Commanders, Croskey-Merritt look to run over Bears in prime-time affair

It’s been a big month for Washington Commanders rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt, known to teammates and fans as “Bill.” After a banner start to his NFL career, the seventh-rounder is looking to keep the momentum rolling against the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

Following Sunday’s breakout performance against the Los Angeles Chargers, Croskey-Merritt started racking up the accolades.

Quarterback-turned-broadcaster Tom Brady handed him a signed football as the “LFG Player of the Game.” FedEx honored him as one of its players of the week.

He earned his second Rookie of the Week award and received an endorsement deal with Nike, too.

“Very big for me,” a smiling Croskey-Merritt said. “I’m just blessed to have the opportunity. It’s a dream come true. I can get a lot of Nike stuff now and I’m truly excited to have that attached to my brand.”

The rewards were the culmination of years of hard work for the 24-year-old. He started his college career at Alabama State before transferring to New Mexico and then Arizona. The Alabama native missed the final year of his college career because of eligibility issues, but remained with the Wildcats’ practice squad.

“I’ve learned patience creates greatness,” Croskey-Merritt wrote on Instagram. “The challenge of getting there was always better than the reward.”

The rookie leads Washington in rushing yards through five weeks, routinely flashing a one-cut ability and patience at the line of scrimmage that helped carry the Commanders’ ground attack.

Croskey-Merritt has been performing on a relatively light workload, too. He’s splitting carries with veterans Chris Rodriguez and Jeremy McNichols. But the team’s use of the rookie is ticking up.

“He doesn’t make the same mistake twice,” offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury said. “Throughout camp, when he touched the ball, good things happened.”

That’s carried into the regular season. Croskey-Merritt leads all qualified runners — those with at least 32 carries — in yards per rush through five weeks.

Washington has needed its run game as the passing attack deals with a bevy of injuries. Star quarterback Jayden Daniels missed two games with a knee sprain. His top pass-catcher, Pro Bowler Terry McLaurin, has been sidelined since Week 3 with a quad injury. Fellow pass-catcher Noah Brown, who caught a last-second Hail Mary to beat the Bears last season, returned to practice this week after dealing with groin and knee issues.

Despite the rushing attack’s early success, Croskey-Merritt isn’t a finished product. He’ll be the first to admit that.

“Every game, there’s something I can get better on,” he said.

“Still has a ways to go away from the ball. … Everything that’s not carrying it when you’re talking about pass protection, pass game, any sort of lead blocks that he’s asked to do,” Kingsbury said. “He just has to keep working to become a complete back.”

But good things happen when Croskey-Merritt carries the ball. He’s primed to keep that momentum rolling against the porous defense of the Chicago Bears on Monday night.

No team has allowed more rushing yards per game than the 2-2 Chicago Bears, who did not play last week.

The Bears expect cornerback Kyler Gordon, their top defensive back, to make his season debut on Sunday. The slot defender missed the start of the season with a hamstring issue.

“Shoot, hopefully it allows us to unlock a few things,” Bears coach Ben Johnson said. “There’s only a handful of nickels in this league that you really have to account for, both as a coverage player but also as a guy who likes to be nosy in the run game and could be part of the solution for us here in shoring up our run game as well.”

Daniels said Washington is familiar with Chicago’s defenders, who returned most of their personnel in the first year under Johnson. 

And Washington’s defense is familiar with Johnson’s offensive scheme. They dissected it during last year’s postseason win over the Detroit Lions, where Johnson was the offensive coordinator.

“His offense is a lot of motion, a lot of eye candy, a lot of misdirection,” Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu said. “They run simple plays and simple personnel. For us, it’s just being more disciplined with our eyes, just doing our jobs.”

The Commanders could receive some reinforcements of their own on offense. McLaurin made his first practice appearance in three weeks on Wednesday, stretching with the team and working on the sideline as he works toward a full return. Brown was a full practice participant.

Guard Sam Cosmi also practiced with the offense for the first time since tearing his ACL during last year’s postseason run. He’s eligible to make his first start of the season on Monday.

“I’m happy to see how he is right now,” cornerback Mike Sainristil said. “It’s good to know that this team has guys who are fighting their tails off to get back out there.”