Commanders Training Camp Practice Takeaways: Jayden Daniels’ connection remains strong, and rookie builds off of impressive debut
The Commanders looked to bounce back in practice following preseason loss
Dan Quinn and the Washington Commanders are back in Ashburn, Virginia, for the first training camp practice since the loss to the New England Patriots on Friday. Quinn expressed how upset he was with the results from the first preseason game, and now it’s time to get to work to correct the mistakes made.
There were some injuries we are keeping an eye on this week, and also just wanting to see the fight back in the team at practice before the next preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals on August 18th.
Injury updates
Quinn already let us know that OT Lucas Niang suffered a torn ACL on Friday night, but didn’t have a recent update on other injuries we noticed during the game, and prior injuries from last week. We did see who was and wasn’t on the field at practice today, though.
We also saw Jacory Croskey-Merritt leave the game after visiting the blue tent, and Luke McCaffrey was dealing with an illness, according to Quinn, but both were back at practice today. Both of those guys need all the reps possible as young skill position players. Quinn said we should know more about the rest of the injuries on Tuesday.
One strong connection looks unbreakable
We didn’t get to see any of the starters on Friday with the Commanders sitting 30 players for the preseason game, so we had to wait for practice to see them back on the field. It’s good to see that Jayden Daniels and Deebo Samuel still look ready to start the season after the passing game struggled Friday night.
There’s been a lot of talk about the wide receiver room without Terry McLaurin being present, but Samuel has been nothing short of phenomenal since he first arrived in Washington. Samuel and Daniels have had an instant connection, and they’ll be a dangerous duo this season. The two were back at being the talk of practice today.
Corners were making some noise today
The depth at the corner position concerned me when it came to players fighting for a roster spot, but it’s good to know the starters are still the best that the Commanders have had for a while.
Rookie Trey Amos followed up a great debut in the preseason with a solid practice as a top corner on the team. I was impressed with the coverage he had on Mack Hollins on a fade into the end zone, and his ability to get a tackle in open space at the line of scrimmage. I’m ready to see him running with the full starting defense.
Marshon Lattimore obviously didn’t play in the preseason game, but he’s looked really good in practice, and he dominated again today with multiple pass breakups and a near interception.
Kicker update
Quinn said they aren’t ready to bring in competition for a kicker yet, but Matt Gay missed his kick from 49 on Friday and chipped one in from 37. Today was the opposite for Gay as he made one from 50+, but missed a 38-yard kick.
The Commanders need to bounce back this week, and they have plenty of time to work on the mistakes before they play the Bengals next Monday night. They also worked out seven players after practice, whom I’ll have a follow-up on when the list of names comes out. This team has wrinkles to iron out before the season, and Quinn will get them right in practice.
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