Jack Del Rio took exception Thursday to two of his players being called out publicly this week.
ESPN’s Seth Walder this week had tweeted, stating that Commanders defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne are producing less pass rush in 2023 than in 2022.
Walder revealed some numbers to back his claim. Allen had ranked 9th and Payne 12th in 2022 in “pass rush win rate.”
He then conveyed that through ten games this season, Allen is now 26th and Payne 42nd out of 52 qualifying defensive tackles.
Consequently, when Del Rio was asked about this by the Washington media Thursday, he responded, “I don’t like to sit up here and grade for you guys. They’re two really good players, and they’re playing well.”
Then Del Rio was challenged when one asked where Allen and Payne were making their impact, despite their pass rush win rate” being down from last season.
Del Rio threw out his own challenge, “I’ll watch tape with you if you’d like. They’re pretty good players, and they’re having a good strong year for us.”
Later, Del Rio was asked about how defensive tackle John Ridgeway has played. “Ridge? I think Ridge has played very well the last few weeks in particular.”
Then came a question regarding rookie defensive end Andre Jones Jr. and his pass rush.
“He’s been very aware and has done a nice job with it. I’m looking forward to watching these guys play, and (DE) KJ (Henry) was so close to getting his first sack two weeks ago. As they get opportunities to play, they’re going to make plays, and it’s not all going to be good. But we ask them to go out and apply their technique, play hard, compete their butts off, and help us get the ball back for the offense.”
Back to Andre Jones, “I just think he’s worked hard all year. That’s the one thing I would say about him. He’s been very consistent in how he’s approached things. His role had become primarily a lot on special teams and a little on D, and that equation’s going to change a little bit. He is going to get a little more on D and probably a little less on special teams, but I like the way he’s working at it. He’s done a good job being conscientious, coming in and putting in the work every day.”