Warrick Holdman tried to ignore the player behind him. It was impossible. Every week the topic arose; every week Holdman wondered the same thing himself: When will LaVar Arrington start?
Eventually, it affected linebacker Holdman’s play last season.
“It wasn’t pressure, but just the fact that you know it’s a guy they want to see on the field,” Holdman said. “The coaches and front office probably wanted to see him, too. Don’t get me wrong, LaVar is a good player and he has a lot of talent so of course you want to see him. Then when the guy in front of him is not producing, it just becomes common sense. It got to a point where I knew it was coming and let it get the best of me. You can’t do that.”
Arrington bumped Holdman from the starting lineup at weakside linebacker after seven weeks.
Now, with Arrington gone and himself in better shape and more knowledgeable about the defense, Holdman is playing better (save for problems in pass coverage last week).
“He’s gotten his movement back better than before,” Redskins linebackers coach Dale Lindsey said. “And he’s more confident. Last year I think he kept waiting for the ax to fall and for LaVar to go in there, so he was never comfortable.”
