Commanders News: Sam Howell, Ron Rivera, Benjamin St-Juste and Jonathan Allen
By Dean Jones
Which Washington Commanders news stories are hitting the headlines as the dust settles on their Week 10 loss at the Seattle Seahawks?
As the Washington Commanders take stock following a heart-breaking loss at the Seattle Seahawks, there is no time for Ron Rivera to wallow in the face of yet another losing season. Attention must quickly turn to their Week 11 home game against the New York Giants, which is swiftly followed by a Thanksgiving afternoon contest at the Dallas Cowboys, who've been in tremendous form of late.
Nothing less than two divisional wins will do in pursuit of getting this ship back on track. Until then, the stories causing conversation include Jonathan Allen's mindset, Benjamin St-Juste's sympathy, Rivera having a clutch quarterback, and Sam Howell's frustration.
Let's delve into each topic in more detail.
Sympathy for Commanders' CB Benjamin St-Juste
The Washington Commanders were on the back foot early on when rookie cornerback Emmanuel Forbes was ejected in Week 10 for a late hit on Tyler Lockett. It was a definite penalty, but disqualifying the first-round selection was extremely harsh.
This piled more pressure on others within the secondary. Benjamin St-Juste was another who was the subject of what head coach Ron Rivera deemed as questionable calls down the stretch and the head coach is going to seek clarification on each decision made with the league office based on comments via Washington's website.
"It's tough, because for the penalty that they called on him, to sit there and look at as much contact as being allowed, you almost wonder why would that be called at that time, compared to some that weren't. I've got three or four that I'm gonna send in and ask if I can get explanations on these."
- Ron Rivera via Commanders.com
These didn't look as bad as their call which removed Forbes from the field almost immediately. This is an ongoing problem with referees that must be rectified by the league office as a matter of extreme urgency.