SATURDAY, MAY 7 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D7
BY SAM FORTIERAt rookie minicamp Friday af-
ternoon, as the Washington Com-
manders’ newest crop of players
practiced as pros for the first
time, Coach Ron Rivera acknowl-
edged the roster still has needs.
“If we’re looking at one posi-
tion, it is going to be linebacker,”
Rivera said. “We’re very pleased
with the number of guys we have
here, but we don’t have another
veteran-type guy once we get past
[third-year linebacker] Khaleke
[Hudson].... We’d like to get a
few more guys to be a bit deeper
there.”
In his third year, the coach and
former linebacker is still search-
ing for an answer specifically at
middle linebacker. Washington
didn’t draft one after spending its
first-round pick on Jamin Davis
in 2021, and Rivera said the team
is “looking at” giving Cole Hol-
comb, last year’s starter, another
opportunity in the role. He also
mentioned Davis and depth vet-
eran David Mayo, though each
seems unlikely given Rivera’s cri-
tiques of their games at the end of
last season.
On Monday, while the team
was still finalizing its undrafted
free agent class, Rivera met with
coaches and the personnel de-
partment to address remaining
holes. The team could, in addition
to linebacker, add defensive
backs and defensive linemen. Ri-
vera also pointed out that the
team is relying on the improve-
ment of players who underper-
formed or were hurt last season,
such as defensive end Chase
Young and Davis.
In walk-through offseason
workouts, Rivera said Davis is
“going in the right direction” with
formation recognition and com-
munication.
While it seems unlikely an un-
drafted free agent could have a
significant impact early, Wash-
ington did sign three linebackers
after the draft. The Washington
Post obtained the contract details
for eight of the Commanders’ 13undrafted free agents, and by
total guarantee, two linebackers
— Tre Walker of Idaho ($95,000)
and Ferrod Gardner of Louisiana
Lafayette ($80,000) — were slat-
ed to make the most.
The details for linebacker
Drew White of Notre Dame were
unclear.Veteran linebackers such as
Joe Schobert and Kwon Alexan-
der are available on the market,
but Washington could be waiting
for further movement leaguewide
before making a move. Last year,
in mid-May or later, the Com-
manders turned other teams’ sal-
ary cap casualties into starters atleft tackle, safety and returner.
During minicamp, when asked
about how much progress he felt
the roster had made since the
draft, Rivera emphasized pa-
tience.
“We’ve got time,” he said. “Last
time I looked, kickoff is the sec-
ond weekend in September.”First looks
In the team’s practice bubble,
the offensive rookies stood out
during what were mostly individ-
ual drills.
Penn State wide receiver Jahan
Dotson, the first-round pick, was
sure-handed and steady, catching
slants and back-shoulder throws
from fifth-round quarterback
Sam Howell (North Carolina). On
one back-shoulder, Howell threw
behind Dotson and the wide re-
ceiver adjusted to haul in a tough
catch, displaying the focus and
hands NFL Network analyst Dan-
iel Jeremiah called the “best in
the class.”
“Jahan looks as solid as adver-
tised,” Rivera said. “We were real
pleased to see what we saw from
him. I thought he moved around
really well.”
On Howell: “Sam threw the
ball very well. He’s got good foot-
work and a strong arm. That was
very evident.”
Cole Turner, the fifth-round
tight end from Nevada, also dis-
played the athleticism and catch
radius Rivera and General Man-
ager Martin Mayhew praised dur-
ing the draft with some leaping,
athletic catches, especially down
the seam.Undrafted free agent details
By total guarantee, linebackers
Walker and Gardner are slated to
make the most, followed by tightend Armani Rogers ($67,500), de-
fensive end Jacub Panasiuk
($65,000), wide receiver/returner
Jequez Ezzard ($55,000), wide
receiver Kyric McGowan
($5,000), cornerback Devin Tay-
lor ($3,500) and safety De’Vante
Cross ($2,500).
The details are unclear for of-
fensive lineman Tyrese Robinson,
linebacker White, tight end Cur-
tis Hodges, cornerback Josh
Drayden and quarterback Cole
Kelley.
In each of Rivera’s first two
seasons, an undrafted free agent
has made the 53-man roster out of
training camp.Graduation day
Dotson said he was planning to
skip his graduation from Penn
State on Saturday until Ron Rive-
ra told him not to. Dotson, a
telecommunications major,
pointed out that not many mem-
bers of his family have graduated
and that it will mean a lot to him
to receive his diploma.
“[Rivera] said that’s a once in a
million thing,” Dotson said. “He
was all for me going. I honestly
hadn’t even thought about skip-
ping practice until he kind of
talked about it.”Full offensive line
Following the signing of guard
Trai Turner this week, Rivera said
the offensive line has “really come
together.” Washington likes to
maintain a stable of 10 experi-
enced linemen — and Turner is
No. 10.
“We’re trying to emulate [the
approach with 10 linemen] be-
cause, again, the depth is what
was very successful for us last
season.” Rivera said. “We want to
continue that.”Commanders continue to search for final roster pieces as rookie camp opens
CRAIG HUDSON FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
Commanders Coach Ron Rivera urged rookie wide receiver Jahan Dotson (1) to attend his graduation.FROM NEWS SERVICESDan Ventrelle left the Las Vegas
Raiders organization less than a
year after taking over as president.
Owner Mark Davis announced
in a statement Friday that Ven-
trelle “is no longer with the Raid-
ers organization” but divulged no
details around the decision.
Ventrelle said in a statement to
the Las Vegas Review-Journal that
he was fired in retaliation for
bringing concerns from multiple
employees to the NFL about a
“hostile work environment.”
“When Mark was confronted
about these issues, he was dismis-
sive and did not demonstrate the
warranted level of concern,” Ven-
trelle said in the statement. “Given
this, I informed the NFL of these
issues and of Mark’s unacceptable
response. Soon thereafter, I was
fired in retaliation for raising
these concerns. I firmly stand by
my decision to elevate these issues
to protect the organization and its
female employees.”
The Raiders had no comment
on Ventrelle’s statement.
NFL spokesman Brian McCar-
thy said in a statement that league
officials “recently became awareof these allegations and take them
very seriously. We will promptly
look into the matter.”
Ventrelle took over as team
president on an interim basis in
July after Marc Badain resigned.
He was promoted to the full-time
role after Las Vegas’s season end-
ed in January.
Ventrelle is the latest in a string
of high-ranking business execu-
tives to leave the Raiders in the
past year. Chief financial officer
Ed Villanueva and controller
Araxie Grant left with Badain over
the summer in what Davis later
said was an issue of “accountingirregularities.”
Three other senior vice presi-
dents also have left the team in the
past year: Tom Blanda, Mark
Shearer and Brandon Doll.
The Raiders have undergone
significant changes on the football
side as well, with Jon Gruden re-
signing as coach in October fol-
lowing the publication of offen-
sive emails he had sent before
taking the job. General Manager
Mike Mayock was fired after the
season.
Despite the turmoil, the Raid-
ers made the playoffs last year.
Davis solidified the football opera-tions department by hiring Josh
McDaniels as head coach and
Dave Ziegler as general manager.
— Associated Press
l COWBOYS: A video of the
car crash involving owner Jerry
Jones shows the moment a dark-
colored car T-boned a silver car
Wednesday in uptown Dallas.
The collision occurred at about
8 p.m. near Harry Hines Boule-
vard and Wolf Street, according to
Dallas police. Police said one car
failed to yield and turned in front
of the other car.
The video, published by TMZ,
shows a silver car trying to make aleft turn from Harry Hines Boule-
vard — a multilane, one-way road
— onto a two-way street. The silver
car is not in the left lane when it
starts turning.
The dark-colored car is travel-
ing in the same direction as the
silver car and slams into its left
side. The darker car can be heard
trying to brake.
It’s unclear which car Jones was
in or whether he was driving, but
TMZ said he was in the darker car.
Jones had a brief stay at a hospi-
tal on Wednesday. By late evening,
he was at home.
— Dallas Morning NewsNFL NOTES
Raiders president says he was fired for reporting ‘hostile work environment’
NATIONALS ON DECKat Los Angeles AngelsToday9:07MASN2
Tomorrow 4:07MASN2vs. New York MetsTuesday7:05 MASN
Wednesday7:05 MASNThursday1:05 MASNvs. Houston AstrosFriday7:05 MASNMay 14 7:05 MASN
May 15 1:35 MASNRadio: WJFK (106.7 FM)held up four fingers, putting him
on base, and let Adon face Ren-
don.
The matchup was a reminder of
how much has changed — and
changed quickly — for both Adon
and Washington. With Rendon
and catcher Kurt Suzuki, the An-
gels (18-10) had as many members
of the Nationals’ title-winning
team in their lineup as the actual
Nationals (Juan Soto and Victor
Robles). And when they won it all,
still less than three years ago,
Adon had just finished a summer
with the low Class A Hagerstown
Suns.
Adon was 20 and not yet a
full-time starter. He was certainly
not in the immediate plans. But
on a whittled-down team, in a year
more focused on development
than winning, Adon has the gold-
en opportunity to grow and make
mistakes. Friday’s fifth inningmade that totally clear.
Here’s what else to know about
the Nationals’ loss.Rendon reunion
Was Rendon feeling sentimen-
tal about facing the Nationals?
“No,” he said, in typical Rendon
fashion, before going 0 for 4 with
two strikeouts. “I mean, maybe if
it was back in D.C. Then it would
probably be a little different with
the fans and whatnot and being
familiar with that surrounding.
But here not so much.”
Who has Rendon stayed in
touch with from the 2019 club? “I
texted Soto for a little bit The main
guys: Trea [Turner], Michael Tay-
lor... but they’re not even on the
team anymore.”
Still, reunions are a main
theme this weekend. Beyond Ren-
don and Suzuki, Ali Modami, a
batting practice pitcher for theNationals in 2019, is with the An-
gels now, too. Before the series
opener, Rendon and Modami
hugged it out with General Man-
ager Mike Rizzo. A bottle of red
wine was waiting in Martinez’s
office — Daou Cabernet Sauvi-
gnon — which he figured was a
welcome gift from Angels manag-
er Joe Maddon, whom Martinez
was a bench coach for in Tampa
Bay and Chicago. Then Suzuki
helped starter Jhonathan Diaz
keep Washington quiet.Stymied by Diaz
Diaz, making just the third
start of his career, worked five
innings on an efficient 67 pitches.
Remarkably, the soft-throwing
lefty kept his count that low de-
spite four walks, a product of the
Nationals’ aggressive approach.
They put seven men on base
against Diaz and had nothing toshow for it. Diaz had success with
a limited number of sliders, get-
ting four whiffs and two called
strikes on the 13 he threw. He also
used his sinker to log seven of his
15 outs on the ground.
In the first, after César Hernán-
dez doubled and Josh Bell walked,
Nelson Cruz grounded into a dou-
ble play. In the third, after Alcides
Escobar tripled and Soto walked,
Bell flew out to right field. And in
the fifth, after Diaz walked Esco-
bar to start the frame, the top of
Washington’s lineup went down
in order. The ensuing four innings
against the Angels’ bullpen was
even less productive.BY JESSE DOUGHERTYanaheim, calif. — Here was a
shot for Joan Adon to wade
through a challenge and prove
himself: Bottom of the fifth inning
Friday night. Two on, one down
with Anthony Rendon at the plate.
The task of limiting damage after
Mike Trout, one of the world’s best
players, tagged him with a two-
run double that could have rattled
the rookie into submission.
But it didn’t. Manager Dave
Martinez let the Washington Na-
tionals see as much, pushing and
testing Adon in a 3-0 loss to the
Los Angeles Angels. With a first-
pitch curveball, Adon got Rendon,
the former Nationals star, to
bounce into a rally-killing double
play. That capped the 23-year-
old’s line at five innings, three
earned runs, five walks and six
strikeouts. It was a tiny bright
spot in a quick and lifeless loss.
One of the walks was intention-
al, issued to Shohei Ohtani before
that final matchup with Rendon.
The other four, though, with three
for leadoff man Taylor Ward, put
Adon in tougher spots than he
should have been in.
Facing an order with Trout,
Ohtani and Rendon is hard
enough. At times, Adon overcame
that, such as when he struck out
Trout and Ohtani back-to-back to
end the third. Trout swung
through a 96 mph fastball at the
top of the zone. Ohtani whiffed on
97 straight down the pipe. But a
pair of hits for Trout — a single in
the first, then the double in the
fifth — helped the Angels edge the
Nationals (7-21) and their sleepy
offense.
Adon was ahead 0-2 when
Trout punched a fastball over Vic-
tor Robles’s head in the fifth. Nor-
mally, that’s when Martinez
would pull a young starter. The
leashes have been especially short
this spring. Adon’s command was
wavering. Yet instead of going to
his bullpen for Ohtani, Martinez
Adon is l one bright spot as Nats are blanked in Anaheim
ANGELS 3,
NATIONALS 0Angels 3, Nationals 0
NATIONALS AB RHBIBBSOAVG
C.Hernandez 2b .............. 401001 .277
Soto rf ............................ 300012 .263
Bell 1b ............................ 300010 .344
Cruz dh ........................... 401000 .147
Franco 3b........................ 300011 .274
Ruiz c.............................. 400001 .262
Thomas lf ....................... 301000 .224
Robles cf......................... 300001 .232
Escobar ss ...................... 201010 .205
TOTALS 29 04046 —
L.A. AB RHBIBBSOAVG
Ward rf ........................... 110031 .362
Trout cf........................... 402202 .325
Ohtani dh........................ 300111 .234
Rendon 3b ...................... 400002 .212
Walsh 1b ........................ 401002 .247
Marsh lf.......................... 400002 .250
Suzuki c.......................... 300000 .179
Wade 2b ......................... 211010 .278
Fletcher ss...................... 211010 .176
TOTALS 27 353610 —
WASH..................... 000 000 000 —041
L.A........................... 100 020 00X—350
E: Adon (2). LOB: Washington 6, Los Angeles 6. 2B:
C.Hernandez (7), Trout (8). 3B: Escobar (1). RBI: Ohtani
(14), Trout 2 (13). CS: Wade (3).
NATIONALS IP HRERBB SONPERA
Adon .......................... 53335685 6.99
Voth............................ 10000114 4.76
Arano.......................... 11001217 4.38
Espino......................... 11000115 2.77
L.A. IP HRER BBSONPERA
Diaz ....................... 53004467 0.00
Ortega.................... 11000012 1.15
Tepera.................... 10000012 1.38
Loup....................... 10000113 1.42
Iglesias .................. 10000162 .53
WP: Diaz (1-0); LP: Adon (1-5); S: Iglesias (7). IBB: off
Adon (Ohtani). WP: Adon. T: 2:28. A: 41,923 (45,517).
HOW THEY SCORED
ANGELS FIRST
Taylor Ward walks. Mike Trout singles to center field.
Taylor Ward to second. Shohei Ohtani grounds out to
first base, Cesar Hernandez to Josh Bell. Taylor Ward
scores. Anthony Rendon called out on strikes. Jared
Walsh called out on strikes.
Angels 1, Nationals 0
ANGELS FIFTH
Kurt Suzuki grounds out to shortstop, Alcides Escobar
to Josh Bell. Tyler Wade walks. David Fletcher singles
to shallow infield. Tyler Wade to third. Taylor Ward
walks. David Fletcher to second. Mike Trout doubles to
deep center field. Taylor Ward to third. David Fletcher
scores. Tyler Wade scores. Shohei Ohtani is intention-
ally walked. Anthony Rendon grounds out to shortstop.
Shohei Ohtani out at second.
Angels 3, Nationals 0RONALD MARTINEZ/GETTY IMAGES
Nationals starter Joan Adon allowed three hits and three earned runs in five innings against the Angels, walking five and striking out six.