The Commanders are heading into a short week with a familiar set of problems hanging over them, and Dan Quinn spent another day at the podium trying to steer the conversation toward fixes. Washington is 2-5-1 entering Week 10, and the issues that have tripped them up all season are still front and center: penalties, especially pre-snap on offense, and too many stalled trips in the red zone.
Quinn said the red zone has been a major point of emphasis over the last two weeks, while cleaning up the penalty problem remains a priority for the entire team. With the condensed schedule, there hasn’t been much time to breathe, much less reset, as the Commanders prepare for their second game of the season against the New York Giants.
One of the biggest lineup decisions is at center, where Washington has been searching for stability all year. The team released Tyler Biadasz and has been trying to settle the position ever since.
Lucas Patrick was brought in and quickly took over, but he’s in the concussion protocol and won’t be cleared by Thursday night. That leaves the Commanders choosing between veteran Nick Allegretti and sixth-round rookie Matt Gulbin, who stepped in last Sunday after Patrick left the game.
Quinn confirmed an earlier report that Allegretti will start at center. It’s a return to the role he was expected to claim before an injury wiped out most of his training camp.
Jayden Daniels also returned to the podium after practice on Wednesday after getting a break from the press the day before. Quinn had already spent much of the week fielding questions about how Washington turns a 2-5-1 record into something better, and the conversation didn’t stop there. He also addressed defensive improvement, whether this is a must-win game, and a number of personnel topics, including his collaboration with David Blough.
The list of other subjects stretched well beyond the center spot. Quinn was asked about the lack of tight end production, as well as Sam Cosmi, K’lavon Chaisson, Van Jefferson, and Austin Ekeler.
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Commanders Defense Faces Heat After Chaissons Blunt Take On Rams Loss
The Commanders defense had a long week to sit with what went wrong in the 20-13 loss to the Rams, and KLavon Chaisson did not try to soften the edge of it. Los Angeles leaned heavily on Puka Nacua, who finished with 14 catches for 150 yards and a touchdown, and the repeated success of that approach became the central problem Washington could not solve.
Chaisson pointed to the lack of adjustment as the issue, underscoring how the defense let a predictable plan keep working anyway. For a unit that needed to be sharper in a tight game, the frustration was less about surprise and more about failing to respond once the pattern was obvious. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Face A Brutal Thursday Reality In NFC East Race
A short week has turned into a meaningful one for the Commanders, who head into Thursday nights matchup with the Giants knowing the NFC East picture already has some early separation. New York sits atop the division, and Washington needs a win just to keep pace in a race that can tighten or slip away quickly when these head-to-head games start stacking up.
The matchup has also taken on a different edge with the betting market moving toward the Giants, a sign of how much confidence there is in New York entering the prime-time spot. For Washington, the assignment is straightforward but unforgiving: handle a division rival on a short week, or watch the standings get a little harder to chase. [Read more 🡒]
Commanders Defense Has A Chance To Prove This Progress Is Real
The Commanders defense has started to look more like the unit Dan Quinn envisioned, and the recent uptick has given the coaching staff reason to believe the turnaround is more than a short-lived spike. Quinn has pointed to defensive coordinator Daronte Jones as part of the improvement, with Washington cleaning up some of the issues that were costing it earlier in the season and giving up fewer points in the process.
Thursday night brings a familiar test, with the Giants back on the schedule and another chance for Washington to show the progress can hold up under pressure. For a defense that needed to steady itself, the challenge now is not just playing better for a week, but proving the gains can survive a quick turnaround and another divisional matchup. [Read more 🡒]