Jonathan Allen’s latest message for Commanders fans is confusing

The NFL season is full of ebbs and flows for most teams. The Washington Commanders are mired in a full-blown funk right now. Losers of three straight after their season-opening win over Jacksonville, fans’ patience is starting to wear thin.

Can you really blame them for that? The criticism of Carson Wentz is growing louder by the week, and Ron Rivera continues to do himself zero favors addressing the media after losses. It’s honestly tough to say if his f-bomb-laced diatribe following Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys resonated with fans.

While it was refreshing to see Rivera acknowledge he understands the urgency to win games, he also made comments like “we have to be realistic with what we have” and winning “isn’t going to happen until everything is in place.” Those are quotes you’d expect from a head coach in year one of a long-term rebuild.

Rivera, of course, is in Year 3 of overseeing Washington’s rebuild.

With fans fed up with losing, Jonathan Allen sympathized with their frustration during his weekly appearance on 106.7 The Fan’s “The Sports Junkies.” In doing so, Allen also offered up a confusing message for the perturbed fan base.

Jonathan Allen wants Commanders fans to be as passionate when the team starts winning games.

"“As far as the fans, I get it. I really do. I get their frustration, I’m frustrated (along) with them. When the fans have nasty things to say, you know what, so be it,” Allen said. “Only thing I’ll say is when we do get it turned around, keep that same energy. All those fans who aren’t here now – and I get it, I understand the frustration, however many years, I understand. I’m not calling you out, I’m not saying none of that. But when things do get turned around, just understand. Just understand.”“Cheer as loud as you’re booing. That’s a great way of putting it.”"

We totally get where Allen is coming from. As a player, we couldn’t imagine getting jeered regularly by home fans. And to see Eagles fans overtake FedEx Field like they did in the Week 3 blowout? That has to be a terrible feeling for a player like Allen, who delivered an All-Pro performance against the Cowboys in Week 4.

But Allen’s “keep the same energy” message makes little sense. All Commanders fans want is to root for a winning product. Take the Week 1 win against the Jaguars for example. The atmosphere at FedEx Field was as electric as we can remember during the Commanders’ come-from-behind victory in the fourth quarter.

You don’t think they’d deliver a similar atmosphere if the team started winning consistently? Obviously they would. It’s games like the uncompetitive loss to the Eagles and the languorous defeat to the Cooper Rush-led Cowboys that fans are sick of, and they’v happened far too often under this regime.

Again, we get where Allen is coming from.

We just would’ve taken a different approach than get argumentative with a fan base that just wants to cheer on a winning team. Give them a reason to cheer as loud as they’re booing and trust me it’ll happen.