The Washington Post - 29.08.2019

not get hurt.”

Can he get an Amen? Line up

the chorus of Nats behind him.

They would belt that out from

the hills.

The Nationals, of course, have

found themselves in a summer

that threatened to be lost, and

they continued their three-

month surge with an 8-4 victory

over the Baltimore Orioles on

Wednesday night at Nationals

Park. They did so not because

Scherzer carried them, as he

does so often, but because they

carried him when he needed just

that.

There’s so much to be

SEE SVRLUGA ON D4

What Max

Scherzer took

Wednesday night

was a step, not a

feel-it-in-the-

hamstrings,

stretched-out

stride. What he

earned was the

chance to wake up Thursday

morning and evaluate his body,

to sense how his back reacted to

an 89-pitch outing that mixed

encouragement with caution.

There is clarity in one area,

though.

“We’re at the point in the

season where there’s no room

for error,” Scherzer said. “I can

KLMNO

SPORTS

THURSDAY, AUGUST 29 , 2019. WASHINGTONPOST.COM/SPORTS M2 D

TENNIS

Serena Williams survives

a scare from American

teen Catherine McNally. D3

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Defensive struggles made

Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo

rethink a few things. D6

JOHN FEINSTEIN

New Howard football

coach Ron Prince has high

expectations. D7

BY SAM FORTIER

The Washington Nationals’ of-

fense, one night after flatlining,

jolted back to life. The Nationals

had two on and one out in the

first inning — a similar situation

to when they repeatedly stranded

runners Tuesday — but this time,

Juan Soto socked a long flyball to

center that caromed off the wall

and trickled away from the out-

fielders.

It was the first of several occa-

sions Wednesday that the Nation-

als treated the bases like a merry-

go-round in an 8-4 win over the

Baltimore Orioles.

“This is about attacking early,”

said Manager Dave Martinez, ex-

plaining the key to his offense’s

resurgence.

The two-run triple sparked a

five-run rally, which seemed as if

it might afterward assume a dark

hue. It didn’t though because the

pitch from Orioles starter Asher

Wojciechowski that hit Adam

Eaton on the right leg, near his

knee, and forced him to leave the

SEE NATIONALS ON D4

Nationals pick up Scherzer

Nats have long leaned on their ace.

Now he’s the one leaning on them.

Barry

Svrluga

BY STEVEN GOFF

philadelphia — On Wednes-

day, Carli Lloyd, the famous

soccer player, arrived at Lincoln

Financial Field, the noted NFL

venue.

The occasion was a U.S. wom-

en’s national team practice as

part of the World Cup victory

tour, which will continue Thurs-

day against Portugal.

The champions have played in

large football stadiums before,

but given recent events, when

the 37-year-old Lloyd stroked a

55-yard field goal through the

uprights and subsequently

talked about giving the NFL a try,

the Eagles’ lair seemed like a

timely backdrop for the U.S.

team’s visit.

At the moment, Lloyd said she

is focused on international

matches and the final stretch of

the National Women’s Soccer

League season with New Jersey-

based Sky Blue FC.

But after proving she can

thump an oblong ball as far as a

round one — and after watching

video clips of her Aug. 20 per-

formance at a joint practice of

the Eagles and Baltimore Ravens

volley around social media —

Lloyd said she is giving serious

thought to a possible career

change.

“It has gone from just having

fun kicking to ‘Will she play in

the NFL?’ ” Lloyd said. “A t first, I

was just laughing about it a little

bit. But the more I spoke w ith my

husband — he is all for it — and

my friends and family, they are

really encouraging me to poten-

tially take up this opportunity.”

Whether there is a formal

opportunity remains to be seen.

Unnamed NFL teams have re-

portedly reached out, but with

rosters being finalized ahead of

next week’s openers and Lloyd’s

football inexperience, it’s prob-

ably not in her immediate future.

However, she said with her

eyes widening, “There has got to

be a first for everything, right?”

Women have played college

SEE LLOYD ON D6

Lloyd’s next goal: The other football?

BY LES CARPENTER

On Thursday evening, Dwayne
Haskins will be the starting quar-
terback for the first time as a
Washington Redskin. The mo-
ment won’t have much signifi-
cance; it is the team’s final pre-
season game, which is typically a
contest in which coaches hardly
ever play their first-team players.
Redskins Coach Jay Gruden
already has said Case Keenum
will begin the regular season as
the starting quarterback. But
Thursday will be a chance for
Haskins to start a game in the
stadium that will be his home
field for the next few years, and it
will be another opportunity to
grow as an NFL passer.
“He’s a young player, obviously,
just learning the system for the
first time,” Gruden said of
Haskins on the day he named
Keenum the Week 1 starter. “A s
far as Dwayne is concerned, you
just have got to continue to work
and get these reps — mental reps,
physical reps and just continue to
SEE HASKINS ON D4

Haskins gets

chance to put

his progress

on display

BY SAMANTHA PELL

For the Lake B raddock defense,

positions exist, but they’re more

fluid than on conventional foot-

ball rosters. Defensive linemen

look like beefed-up linebackers.

Linebackers sometimes look like

basketball players. And to an un-

initiated onlooker, it might be dif-

ficult to tell which is which.

With m any modern high school

offenses operating out of the

spread and often calling run-pass

options, defenses are starting to

catch up. To Bruins Coach Mike

Dougherty, the antidote is using

lighter athletes with increased

speed and versatility on defense.

He’s not alone.

To counteract the speedy, up-

tempo offenses, many defenses

have de-emphasized the need for

hulking run-stoppers who clog up

lanes and make plays with brute

force. In their place are quicker,

interchangeable athletes who can

maneuver in s pace.

“Our g uys are flying all over t he

field,” Dougherty said during the

team’s first week of practice this

month. “It’s scary and fun at the

same time. I don’t want guys get-

ting t heir heads torn off [this early

in training camp], but it’s fun to

watch.”

At Lake Braddock, a public

school in Northern Virginia,

Dougherty h as noticed players be-

coming leaner and more toned

because of a greater focus on

training and conditioning. In ad-

dition, L ake Braddock is in a cycle

in which its players have smaller

frames rather t han stocky builds.

SEE DEFENSE ON D8

Defensive evolution picks up speed

High schools emphasize quickness over bulk to thwart spread offenses

TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST

Lake Braddock seeks interchangeable defenders who are adept at

maneuvering in space while focusing less on size and strength.

JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST

Max Scherzer struck out seven of the first 11 batters he faced Wednesday night and finished with eight strikeouts as the Nationals bounced back vs. the Orioles.

NATIONALS 8, ORIOLES 4

Offense awakens after off night vs. Baltimore

High school football preview

Check out The Post Top 20, key

games and notes from the area as

teams hit field this weekend. D8-9

Marlins at Nationals

Tomorrow, 7 p.m., MASN2

BY MARK MASKE

Amid mounting criticism of an
uncompelling exhibition-season
product with sparsely attended
stadiums and star players being
withheld from games to avoid
injury risks, there is increasing
conviction within the NFL that
the preseason will be shortened
by one or two games.
The change could take effect
by the summer of 2021 and prob-
ably would need to be accompa-
nied by an expansion of the
league’s playoff field or regular
season to offset the revenue lost
from cutting preseason games. It
is being discussed as part of
ongoing negotiations on a new
collective bargaining agreement
between representatives of the
NFL Players Association and
team owners, people familiar
with the league’s inner workings
said.
The options being discussed
include the lengthening of the
regular season from 16 games to
17 or 18 or the expansion of the
playoff field from 12 teams to 14.
While some owners have not
given up on getting players to
agree to an 18-game season, the
union’s ongoing resistance is in-
creasingly likely to turn the focus
to adding playoff games, accord-
ing to those with knowledge of
the situation, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity because
of the confidentiality of the nego-
tiations.
It is unclear, however, whether
owners might push for a 17-game
regular season if the NFLPA re-
mains adamantly opposed to 18
and whether players would be
receptive to that alternative.
As for the preseason, it is
becoming more certain that it
will be cut to two or three games.
One person close to the situation
said it is “safe to say that the
preseason will be shortened at
some point.”
Owners have the right, in their
view, to shorten the preseason
SEE NFL ON D3

NFL eyes

preseason

cut, playoff

expansion

Ravens at Redskins
7:30 p.m., WRC-4, WJLA-7, NBCSW

MATT ROURKE/ASSOCIATED PRESS

U.S. soccer star Carli Lloyd

garnered attention after her

appearance at an NFL practice.