Jamin Davis responds to criticism from coaching staff in since-deleted post

The cover photo of this article shows Jamin Davis recording a sack of Jared Goff. That was one of the only splash plays made by the Washington Commanders defense for the entirety of Week 2, and it came on the game’s first possession.

It was the response every Commanders fan, and the coaching staff, wanted to see from Davis after defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio lambasted the linebacker’s Week 1 performance to the media. Davis wasn’t perfect, but he had several impactful moments in the game. Most of his teammates couldn’t say the same.

After Sunday’s loss to the Lions, Ron Rivera, who was more cryptic than normal behind the microphone, called Davis’ performance “inconsistent” and said Davis is “running out of time” to develop consistency in his game.

In a game where Washington allowed 36 points, 425 yards and bang-average quarterback Jared Goff to throw four touchdowns, multiple players could’ve been called out and no one would’ve blinked. And yet, Davis was the only one.

On Monday, Davis seemingly responded in a cryptic Instagram post that has since been deleted, though Twitter managed to capture it before it was taken down. You can view the video behind this link.

Commanders LB Jamin Davis seemingly took a shot at Ron Rivera and Jack Del Rio in a since-deleted Instagram post.

There’s a lot to unpack here. For starters, Davis shouldn’t be using social media to take rebellious shots at Washington’s coaching staff. Address them face-to-face or go directly to Ron Rivera. While the head coach piled on after Sunday’s loss, Rivera is a player’s coach and should be open to fielding any questions or concerns.

On the other hand, it’s hard not to sympathize with Davis.

Not only did this same coaching staff play him out of position (middle linebacker) as a rookie, but he’s seemingly being scapegoated as the crux of Washington’s defensive woes when a plethora of other players have underperformed.

That list includes William Jackson III, fellow linebacker Cole Holcomb, Kendall Fuller, who allowed a touchdown vs Detroit and Bobby McCain, who actually liked Davis’ post, which doesn’t send a great message as a veteran in the locker room.

Why are Del Rio and Rivera openly criticizing a second-year linebacker who’s still developing while not holding the D’s veterans accountable? Put yourself in Davis’ shoes for a minute and you’ll recognize just how isolated he must feel.

Who knows? Maybe Davis just posted the clip as motivation. Maybe he wasn’t taking a passive-aggressive shot as his coaches and this is a big nothing-burger. But you can understand those who viewed it as a dig at Rivera and Del Rio.

All we can do is speculate, but this isn’t a great look for all parties. The idea of throwing a player under the bus multiple times in a three-day span is ridiculous, as is Davis thinking posting this to his 36.1 thousand Instagram followers was a good idea, regardless of his intentions.

Let’s hope the Commanders handle this matter how they should’ve handled Davis’ performance in the first place: behind closed doors.