Rivera not overloading Jamin Davis as the rookie progresses originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
When Washington selected linebacker Jamin Davis with the No. 19 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, head coach Ron Rivera added another piece to an already loaded defense.
With Chase Young winning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors last year, Montez Sweat leading the squad in sacks and Jon Bostic leading in tackles, Davis figured to carve out a role for himself wherever the second-ranked defense in the NFL saw fit this preseason.
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Two games into the regular season and while the Burgundy and Gold's defense hasn't quite hit the highs of the 2020-21 season, Davis has performed admirably. On Thursday night against the Giants, Davis made four solo tackles -- the fifth most for Washington.
It was a big step forward from Davis' otherwise quite Week 1 showing against the Chargers. So how does Rivera keep this trajectory going, you ask?
"I think, keep him in the role that we have him. Don't stress him, don't overload him," Rivera told NBC Sports Washington's JP Finlay.
The transition from the college game to the NFL is always going to take time, and Rivera understands that. But for someone as athletic and talented as Davis, Rivera knows not to speed up the development process one bit.
"You know, the biggest thing I've learned in watching our development of him is a lot of these things are for the first time," Rivera said. "He didn't have to do this, he didn't have to do that so he's learning these techniques, this style of doing things."
