Whether it’s landing a spot on the Redskins’ opening day roster or wearing a helmet speaker, Matt Sinclair’s philosophy is the same.
“You get advantages from doing the small things on the field, like effort, film study,” said the reserve linebacker. “It doesn’t come from a piece of technology inside your helmet.”
Sinclair called it a hassle to wear the special electronics that have been introduced on the defensive side of the ball this year during last weekend’s Hall of Fame game. But having to relay plays to the Washington defense didn’t prevent him from going all-out himself.
The same effort propelled him from the bottom of the training camp depth chart to the Redskins’ practice squad last fall after getting cut by three previous teams. It eventually led him to Washington’s active roster for the final four games of the 2007 regular season, and could have him in line for even more in 2008.
“I like his steadiness,” said Redskins defensive coordinator Greg Blache. “I like his competitiveness. He competes. He’s in there all the time. He’s taking care of his body. He’s taking care of his study habits. He’s taking care of the game plan. He handles the huddle. He’s a very mature young professional.”
With the helmet speaker, Sinclair has started to feel like Blache’s voice is always in his head.
“It’s neat to finally be in a camp where coaches expect something from you,” said Sinclair. “In the past, I feel like I’ve just been a body there.”
But with his future hardly secure, Sinclair still can ill afford to take the easy way out. He didn’t consider sitting against Indianapolis — despite a banged-up shoulder — and he didn’t enjoy repeatedly dropping back into pass coverage against the Colts, even though he registered five tackles.
The 6-foot-2, 245-pounder made that clear to his former Illinois teammate, offensive lineman Duke Preston, who will line up opposite him with the Buffalo Bills at FedEx Field on Saturday.
“We’ve been texting already this week because they’ve been watching film,” said Sinclair. “He was like, ‘You’re in pass coverage the whole time,’ and I was like, ‘It’s going to change this week.’ It’ll be a more physical contest. As a middle linebacker, that’s what you want — or as a linebacker, period — you want physical contact.”
