Dragons notebook: Okereke and Allen move up, and the defense finally gets the attention it has earned

Bobby Okereke spent Sunday on the bench and still had one of the best days of anybody wearing a Dragons helmet. Seven tackles, three for loss, a sack, two passes broken up, 12.5 points that never counted. On Tuesday he was standing with the first-team defense.

That is the kind of thing I come to practice for. Not the speech, not the depth chart handed out on paper, but the moment a player who was a spectator two days ago is suddenly lined up where the starters line up. Okereke took the first-team work at the flex defender spot, the job Jamien Sherwood has held, and he took it ahead of Sherwood.

Then, in Tuesday evening's walkthrough, there was Jonathan Allen with the first defensive-line group, right beside Donovan Ezeiruaku. Allen was on a bye Sunday, so this is not a reward for a big game. It looks more like a coaching staff deciding who it wants up front for the next one.

Two changes on one day, both on the same side of the ball. I don't know why they were made, and nobody has explained them to me. What I do know is what I saw, and I'll add the usual caution I give myself: a Tuesday look is a Tuesday look. Reps move. If Sherwood is back in that spot by Friday, I'll tell you. Sherwood, for what it's worth, did nothing to lose a job on Sunday. He started and put up 11.5 points with a forced fumble and a recovery. This is not a demotion story. It may be a "we have two of these and we're going to find out" story.

Why the defense is the story

Here's my take, and it is only my take. The Dragons are 2-4, two games behind Injury Prone in the Delta, and the number that explains it is 758.3. That is how many points they have allowed through six weeks, more than any team in the league. The offense has been fine. Better than fine some weeks. It has not been enough, because the other side of the scoreboard keeps filling up.

Sunday's 115.36 to 96.90 win over Dandy was the offense's day. The four defensive starters combined for 26.5 points, and Ezeiruaku managed one tackle. If you are a coach watching that film, you don't need a consultant to tell you where to look. Moving Okereke up and pairing Allen with Ezeiruaku is the first visible sign that the club is looking in the same place I am.

I could be wrong about the intent. I'm not wrong about the 758.3.

Brown waits his turn

A.J. Brown is working as the top backup receiver behind Drake London and George Pickens. He caught three passes for 27 yards Sunday, all of it from the bench, and he was listed with an injury designation. London and Pickens each finished just over 10 points. Nobody in that room is running away with anything, which is exactly why Brown being one step away matters. I'd watch his reps more closely than his stat line this week.

The backfield, and a visitor

James Cook III gave the Dragons 22.8 points on Sunday: 95 rushing yards, a touchdown and three catches for 58 more. That is a starter's game, and nobody in practice has suggested otherwise.

On Tuesday morning I saw the agent for free-agent running back Jaleel McLaughlin at the facility with Dragons staff. I don't know what they talked about. It could be the backfield, it could be nothing, it could be a conversation about a player who isn't on my beat. A visit is a scene, not a signing, and I'm reporting it as exactly that. If it turns into something, you'll read about it here.

Shough's job, McKee's role

Tyler Shough has been the first-team quarterback since Oct. 4, and on Sunday he looked like he wants to keep it: three touchdown passes and one on the ground, 26.96 points on just 144 passing yards. Jalen Hurts remains on injured reserve. Tanner McKee, added Oct. 17, is the backup. I've said it before and I'll say it again: McKee is cover, not a challenger. Shough's play has done nothing to change my mind.

Sunday

The Dragons visit the Annihilators, also 2-4, and a team that has scored fewer points than anyone in the league. On paper that is the kind of offense a struggling defense should be able to slow down. That makes Sunday a fair test of what I saw Tuesday. If Okereke and Allen are in the lineup and the points-allowed column finally stays short, the Dragons will have found something. If not, this notebook will have been about two practice reps and a hunch.

I like my hunch. I'll be at practice again tomorrow to see if it holds.