The dreaded Washington Commanders-Chicago Bears primetime matchup is fittingly off to a sluggish start. Not even halfway through the first quarter and there’s already been three sacks, two punts and just five first downs, though one was aided by a questionable Jon Allen penalty.
The Commanders’ first drive lasted all of a minute.
Brian Robinson got stuffed on first and second down before Carson Wentz was sacked by Jaquan Brisker before he could process his first read to force a punt. An all-too familiar sight for an offense that’s been victimized by slow starts.
The good news is Washington’s defense was dominant on the opening drive of the game. However, all of the positive vibes were swiftly zapped after another uninspiring return from specialist Dax Milne, who quickly found himself in the crosshairs of Commanders Twitter for gaining just seven yards despite having a lot of room to work with.
It didn’t help that the football was jarred loose at the end of the play, though Milne was ruled down by contact.
Done with the Dax Milne return era.
— Rick Snider's Washington (@Snide_Remarks) October 14, 2022
Commanders fans are done with Dax Milne returning punts.
We, too, are done with the Milne return era.
The Commanders’ coaching staff clearly appreciates Milne’s reliable hands, but he never provides a spark with a big return. Fielding a punt clean is an important part of the job, but so is the return part. Pretty self-explanatory, right? With Washington’s offense stuck in neutral, having a more dynamic return man wouldn’t hurt but Ron Rivera and Co. insist on trusting Milne.
I like Dax Milne as a depth receiver, but he’s not a good returner.
— Eric Sully (@CommandersRealm) October 14, 2022
Precisely! It’s almost unfair on Milne. He’s a quality depth receiver who should be utilized in the red zone and on third down for his ability to beat man coverage in the slot. Asking him to juke out heat-seeking defenders is just unrealistic. We now have nearly a six- game sample size that shows he’s not cut out for the role.
Please for the love of God take Dax Milne off the field.
— Josh Taylor (@JoshTaylorFB) October 14, 2022
Say it louder so Ron Rivera hears you over the cracking wind at Soldier Field!
Get Dax Milne off of returns.
— Jermaine Johnson✊🏾 (@MaineUPTDC) October 14, 2022
The stutter-step king is averaging just 7.7 yards per punt return on 12 tries and that number is largely skewed by a 19-yarder he ripped off.
Notice a trend? There isn’t a single Commanders fan out there who endorses Milne returning kicks and punts. Hopefully we have an Antonio Gibson sighting on Washington’s first kick return, but the sooner the Milne punt return experiment ends, the better.
It should’ve happened yesterday, but it’s not too late.