Commanders hope Marshon Lattimore provides a boost once his hamstring injury heals

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Marshon Lattimore does not know when his hamstring injury will clear up enough to allow him to make his Washington Commanders debut.

Team officials are pumped about what they think he will bring whenever he does.

Lattimore did not practice Wednesday, roughly 24 hours after the Commanders acquired him from New Orleans prior to the NFL trade deadline, and his status for their game Sunday against Pittsburgh is unclear. General manager Adam Peters and coach Dan Quinn think adding a legitimate shutdown cornerback has the potential to open up some different possibilities for a defense that has already improved drastically over the course of the season.

“He’s what you want in a corner,” Peters said. “He’s a really, really smart player, he is a really instinctive player, he’s a physical and those are things we’re looking for. He’s just a really good football player all around.”

Lattimore has not allowed a touchdown in coverage since 2021. He was a Pro Bowl selection in four of his first five seasons and has played in 104 regular-season and playoff games since entering the league in 2017.

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The 28-year-old thinks he brings experience more than anything else. Beyond that, he’s not sure what specific role he’ll fill in the secondary.

“I’m ready to see where I fit in at and learn the playbook and everything,” Lattimore said. “It’s a new start for me. I’m just ready to go, see what’s in the future for me.”

Lattimore said it was up to the trainers to figure out when he can practice and play with the hamstring injury, which occurred in a recent game. Peters and the Commanders did their due diligence checking in on it before making the trade that sent third-, fourth- and sixth-round picks to the Saints for Lattimore and a fifth-rounder.

Washington is 7-2 and has two games coming up against Pittsburgh and at Philadelphia over a five-day span, so Lattimore might not get rushed into the lineup. Once he gets on the field, his presence could allow rookie Mike Sainristil to shift inside to a more advantageous position.

“Not going to give away all my cards the first day,” Quinn said about that possible move.

Whether he’s shadowing A.J. Brown or CeeDee Lamb at some point in the coming weeks and months or locking down one side opposite Benjamin St-Juste, there’s little arguing Lattimore makes the defense — which now ranks 14th in the league after being 29th early on — better against the run and the pass.

“There’s so much he can do,” safety Jeremy Chinn said. “We could put him in man, in zone. He can get into our whole playbook and really do a lot of different things.”

Buying at the deadline and giving up assets, even if highest pick came from trading underachieving receiver Jahan Dotson to the Eagles in August, is also a boost to a team that is exceeding external expectations and making a surprise run at a playoff spot.

“Anything that Adam and his staff is doing, man, we trust it no matter what,” said rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who continues to practice and play through sore ribs. “I think it just speaks that they want what’s the best for the team, and we trust what they’re doing.”

Lattimore joins former Ohio State teammates Terry McLaurin, Noah Brown and Jalyn Holmes on the roster and bumps Emmanuel Forbes — like Dotson, a disappointing first-round pick — down the depth chart. How else it affects locker room chemistry remains to be seen.

“We have such an amazing culture here,” six-time All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “I think it’s grown faster than people expected, but we have an amazing culture and it’s going to show whether or not somebody can come in and we can bring him along into this culture.”

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