The bookends of the Washington Football Team’s impressive defensive line weren’t with the team when they got on the field for the third phase of the offseason program on Tuesday.
Defensive ends Chase Young and Montez Sweat were two of a small number of players who did not participate in the OTA session. When it was over, Rivera said he was happy with how many players were on hand and didn’t seem too concerned about those who weren’t.
“I know they’ve talked to their position coaches,” Rivera said, via Ethan Cadeaux of NBCSportsWashington.com. “The thing that we stress is that it is voluntary. You’d love to have everybody here, especially because we’ve got 86 guys [here]. It’d be nice to have everybody. But I get it. Guys are entitled to do the things they feel they need to do right now. They’re both good, young, solid football players and the thing is, they’ll be here when they’re here.”
Newly signed left tackle Charles Leno was also absent. Leno’s wife gave birth to a baby shortly before he signed with the team earlier this month, which may explain why he’s not with the team.