The Cowboys’ NFC East outlook may have just gotten a little cleaner, and the timing matters.
Washington took a major hit over the weekend when five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil suffered a torn triceps, according to Mike Garafolo and Steve Wyche of NFL Network. The Commanders are expected to be without him for at least a significant portion of the regular season.
That’s a brutal loss for Washington and a pretty obvious boost for Dallas, which faces the Commanders in Weeks 2 and 18. If the Cowboys are trying to build an edge in the division race, those matchups suddenly look a lot more favorable.
Tunsil’s absence leaves Jayden Daniels without his blindside protector, and that’s not a small thing. Brandon Coleman or Andrew Wylie could take over at left tackle, but the Commanders are now staring at a season where Daniels may have to operate without one of the best pieces of his protection plan.
The report doesn’t put a firm timeline on Tunsil’s return, but “significant portion” of the season could easily mean more than half the year. That would be a massive challenge for Washington, especially with Daniels coming off an injury-riddled season of his own.
The Commanders needed stability up front. Instead, their passing game now looks like it will be fighting uphill.
Dallas already had reasons to feel good about its path, but this injury makes the picture even clearer. The Cowboys can open the season 2-0 if they handle the Giants and then take advantage of a Tunsil-less Commanders team. And while the Eagles remain the biggest obstacle in the division, Washington no longer looks like the same kind of threat it did before this injury.
There’s still plenty to watch on defense. Fans are already high on defensive coordinator Christian Parker, Caleb Downs looks like the real deal, and Malachi Lawrence is being talked about as a sleeper for Defensive Rookie of the Year. Add in a full season of Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark, and there’s no shortage of reasons to believe this unit can make life miserable for offensive lines.
For Washington, though, this is a gut punch. For Dallas, it’s one more reason the road to the NFC East title in 2026 may have just opened up a little wider.
In Other News...
Commanders Suddenly Have One Veteran Tackle Option Fans Will Recognize
Laremy Tunsils torn triceps has put the Commanders in an early bind on the left side of their line, with the veteran tackle expected to miss a significant chunk of the regular season. When a team loses a player with that kind of importance, the conversation quickly turns from depth chart shuffling to the more awkward question of whether help has to come from outside the building.
John Keim floated one familiar name on a podcast as a possible fit, pointing to a veteran left tackle who is currently unsigned and has ties to Washingtons staff. For now, though, there has been no reported confirmation that the Commanders are actually pursuing him, which leaves open the possibility that they try to solve the problem internally before making any bigger move. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Defense Is Taking On Daronte Jones Identity Fast
Daronte Jones is only getting started in his first season as the Washington Commanders defensive coordinator, but the personality of his group is already coming into focus. EDGE Odafe Oweh and outside linebacker Leo Chenal have described it as an attack-style defense, the kind of approach that asks defenders to play fast, be aggressive and set the tone before an offense can settle in.
For Washington, that early identity matters because camp is where habits harden and roles start to take shape. Jones is trying to stamp his own style on a unit that will be judged not just on scheme, but on how quickly it embraces that edge and carries it into the season. The next test is whether that energy holds once the live bullets start flying and the defense has to prove the label is more than just a summer description. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Suddenly Have A Jayden Daniels Problem They Feared Most
Training camp was already giving the Commanders enough to sort through, and the latest hit lands where they can least afford it. After an offseason built around helping Jayden Daniels and stabilizing the offense, Washington suddenly has to rework the left side of its line after Laremy Tunsil went down in practice, a blow that shifts the focus from fine-tuning to damage control as the season approaches.
The timing makes the loss especially uneasy because the Commanders were counting on that spot to help protect a young quarterback and keep the offense on schedule. Now the depth chart has to be reshuffled quickly, with Brandon Coleman and Andrew Wylie among the names in the mix, and Washington's next move at tackle could end up shaping how much of Daniels' growth is visible early in the year. [Read more 🡒]