Issues seem to keep finding the Washington Commanders this season. Between a string of injuries that have hindered their progress and a series of suspensions, the team can’t seem to catch a break.
Commanders linebacker Frankie Luvu faced a suspension for repeated hip-drop tackles, which was later reduced to a fine after his appeal. Then, during Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions, defensive tackle Daron Payne was ejected after throwing a punch at Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
After the game, teammate Javon Kinlaw insisted that the wide receiver struck Payne first. Payne later posted a video appearing to show St. Brown throwing the initial punch. Now, St. Brown is speaking out and sharing his side of the story.
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On a recent episode of his St. Brown Podcast, the star wide receiver explained that the confrontation began two plays before Payne threw the punch.
“Two plays before that I’m blocking, um, I believe it was number 20,” said St. Brown, referring to Commanders safety Quan Martin.
“He is lowkey driving me, he got me, he got under me, and he’s driving me back into the pile,” he continued. “The play is kind of dead and he drives me down. I mean good play by him.”
As St. Brown continued, he said that was when things started to go wrong. “I get up and he’s talking to me, whatever, I wasn’t even saying much and Payne comes out and bumps me,” according to St. Brown.
The bump from Payne left St. Brown confused. “I’m like what the f**k?” he said. St. Brown admitted that after that, he hit Payne and that Payne started talking trash. “Then I hit him again, I accidentally hit him in the face,” St. Brown admitted. “I didn’t mean to jab him in the face, I just meant to push him off and I so happen to hit him in the face.”
Officials appeared to miss the initial exchange, as no flag was thrown on St. Brown. Payne’s retaliation, however, drew a penalty resulting in his ejection and a subsequent suspension.
St. Brown acknowledged his role in the altercation. “At that point I was like I shouldn’t have done that. Probably a flag, the ref was standing right there, he didn’t throw the flag, so that’s that.”
What St. Brown didn’t anticipate was Payne’s response two plays later. Despite the release of video footage and now with St. Brown’s own account of events, Payne’s appeal was denied. As a result, he will remain suspended and is ineligible to suit up against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Alex Bregman already is one of the most talked-about stars available in free agency right now.
This was the case before he even opted out of his deal with the Boston Red Sox and has only picked up steam since. He’s a star coming off his best season in a few years. Plus, he helped get one of baseball’s storied franchises back to the playoffs. It’s a perfect storm for free agency. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that he has the most well-known agent out there in Scott Boras.
On Wednesday, Boras held a press conference where he discussed some of his clients. Unsurprisingly, Bregman was brought up and he had a clever coffee-themed response.
“I would certainly think that you know, like in Boston, we learned a lot about Bregman in 2025,” Boras said. “In Boston, prior to ’25, they had a lot of lineup do-not-holes and certainly, prior to ’25, Boston has been kind of a club that has been Dunkin’ well below the playoff line. I think it was a bad roast in Beantown. Give the owners credit, in ’25 they went out and spent some star-bucks to bring in a Bregman blend and got them to the playoffs. I’m sure Boston fans don’t want this to be just a cup of coffee. No one wants a Bregxit.”
All jokes aside, Boras isn’t wrong. Boston had a tough few years before bringing Bregman in. The Boston lineup was lefty-heavy and young and desperately needed a right-handed veteran with pop.
Bregman fit the description and more. The Red Sox handed him an aggressive $120 million deal for three seasons and really showed the league that they were willing to get back into the mix for star-level talent again.
Also, he’s not wrong about the fact that Boston fans likely don’t want the partnership to be short-lived. Now, it’s in the hands of the front office and agents. But, Boston made the right move by bringing Bregman in last offseason and it’s going to be a big topic over at least the next few weeks.