Washington Football Team postponing scrimmage after shooting of Jacob Blake

The Washington Football Team is postponing Thursday’s scrimmage at FedEx Field in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake.

The Washington Football Team was supposed to have a practice and scrimmage on Thursday at FedEx Field. But that event will be postponed.

In the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, several leagues have seen games canceled as players have refused to play. It started when the Detroit Lions and Matt Patricia canceled their Wednesday practice to protest the shooting.

Then, the Milwaukee Bucks decided not to play their playoff game against the Orlando Magic. From there, the other four NBA teams slated to play followed suit. MLS and some MLB teams canceled their games as well.

And now, the Washington Football Team will be postponing their practice, as NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay first reported.

Shortly thereafter, Julie Donaldson, the team’s Senior VP of Media and Content, tweeted a statement about the decision to cancel practice. Per Donaldson, the team will instead “engage in a meaningful dialogue on social injustice.”

It’s good that the front office, and most notably, Jason Wright and Ron Rivera, were able to identify what the players might need during what has undoubtedly been a difficult day for the team.

Postponing the scrimmage won’t have a huge impact on the squad. They can just shift around their practice schedule and perhaps scrimmage on Friday. But by taking time to listen to the players and provide them with what they need, Rivera, Wright, and the rest of the new front office hires are doing a good job of earning their trust and respect.

And with that in place, the team will have a better sense of community and will want to play hard to play for one another. In short, it’s a step in helping to build a new culture in Washington.

We’ll soon see what comes of Washington’s meeting and we’ll see what happens when the team is back on the field. But at this point, the decision to postpone practice seems like a smart one by the squad’s brain trust.