Jayden Daniels may wind up taking the entire preseason in street clothes, and Dan Quinn sounds fine with that.
Speaking Tuesday, the Commanders head coach said he could be comfortable letting Daniels get through August without a preseason snap. Quinn hasn’t locked in that decision yet, though, and said he wants to see more from Daniels and the rest of the roster this week before making the call.
His logic is straightforward: Daniels already got a significant dose of work in last week’s joint practice against Miami, and he’ll have more chances to work against Washington’s own defense this week. In Quinn’s view, those reps can stand in for preseason game action.
What’s pushing Quinn toward that comfort level is what he’s seen from Daniels all camp. The rookie quarterback, now operating in a new David Blough offense, has shown enough command that Quinn said it does not look like a new system for him.
So the question is no longer simply whether Daniels needs preseason snaps to prove he understands the playbook. It’s whether Quinn believes the work he’s already gotten is enough to get him ready.
The offensive line and run game, meanwhile, are still a work in progress. Quinn said the run game on both sides of the line is “not yet” where the staff wants it, and he pointed to padded practices as the place where progress should start showing up in a bigger way.
“Yeah, I would say on both sides of the line, not yet,” he said. “And that’s to be expected.
It does make a significant impact on the padded days, where we get more reps, and so tomorrow you’ll see even more of that, John. But we’re making progress.
The combinations, the speed off the ball...we’re not where we will be, but I would say, in terms of the targeting of where we’re going to, who’s blocking who, yeah, we’re making progress.”
When Quinn was asked whether the issues were mainly tied to reshuffling the offensive line and the absence of center Nick Allegretti, he pushed back on the idea that personnel was the central problem. Instead, he emphasized technique, combinations, timing, and speed.
“Not as much of that. I haven’t evaluated by the personnel, more just the technique, the combinations of that,” Quinn said.
“So, I wouldn’t say there’s a lot of errors, just the timing and the speed of it. That’s really what I want to see more of.”
Taken together, Quinn’s answers point to a roster that still needs more reps before it reaches regular-season shape, even if Daniels himself already looks far enough along to potentially skip the preseason entirely.
Washington also made a round of roster moves Tuesday. The team released punter Matt Haack and kicker Jake Moody, while placing wide receiver River Cracraft and running back Jerome Ford on Reserve/Injured. To fill those spots, the Commanders signed linebacker Krys Barnes, defensive tackle Maurice Hurst II, tight end Tre McKitty, and running back Craig Reynolds.
On Ford, Quinn said, “Yeah, he had a hamstring injury from the game.”
The shakeup adds another layer of turnover at the back end of the roster as Washington turns its preseason attention to Detroit this week.
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