ASHBURN, Va. — As the Washington Commanders get ready for their second preseason game against the Miami Dolphins, there is still a lot of buzz about a big tackle by the team's punter Tress Way.
WUSA9's Eric Flack spoke with Way during Commanders training camp on Monday to talk about the fourth-quarter open-field tackle that fired up the entire team during the first preseason game against the New York Jets Saturday.
"Ok, so here's the deal, it was a punt, right? I didn't get it over as far as I wanted to so I was a little frustrated about that, but then whenever he tried to reverse field and go around, all the guys were hunting him and we were about to pin him inside the 20," Way explained. "So, I took off because I usually run and scream and get all fired up, but then he squirts out and I just took off and then I blacked out."
The punter said the next thing he remembers is standing up and teammate Jeremy Reaves hyping him up.
"I was hyped for him but also low-key kind of nervous at the same time," Reaves said about the tackle.
The move fired the teammates up during the preseason game, which they ultimately lost 17-20.
"I'm changing after and I was like [winces] and I'm actually missing some skin on my hand, you know, Met Life got me a little bit," he added. "So, feeling like a real football player for a little bit."
Regardless of the skinned hand, Commanders Head Coach Dan Quinn said in a press briefing he didn't want to hear anything about Way on the injury report following the tackle.
"Honestly, I thought about turning it in, you know, my hand burns a little bit where I'm missing some skin, but I thought I'd get it out today and, uh, yeah, we'll, we'll be good," Way said during practice on Monday. "We'll be good."
Quinn also noted while the team appeared to get fired up after the play, the crowd went just as wild.
"I think as big a deal on that was the sideline's reaction," the head coach said.
The reaction was so intense, one was left wondering which hit was tougher, the tackle or the reaction from teammates hitting Way as he was coming off the field.
"It was cool to see even on the game film how much everybody erupted. That was just awesome," Way said. "That just goes to show you how unlikely the tackles actually are. Everybody was all jacked up. But then quickly, probably after like the 12th or 13th smack on my helmet, I was like, I gotta get this it off and then everybody started punching me in the stomach and I was game for that, but no, absolutely no regrets."