The Washington Commanders face a must-win game in Week 5. It’s rare to call Week 5 games must-win, but Washington is 1-3 and 0-2 in the NFC East. A loss to the New York Giants would drop the Commanders to 1-4 and 0-3 in the division.
Good news for the Commanders: quarterback Jayden Daniels is back. Unfortunately, eight other players have been ruled out, including wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Top wide receiver Terry McLaurin is questionable and a game-time decision. Washington’s injury report contained 23 players last week.
Of the eight players ruled out, three were safeties: Nick Cross, Percy Butler and Tyler Owens. Cross is one of Washington’s starting safeties and has missed the last two games. Cross looked close to returning in recent days,
but he was ruled out Friday.
So, for Sunday’s huge game against the Giants, Jeremy Reaves and Quan Martin are the only active safeties on the roster. On Saturday, Washington elevated safety Darren Hall from the practice squad for Sunday’s game. Hall signed with the Commanders last week, but he has 46 games of NFL experience, including 12 starts.
So what happens if Washington needs another safety? What about third-year cornerback Mike Sainristil?
Sainristil has essentially been benched at cornerback, with his snaps decreasing in each of the first four weeks. He played a career-low five snaps last week. Could Sainristil be an option?
Sainristil’s struggles in coverage are well documented. Now, he has zero confidence, but he’s proven he can succeed in the NFL. One of Sainristil’s issues is that he needs to see what's in front of him, which could help if he plays safety. While he’s unlikely to get a heavy dose of snaps at safety, it could give Washington’s coaches an opportunity to give him live-game reps. Sainristil has never shied away from the physicality of playing the run, so that shouldn’t be an issue for him despite his size.
This is a must-win game for the Commanders, so they can’t afford to experiment. However, they may be forced to, given their injuries.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Commanders have a safety problem vs Giants
