Commanders should be concerned after pathetic showing at joint practice

Joint practice raises serious concerns for Washington Commanders

For a team two seasons removed from a surprising trip to the NFC Championship Game, Wednesday offered a worrying look into Washington's future. And it wasn't a one-off.

During preseason Week 2, quarterback Jayden Daniels was sacked in his lone offensive series. Afterward, coach Dan Quinn criticized the entire team effort, telling reporters he was "bothered" by the performance.

Some of Washington's struggles on Wednesday could be attributed to injuries, with guard Sam Cosmi (illness) joining center Nick Allegretti (calf) and tackle Laremy Tunsil (triceps) on the injured list. While Cosmi's absence doesn't appear serious, the Commander may not be as lucky with both Allegretti and Tunsil. And based on the preseason and training camp, their backups don't seem ready for the challenge.

On Monday, Quinn told reporters that Allegretti "isn't there yet" in his recovery. Julian Good-Jones, who's spent the past two seasons on Washington's practice squad, and rookie sixth-rounder Matt Gulbin have received a bulk of the action at center but both have struggled.

The Commanders recently signed tackle DJ Humphries with Tunsil expected to miss the majority (if not the entire) season, and he'll need to quickly ingratiate himself into the offense with 2024 third-rounder Brandon Coleman also failing to take command of the starting role.

Daniels tried to spin the negative day into a positive afterward, suggesting time was still on the team's side. "The good thing is it's August," Daniels said. "Our first game is September 13th."

"We just overall got to keep building and keep growing," he continued. "You're not winning a Super Bowl right now. You're not playing a Super Bowl right now."

That's fair. But what's also true is that Super Bowl teams use the preseason to build good habits, not dig themselves a hole.

It's what makes Baltimore's decisive handling of Washington in Wednesday's joint practice so jarring.

Earlier this week, former Philadelphia Eagles game management coach and Jacksonville Jaguars director of coaching analytics Ryan Paganetti wrote about the importance of joint practices, writing that between them and preseason games, joint practices are much more informative, particularly as it pertains to performances in the trenches.

"These practice reports carry weight to me," Paganetti wrote after Wednesday's session. "For those who have battled me ... saying practice doesn't matter," he continued, "I've been part of teams where the lines look amazing and we ended up in the Super Bowl."

Paganetti continued, also noting there were "seasons where there was at least one major line issue and the team ended up really struggling all year."

Following its training-camp dud, Washington has plenty of ground to cover — particularly along the offensive line — to return to the postseason for the second time in three years under Quinn. Without a marked improvement, it could be another long season for the Commanders.