ASHBURN, Va. — Chase Young's return to the football field after missing the majority of last year's Commanders season was a big one. Young and the defense helped the team complete an improbable comeback from 18 points down to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2011. It was the biggest comeback victory for the team in more than three decades.
Young missed the 2023 season opener against the Cardinals with a neck stinger that first began bothering him in the preseason. He previously missed most of the 2022 season while recovering from surgery following a torn ACL injury he suffered in Week 10 in 2021.
"It just feels good to be back," Young said. "Just got to work on keeping it rolling."
In his first game back, he was credited with 1.5 sacks of Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson.
"It meant a lot. All the hard work. Obviously everybody can't see all the hard work, what we do. They just see us on games. I never really stopped working. Even when I was hurt I continued to perfect my craft, keep my wind up, stay in the weight room just because I knew the time was going to come," Young said.
Young is a local star who played high school ball at DeMatha. He says the hometown pride is not a source of added pressure.
"If it was pressure then I've had pressure since I was in high school. I was a top player in high school, I was a top player in college, so if it was pressure then I've always been pressured. To me it was just playing football," Young said.
At DeMatha, Young played on the same basketball team with No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Markell Fultz. Young was drafted No. 2 overall in the NFL.
"We used to tell each other that we were both going to go No. 1. We used to tell each other that in high school. We even made up a bet, but I went No. 2," Young said.
He lost the bet.
After Sunday's game, Young had high praise for Sam Howell, along with a new nickname: Sammy Sosa.
"The thing about Sam is he got some swag to him. Being that composed in a game where we are down that much, and coming back... When we came back that was Sammy Sosa," Young said. "He looked like he's been playing this game for longer than he has. Sammy Sosa. Let that name keep going."
Next up, Washington will take on the Buffalo Bills. The Bills opened as 6.5-point favorites on FanDuel Sportsbook and will have thousands of fans at FedEx Field for their first visit since 2015.
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