Washington safety D.J. Swearinger blasted his own team’s defense after their Thanksgiving loss, and he’s not done with his criticisms.
Swearinger said Monday on 106.7 The Fan that he’s getting tired of the way his teammates practice, saying some of them aren’t taking their work seriously enough.
“I just feel like when we’re in certain preparations — when it’s Friday, when it’s Saturday, when it’s time to lock in and really be focused in — I feel like it’s a little bit too much playing,” Swearinger said, via the Washington Post. “Whether it’s on Friday or whether it’s the Saturday walk-through. A lot of guys just walk through that Saturday as if that Saturday doesn’t mean much. But truth be told, that Saturday means a lot. If you’re a focused individual, every time that you step on the practice field — whether it’s a walk-through, whether it’s a real practice — any time the coach is saying something, that means business. When we have our walk-throughs on Saturdays, I feel like it’s a joke, to me — with the amount of focus that we have, with the amount of playing that we have, the amount of lack of discipline that we have on those Saturdays and Fridays, on days where I feel like we should be tuned in. That’s where those comments come in.”
Swearinger has said multiple times in the past that he doesn’t think all of his teammates are practicing hard enough, so in one sense these comments are no surprise. But what is surprising is that the issues keep coming up. If one of the best players on the team keeps saying his teammates are dogging it, that’s an issue that needs to get resolved.