Washington Commanders sign former HBCU star

The Washington Commanders have added a former HBCU star to its practice squad. Former Bowie State defensive lineman Joshua Pryor has been signed to the team’s practice squad. The Washington Commanders signed him as a free agent following the draft, and invited him to minicamp. Pryor was cut by the franchise in late August, but has apparently worked himself back up.

The 6″4,” 280 pound pass rusher played in 49 games during his four seasons. Pryor recorded 34 solo tackles (55 total) and 9.5 sacks in his debut season at Bowie State. At the end of his illustrious career with the Bulldogs Pryor compiled 245 total stops, 77 tackles for loss, 32 sacks, three pass breakups, five recovered fumbles, and four forced fumbles. In 2018 the All-American was named CIAA Rookie of the Year and All-CIAA First Team. Going into his second season Pryor continued to dominate for Bowie State. Pryor picked up Protect Your Skull Division II Defensive Player of the Year and Bowie State Co-Defensive Player of the Year awards, both in 2019.

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Pass Catch Fever: Logan Thomas tallied nine catches for 77 yards while Terry McLaurin made four grabs for 49 yards (TMC on pace for 85 catches and 887 yards), and Jahan Dotson added three catches for 30 yards.

Third Down and Out: The Commanders moved the chains on 6 of 12 attempts, running just once (Robinson lost 1 yard on a third and one to force a punt on their first possession. Howell completed 6 of 8 passes for six conversions. His top target? Logan Thomas, who caught both passes aimed his way and made it past the marker. Yardage breakdown: 1-3 short-yardage, 1-2 when needing four to six yards, 3-7 long-yardage. For the season: 7-12, 7-14, 7-33.

D earns an F: The defense that helped Washington to its most recent playoff berth in 2020 and the one many expected to lead this team to respectability this fall allowed points on all five of Chicago’s first-half possessions. The Bears moved the chains on 6 of 9 third downs before intermission, and the Washington secondary was unable to contain wide receiver D.J. Moore all evening. The ex-Maryland Terrapin made eight catches for 230 yards and three touchdowns. The defense has coughed up 30+ points now for four straight games. Does it look like things will get better anytime soon?

Special Situations: Tress Way averaged 51.5 yards on his two punts while Joey Slye made two of three field goals (32 and 51 yards) while missing a 46-yarder. Slye also delivered five touchbacks in five kickoffs. Jamison Crowder had a 20-yard punt return, but there were no kickoff returns. Punt coverage allowed returns of 6 and 11 yards.

Flying Flags: Just one accepted penalty, a first-quarter false start by Byron Pringle. The infraction turned a 2nd and 7 into a 2nd and 12, expediting a punt two plays later. An illegal shift that was declined was called in the second quarter as an incomplete pass was going to force a punt.

Dissecting the Division: Philadelphia (5-0) stands atop the NFC East as well as the entire conference and league, while Dallas (3-2) is in second place, while the Commanders (2-3) are in third place only because the New York Giants (1-4) are in a much worse place at this moment.

Comparing Quartets and Conferences: The NFC West owns the best division record at 11-8, thanks to San Francisco’s Sunday Night victory over Dallas, as the NFC East is half a game behind at 11-9. Monday Night Football decided the weakest foursome with Green Bay’s loss giving the NFC North an 8-12 mark. Monday’s game also gave the tied up the two conferences with 10 wins apiece.

In the Booth: Thursday Night Football meant the Amazon crew of Al Michaels & Kirk Herbstreit were on the call. Last year, the TNF games gained a bad rap of being unwatchable, and Michaels earned the rep of hating on the poor play. That’s what you get when you don’t give teams a bye the previous weekend. But then again, the NFL is now being okay with teams playing the week after their London trips (we saw the Falcons sleepwalk this past Sunday against Houston).

The Week 6 game in Atlanta will be on CBS on a light day for that network (they don’t have the doubleheader either) so it’ll be interesting to see which announcers get the game.