Be it in a relationship, a friendship, or at your place of work, one thing remains true — communication is the key to success.
For Jon Bostic, the Washington Redskins newest linebacker, that sentiment rings true.
After traveling across the NFL landscape and playing with five teams in his first six years, Bostic is a veteran in all but age, and he has seen what it takes to make a good defense. You can have the most talent in the world, but it’s all for not if your players are not in the correct place to make a play.
“I talk a lot on the field. I communicate a lot. That’s something that makes the job easy,” Bostic said, via Redskins.com. “They used to call me ‘the explainer’ back then because I wanted to know what the [defensive backs] were doing and what calls they were making. Half the time, before they could make their call, I’m making it for them.”
Once again, Bostic finds himself trying to fit into a new system this season. He has new teammates (with some familiar faces) and new coaches to get used to. The Redskins signed Bostic in order to help shore up their defense after LB Reuben Foster was lost for the season with a torn ACL. According to Bostic, Washington reached out to him immediately after he was cut from the Pittsburgh Steelers in April. It was then that he started to study the Redskins’ defensive schemes.
“Some of the guys were a little surprised by that, but football is football,” Bostic said. “It was fun getting back out there and just being able to play football.”
He may not be the biggest or fastest player on the defense, and chances are you didn’t know who he was until a few weeks ago. But we’ve seen in the past that you don’t need all-stars on defense to be dominant — you just need to be in the right place at the right time, and communication will bring that.
“When all of us are on the same page on defense, regardless of what we’re running, we’re all right.”
