Former Bengals LB Jordan Evans happy to be playing again in XFL and leading Seattle’s defense

Perhaps overlooked in the dramatic ending of the XFL Seattle Sea Dragons’ 22-18 loss in their first game Sunday night at the D.C. Defenders was a defensive effort that would have been good enough to win most games.

The defense, which held D.C. to 177 yards and forced three-and-outs on 6 of 10 possessions, is one reason for Seattle to be optimistic heading into Thursday night’s home opener against the St. Louis BattleHawks at Lumen Field.

“I was very impressed with how the defense played,” said linebacker Jordan Evans, a team captain who played five seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals. “There were some things we looked at on film and corrected individually, but it was nice to see the effort that the guys played with and the things we were able to do.”

That effort didn’t translate to a win, mostly because of three turnovers by quarterback Ben DiNucci, who otherwise had a productive game. But D.C. scored on a pick-six, and another interception deep in Seattle territory led to D.C.’s go-ahead score.

Yet the Sea Dragons were in position to win in the final seconds after their defense stuffed D.C. on a fourth-and-two play from the Seattle 41 with 2 minutes, 11 seconds left.

DiNucci methodically drove the Sea Dragons toward a potential winning score, getting to the 1-yard line with 29 seconds left. But then disaster struck. After spiking the ball to stop the clock, DiNucci fumbled on the next play and the Defenders recovered.

”It was a quarterback option and he should have pitched it right away,” Sea Dragons coach Jim Haslett said about the fumble that essentially ended the game. ” (DiNucci) kind of thought the (defender) was going upfield to take (the pitch man,) so he tucked it away.”

The Sea Dragons won most of the statistical battles, outgaining the Defenders by a nearly 2-to-1 ratio (331-173), but perhaps the biggest stat was Seattle’s three turnovers to D.C.’s one.

“You’re going to make mistakes and everybody understands that, but the ones that cost you touchdowns are the ones that really hurt,” Haslett said.

Evans was just happy to be back on the field after suffering a torn ACL with the Bengals in October 2021, ending his season. Sunday’s game was his first since that injury.

“It was a blessing,” said Evans, who was second on the team with four tackles. “I had a lot of gratitude playing and I just loved being out there, flying around and tackling … and doing all those things that I missed out on for 16 months.”

Evans tried out for several NFL teams this past summer but was not signed.

Enter the Sea Dragons and Haslett, who was the Bengals linebackers coach during Evans’ first two years with the team (2017-18). Evans was fifth on the Bengals in tackles in 2018 with 61 despite his season ending early because of an ankle injury.

“He is long and lanky, he can run and he’s really smart,” Haslett, a former NFL linebacker, said about Evans. “He’s got great ball skills.”

Evans said in retrospect that he wasn’t 100% physically when he tried out for NFL teams last summer. But he said he feels back to normal now, and Haslett said Evans looks as good as ever.

Evans has the most NFL experience on the team, and as one of two captains along with DiNucci, he said it’s important to be a good leader.

“When you get put into that position, you’ve got to hold yourself to a higher level,” Evans said. ”Not only on the vocal side as a team captain but on the physical side. You want to play hard and practice hard and hopefully the guys see that.”

The next challenge is a BattleHawks offense that scored 15 points in the final 90 seconds Sunday to overcome a 12-point deficit and get an improbable 18-15 win over San Antonio.

There hasn’t been a lot of time to prepare. The Sea Dragons got back to their home base in Arlington, Texas, at 6 a.m. Monday and flew to Seattle on Wednesday.

“In 44 years of football, this is the shortest turnaround I’ve been involved in, but the other team has the same issue,” Haslett said.

DiNucci remains the starter at quarterback, but backup Steven Montez, who played one series Sunday, should also see time.

“Ben was productive (35 of 54 for 282 yards and a touchdown) and he did a good job,” Haslett said. “He just has to take that bad decision-making out of his system.”

This time, the Sea Dragons will have the crowd on their side.

“We know that the fans are probably looking forward to having our home opener and guys are really excited to play in front of our home crowd,” Evans said.