The excitement is building ahead of Monday’s prime time showdown between the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears.
On Thursday, Washington returned to the practice field. As much as players are looking forward to game day, the focus remains on the day-to-day. To them, stacking days is how you start stacking wins. That’s something the team is still chasing.
“Everything starts when you come into the building. You stack days by how you prepare,” safety Jeremy Reaves told 7News Sports. “How you take care of your body, how you prepare film-wise when you’re at home and when you’re not here; and then when you come into the building, how you practice, how you prep in the meeting rooms, information you’re taking in, information you’re giving other people. That’s part of the preparation that leads you to a great performance.”
As Chicago prepares to make the trip to Northwest Stadium, memories of last season’s Hail Mary miracle by Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels have understandably resurfaced. To local sports fans, those memories will forever live on in DC sports lore. However, to the players, that moment when Noah Brown corralled Daniels’ last-second heave, resulting in an 18-15 win over Chicago, remains firmly in the past.
“Last year was last year, but I know it left a bad taste for them, so I know they’re coming in to play, and we got to come prepared ourselves,” linebacker Frankie Luvu said.
“We approach every week the same, and we try to put together a great game plan and execute it and focus on our details, and making sure that we are staying together,” added defensive end Jalyn Holmes. “We’re going to go out there and play as hard as we can and try to get that dub, because every week is important.”
While the Bears currently sit at the bottom of the NFC-North, Washington knows what a scary team they can be. After starting the year 0-2, Chicago has won back-to-back games and is coming off a bye week. Commanders’ players know they will be motivated and ready to ruin the home team’s Monday night fun.
“They do a whole bunch of different things. They have their regular plays, and then they have plays where they pull certain things up, so I think it’s just—they test you, they test your eye-discipline, they test your communication, they test where you’re at on the field,” cornerback Mike Sainristil said.
An added element? ]Bears’ quarterback and DC native Caleb Williams returns to the DMV, ready to perform in front of his hometown crowd.
“He can extend plays, he’s good outside the pocket, he’s got an arm on himself,” Luvu said. “From last year, he’s seeing more routes developing and is being more patient in the pocket.”
The Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears kick off from Northwest Stadium on Monday, Oct 13. The game will air on 7News.