"2026-08-04T16:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T16:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8639"},"modified":"2026-08-04T16:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T16:37:08","slug":"the-commanders-corners-struggled-last-season-and-they-will-be-tested-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=8639","title":{"rendered":"The Commanders\u2019 corners struggled last season, and they will be tested again"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Washington Commanders cornerback Mike Sainristil on Saturday. (Nick Wass\/AP)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Cornerback was a major weakness last year for the Washington Commanders. With training camp underway, it remains a question mark ahead of the 2026 season.<\/p>

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In 2025, the defense gave up 7.1 yards per attempt (second-worst in the NFL) and 33 passing touchdowns, which was tied for the third-most in the league. The porous pass rush, poor safety play and exploitable linebackers share some of the blame there, but the cornerbacks didn\u2019t do Washington any favors.<\/p>\n

Instead of making a big splash in the offseason, however, general Manager Adam Peters parted ways with Marshon Lattimore and signed a handful of veterans to short-term deals. The latest is cornerback Fabian Moreau, whom the team signed Tuesday to account for the loss of Ahkello Witherspoon, who suddenly decided to retire despite earning starting snaps Monday.<\/p>\n

Peters spent the bulk of his resources on beefing up the defensive front. While that should help the pass coverage, the corners still need to be able to hold up to give the rush time to get home.<\/p>\n

Throughout training camp, cornerback has been a rotational spot for the Commanders. Amik Robertson and Mike Sainristil have taken the most snaps on the outside, but the coaching staff also has begun to work Rasul Douglas in with the starting lineup. At times, they\u2019ve rotated the cornerbacks during the same drive.<\/p>\n

\u201cDan Quinn always preaches\u201d being competitive, Robertson said last week. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what we want.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreau played all 17 games under defensive coordinator Daronte Jones last season, but he hasn\u2019t logged a start since 2023. He was limited to individual drills Tuesday but will start to work into team drills moving forward.<\/p>\n

The secondary has played well, collectively, throughout camp. The pass rush has done a good job of speeding up the quarterbacks, but they\u2019ve also been sticky in coverage.<\/p>\n

Robertson has been the most consistent among the group. He\u2019s undersized at 5-foot-9, 183 pounds, but he\u2019s athletic, physical, sound in his technique and has a knack for making plays on the ball. He\u2019s performing how the Commanders envisioned he would when they signed him to a two-year, $15 million contract this offseason.<\/p>

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\u201cWith Amik, the thing that just absolutely impressed me before he was a Commander was this relentless, competitive play style. He\u2019s an absolute dog,\u201d Quinn said in March. \u201cHe has a chip on his shoulder, and he\u2019s ready to go battle for it. I thought, \u2018That\u2019s us,\u2019 in terms of an attitude and an edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlayers like Amik have the type of resilience and attitude to battle that I really like. \u2026 He doesn\u2019t just make the cornerbacks better: It\u2019s also the receivers and the way that you practice. All of that, when you\u2019re put into this competitive arena, just elevates [everyone].\u201d<\/p>\n

When Washington has gone to their nickelback package, Sainristil has typically slid over into that role. The Commanders have also occasionally used a three-safety package where safety Nick Cross or Quan Martin has lined up as the slot defender.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Cornerback Amik Robertson in camp. (Geoff Burke\/Imagn Images\/Reuters Connect)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

If Sainristil doesn\u2019t win a starting job on the outside, it looks as if he\u2019ll find his home at nickel. It didn\u2019t go well when the Commanders started him there last season, but they\u2019re hoping he\u2019ll be able to provide better results in Jones\u2019s scheme.<\/p>\n

Essentially, the Commanders have a four-way competition for one<\/i> outside cornerback spot between Robertson, Sainristil, Douglas and Moreau. That\u2019s because second-year corner Trey Amos will slide in as a starter whenever he\u2019s ready to return to action. He\u2019s on the physically-unable-to-perform list as he continues to rehab from the broken fibula that ended his rookie season. He has had some lingering soft tissue soreness that has kept him out, but he\u2019ll be reevaluated Thursday.<\/p>\n

Amos had a solid rookie season. He had six pass deflections and yielded just one touchdown but allowed a completion rate of 71.1 percent (177th among qualifying players) and 8.3 yards per target (189th) according to Pro Football Reference. While he has the size and athletic traits that coaches fawn over, he still needs to show he\u2019s capable of putting it all together.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the focus lies on the position battle to decide who\u2019ll start on the opposite side of the field. That probably won\u2019t be decided until closer to Week 1.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a lot of competition at that spot,\u201d Quinn said, \u201cand it\u2019ll take a little bit for that selection to take place.\u201d<\/p>

Read more Rand Paul sets Thursday vote on whether Fauci was in contempt of Congress<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The porous pass rush, poor safety play and exploitable linebacking corps share some of the blame, but the cornerbacks didn\u2019t do Washington any favors. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Commanders\u2019 corners struggled last season, and they will be tested again - 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=8639\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Commanders\u2019 corners struggled last season, and they will be tested again - 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