ASHBURN, Va. — More than five weeks ago the Washington Commanders received four-time Pro Bowl cornerback Marshon Lattimore in a trade with the Saints. Lattimore missed his first four games with Washington due to a hamstring injury, but this Sunday he is expected to make his debut in Burgundy and Gold against his former team. It's something he told reporters was on his mind.
"Of course. I’d be lying if I said it [wasn't]," said Lattimore Friday. "It’s like, they traded me away and I’m going back to show them why they shouldn’t have. I’m happy where I’m at, but you know how it be. Extra motivation for the game, that’s all.”
Head coach Dan Quinn said Lattimore will have no restrictions Sunday and will start, becoming a major addition to his defense during a crucial part of the season.
“To add a player of this caliber after the trade deadline, so to speak, it just doesn’t happen very often," Quinn said. "Every once in a while, there might be a player that comes back off IR, that had an injury that was there and there is an energy that goes along with that. We’re really pumped to have him and get rolling with him. It does take a few games to get into that rhythm with new people, but it can change the math. There’s no doubt about that.”
Lattimore's hamstring injury kept him from practicing with the Commanders until the week before the bye, which Washington's coaching staff says allowed him to get up to speed on the playbook quickly.
"He’ll be further along right now than he would be than if he had to play right when he got here," said defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. "Nobody wants him to be hurt, I’m not saying that, but I’m saying the benefit of it is he’s further along in the defense than he would’ve been that first week."
Quinn called the down time a silver lining for the cornerback.
"I imagine it was difficult to come into a new environment and not be able to express the way you do things by the way you play and practice," the coach said. "There was a silver lining of learning the system that took place, and he got to connect with his teammates, but it has been awesome."
Washington is currently the seventh seed in the NFC playoff picture and if the regular season ended this week, the Commanders would be headed to the postseason. Lattimore is hoping he can help make that a reality for Washington these last four weeks.
“I just want to be, if not the best, one of the best on the field," Lattimore said. "Just to show everybody and that’s really it. I just want to help my team win. That’s really what I’m going into the game thinking, be the best I can be and try to be the best on the field so we can win.”