'For me, the main thing is being healthy' – The pressure is on for this Commanders player going into his second season
The Washington Commanders have a lot of young players that they will be leaning on this season, and they need them to rise up to the occasion. Having Adam Peters' recent draft pick hit will be the telling factor on how the roster can be built moving forward, and it starts this season.
The defense has to be better than last year, and the pressure is on for one defender who can have a much bigger role this season. LB Jordan Magee kn ows he has to be available for the defense this season, and his absence can create disaster if someone gets hurt, himself included.
The best ability is availability
We finally got to see our first look at Magee in the preseason finale on Saturday after dealing with an injury for the majority of training camp . Hopefully, we will see more of him this season, because he's LB3 on the roster. It's not ideal to have Bobby Wagner play 100% of snaps this season, so Magee rotating in and staying healthy is important, and he knows that.
"Just for me, the main thing is being healthy," Magee told the media after the game. "The best ability is availability. I know I can play football; it’s just about being healthy at the end of the day. I was having a good training camp until I got hurt about two weeks in. That was a minor setback. Coming off this game, I felt good out there. Got one drive, 12 plays."
Magee flashed in the one drive he had during preseason, and he can be a complete linebacker if he continues to develop behind Luvu and Wagner. HC Dan Quinn even pointed out how impressed he was with the second-year step he saw in Magee before he got hurt, and he was just as happy to see him back on the field.
"I think the word I think of when I think of Jordan is resilience," Quinn said. "This is a really hardened, tough competitor. When the injuries happen, you can see that on some, it can be ‘Ugh, not again. Here we go.’ But not this guy. Like, he is just built differently. He's very mentally hardened in that way. And so for him, we weren't going to let him miss one step in his way on the way back. And I was very excited to see him play and get rolling today, like he's worked hard to get back.
Magee only played 16 snaps in his rookie season because of a handful of injuries, and his second season is important for him and the rest of the defense. Another season of injuries can set back the team's future at the position, with this being Wagner's likely final season, and it will force the defense to adjust how it plays.
