Notes from WFT’s second minicamp: Benjamin St-Juste stars originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
June 9, 2021 will be remembered as Benjamin St-Juste Day in Ashburn, after how the third-round rookie performed at corner for the Washington Football Team in minicamp.
Here’s a recap of his sterling morning, as well as a chunk of other notes from the Wednesday session:
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What are two things that have three initials? BSJ and PBU. The defensive back registered at least four pass breakups in the morning practice, including a supremely athletic one against Terry McLaurin in the end zone. Both players leapt up for a Taylor Heinicke pass, and McLaurin got his hands on it first, but St-Juste simply wouldn’t let up and eventually jarred it loose. He also cleanly jumped a comeback route on the sideline and dropped what would’ve been a pick-six candidate. Afterward, Ron Rivera told reporters that St-Juste “plays the whole play” and “there’s no relax in his game,” and those two qualities were evident in those sequences. He was seriously impressive whenever a ball came his way.
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Montez Sweat was another defender who popped multiple times — and not just with his performance. Let’s start there, though, as No. 90 got into the backfield multiple times on play-action calls, getting right in the face of the QBs as they were turning around to scan over their options. On one, Sweat was able to bat the ensuing pass, bringing to mind his Thanksgiving touchdown against the Cowboys in 2020. He was also quite vocal, which stood out, because he’s not the most talkative off the field. At one point, the offense lined up but then backed off to get reset. Sweat’s response was to yell, “Hell no! You don’t get second chances!” He was also screaming with Chase Young before multiple snaps, just because.
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Taylor Heinicke was sloppy in individuals, overshooting guys who were running their routes against air and nothing else. He locked in for 11-on-11 drills, however, including one deep throw that he gracefully dropped into Kelvin Harmon. It was Harmon’s top grab off the offseason and fed into the theory that Heinicke may be more of a “gamer” who shines more in real (or quasi-real) action as opposed to warm-ups and QB-only work.
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While lined up in the slot, Adam Humphries flinched after a hard count, which would’ve gone down as a false start. Young was more than happy to point out the infraction to coaches, but the staff allowed the proceedings to continue. Conveniently enough, the following play that coordinator Scott Turner drew up asked Humphries to turn and pin Young on a block. “I see you, Humph!” Turner hollered as the running back flew by the feisty receiver, who somehow managed to stay upright.
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Troy Apke has been seeing a decent workload at cornerback. The results up to this part of the calendar have been less than encouraging — he’s more often chasing his opponent than he is strapping them up — but Rivera said that Apke’s physical traits make him an intriguing fit there and he thinks that, perhaps, it could be a place where Apke stays “for a long time.” For that to happen, he’ll have to show major growth come training camp. The bottom part of the corner depth chart is sketchy, yet Apke isn’t necessarily making a push for it currently.
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Offensive line coach John Matsko, judging by a comment he dropped as practice was winding down, was far from pleased with how his group handled their assignments on Wednesday. The offense overall had its share of issues, and Matsko certainly seemed to think his unit was responsible for much of the problems.