Chase Young’s quote on offseason work puts even more pressure on him

The Washington Football Team secondary performing like the worst unit in football over the first six weeks of the season distracted from the fact that Ron Rivera’s group has struggled to muster production from its edge rushers.

Prior to his jaw injury, Montez Sweat was struggling to make an impact, notching four sacks, three tackles for loss, 12 QB hits and 25 pressures. Not bad, but certainly not the leap fans expected him to take in Year 3.

Still, that stat line looks somewhat respectable.

Chase Young, on the other hand, has found himself in the crosshairs of fans amid his similarly-sluggish start. In eight games, the former No. 2 overall pick has just 1.5 sacks, three tackles for loss, four QB hits and 23 pressures to his name. Not nearly what fans were expecting after his dominant rookie campaign.

On Thursday, Young spoke to reporters reviewing Washington’s first half, his slow start and previewing Sunday’s clash vs the Buccaneers.

When the media attempted to connect Young’s hectic offseason in terms of non-football interests and his laggy start, he didn’t exactly coil up.

Washington Football Team edge rusher Chase Young revealed why he missed offseason OTAs.

“I was making money baby,” Young said. “Gotta make the money. None of y’all would’ve ducked the money. At the end of the day, it’s a job. Just like y’all do your job, I do my job.”

The timing of this quote not sit right with anyone else?

Like every argument, there’s always two sides. On one hand, you can understand Young’s “you only get one shot at this” perspective. The bottom line always comes down to money, and Young is blessed to be in a position to make generational wealth. It would be deranged to suggest how he should spend his time.

While the NFL will make Young a wealthy man, he should absolutely pursue any and all endorsement deals and fulfill whatever strings are attached to said deals. You would do the same thing if you were in his shoes.

HOWEVER, the fact Young was almost unapologetic about it rubbed us the wrong way. For starters, the “scheduling conflict” forced him to miss OTAs. We know those aren’t an obligation.  Some veterans don’t show up until the latter stages of them before mandatory minicamp.

Last time we checked, Young’s not a veteran. Furthermore, he’s the undisputed leader in the locker room, or that’s at least what we’ve been led to believe. What can’t be argued, though, is that he’s the face of the franchise.

But whatever. Like we said, he’s free to spend his time how he sees fit.

What’s actually off-putting about this quote is that Young was seemingly bragging about “making money” in the middle of what can only be described as a wildly disappointing sophomore season thus far.

These comments were incredibly tone deaf. It wouldn’t be a problem if Washington was churning out wins left and right. The fact the team is 2-6 AND Young’s underperforming, well, let’s just say this quote made him an easy target.

Maybe we’re overreacting, but this should’ve been filed in the “better left unsaid” cabinet. Sorry, but if you drop a quote like this on the media, you have to back it up. All will be forgiven if Young terrorizes Tampa Bay’s offensive line on Sunday and goes on a tear over the remaining nine games.

If he doesn’t, fans will be quick to dig up this quote and shove it right in his face once the season is over. Fair or not.