Ex-USC star D.J. Swearinger is Redskins' leader

Before each practice, D.J. Swearinger huddles Washington Redskins players together and delivers his daily message.

Sure, Swearinger is a six-year veteran out of South Carolina, but this is his first season with Washington. Becoming a vocal leader just came naturally.

"It's just my personality," Swearinger said. "That's just my personality to get guys to buy in to do the right things so we can make winning a habit here.

"That's what I try to do with calling the defensive meetings or calling (a huddle) up before practice. Just trying to get everybody's minds on one focus and that's to go 1-0 every day."

The Redskins are 5-8 and out of the playoff race but will try to follow that lead and go 1-0 Sunday when they face Swearinger's previous team, the Arizona Cardinals, that's holding on to only faint postseason hopes.

In a short period of time, the 26-year-old safety has become the Redskins' emotional center, bellwether and conscious in a season that has gone awry.

It was Swearinger who questioned the team's preparation after consecutive blowout losses without any trepidation about the blowback. His comments about bad practice habits Sunday in Los Angeles weren't frustration, he said, they were facts.

"If you don't play well in the game, it's obviously from practice," Swearinger said Wednesday. "A lot of stuff's been said about what I've been saying. It's not going to change what I'm saying. It's the facts of it. Guys on this team have to practice better, and if we don't practice better, we're going to get the same results. Period."

Swearinger earned the right to speak his mind through hard-nosed play this season. He crushed Marshawn Lynch with a big hit when the Oakland Raiders came to town and has never shied away from contact.

No wonder players are eager to follow Swearinger.

"He plays the game so hard," Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. "He's very passionate about the game, and I think the players respect that a ton."

After playing parts of two seasons with Arizona, Swearinger figures he'll have "extra juice" Sunday. He said the Cardinals made a contract offer and retracted it, so he circled this game on his calendar.

"It's not that I want to show out in front of my own team," Swearinger said. "It's more I want to make a lot of plays in front of my old team."

This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 3:25 PM with the headline "Ex-USC star D.J. Swearinger is Redskins' leader."