Dyami Brown’s two-touchdown day a bright spot for Commanders in loss to Titans

It was the most random diss of the NFL season. 

After the Washington Commanders’ loss to the Detroit Lions in Week 2, Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown took a shot at a Washington player. 

No, it wasn’t quarterback Carson Wentz. Or star wideout Terry McLaurin. Or defensive leader Jonathan Allen. It was Dyami Brown. 

Yes, that random.

Three weeks later, Brown, a backup, stepped in for the injured Jahan Dotson on Sunday. Despite Washington’s 21-17 loss to the Tennessee Titans, the second-year wideout was a bright spot for a reeling Commanders team by catching two long touchdown passes. 

“No, not at all,” Brown said diplomatically when asked if he thought about St. Brown’s troll after his big game. “Not too much worried about that. I just try to play my game, that’s it.”

Brown, the Commanders’ third-round pick in the 2021 draft, was selected ahead of St. Brown that year. St. Brown has turned out to be a star wide receiver, and he’s said on multiple occasions that he uses falling to pick No. 112 in the draft as motivation — even so far as remembering the names of all 16 wideouts taken before him. 

“The draft, it is what it is. Even the Commanders, they got a guy before me over there. I believe his name is Dyami Brown,” said St. Brown, who caught two touchdowns in the September win over the Commanders, while Washington’s Brown played only one offensive snap. 

“I didn’t see him in the game much,” St. Brown said.

#Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was scanning the Commanders sideline during Sunday’s game looking for WR Dyami Brown, who was taken ahead of him in the 2021 NFL Draft.

“I don’t forget things like that. … I didn’t see him in the game much.”

(🎥 @Lions) pic.twitter.com/YkmQXyNFRl

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 21, 2022

The press conference clip went viral on social media as evidence of St. Brown’s driven personality as well as the randomness of the insult about a wide receiver who barely anyone other than D.C. fans and obsessed fantasy football players know. 

Brown entered Sunday’s game without an NFL score and just 13 career receptions for 171 yards. His two scores were the only touchdowns Washington scored in the loss, as Wentz’s would-be game-winning pass was intercepted at the goal line in the final 10 seconds. Brown totaled 105 yards on his two catches. 

“Oh man, it’s been a year and a half,” Brown said about scoring his first career touchdown. “But it’s a blessing. I’m thankful for it, and it’s just the beginning.”

His first touchdown — a 75-yard bomb that he skillfully corralled over his shoulder — gave Washington its first lead since Week 1 against the Jaguars. 

“We’ve seen him do that all of OTAs [and] training camp,” Wentz said about Brown. “Obviously his opportunity has been limited in season, but for him to step up like that today with those two big ones, that was awesome to see. But, at the same time, I’m not surprised.”

His second score was a 30-yarder down the left sideline, and it was even more impressive than the first. Wentz put the ball where only Brown could catch it, and the North Carolina product reeled it in with one hand to give Washington a 17-14 lead in the third quarter. 

“It was nice to see Dyami go out and do the things he’s capable of,” Commanders coach Ron Rivera said. “His vertical speed was there. He made a couple of really nice grabs in the game, and it’s what we’ve seen he’s capable of doing.”

The Commanders have a long list of question marks — from Wentz to the offensive line to the secondary. But the wide receiver corps — with McLaurin, Curtis Samuel, Dotson and maybe now Brown — isn’t one of them.