ASHBURN, Va. -- The Commanders opened their 2024 training camp with a sense of newness: a new coaching staff, a new quarterback room and a new-look roster, with some of those players new to the league and some of those players established veterans hoping to usher in a new era.
On offense, well-traveled veteran Marcus Mariota split first-team reps with prized rookie Jayden Daniels, the No. 2 overall pick -- both offseason additions. Brian Robinson Jr., entering his third year as a Commander, and Austin Ekeler, entering his first year as a Commander but his eighth in the NFL, got backfield reps. Zach Ertz, now with a dozen offseasons under his belt, joined rookie second-rounder Ben Sinnott at tight end.
On defense, rookies Mike Sainristil and Jer'Zhan Newton figure to be big contributors, as do veteran offseason additions Bobby Wagner, Jeremy Chinn, Clelin Ferrell and Dorance Armstrong. They join a holdover group anchored by Pro Bowl defensive linemen Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne.
Meanwhile head coach Dan Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr., both with the Cowboys last year, and offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, back in the NFL after a year with USC, oversaw it all.
While players were not in pads, there was plenty to take away from the practice, which lasted just over an hour.
1. Jayden Daniels looks good in training camp debut; offense emphasizes red zone
There was a heavy emphasis on red-zone work on opening day, and after receiving second-team reps behind Mariota in some of the early positional drills, Daniels rotated in with the first team on seven-on-seven. The highlight from the Heisman trophy winner was a deep shot to Robinson for a touchdown in the right corner of the end zone, a well-placed, well-timed ball to his running back. Robinson made major strides in his pass catching last year, and he tip-toed the sideline to reel the throw in, earning shouts of encouragement on his way back to the field.
On another "drive," Daniels completed short passes to Terry McLaurin, John Bates and Kazmeir Allen, getting his team into the end zone.
Quinn explained that the red zone focus was in part to help his quarterbacks' decision-making in condensed spaces.
"It is the time that you have to push yourself to see if you can make some plays on certain aspects of things offensively, defensively," Quinn said. "If you never push those boundaries to see what you are capable of, you'll never know how far you can take it in a game. Because you certainly don't want to be risk adverse where you're so tight that you don't want to make a play. But there also has to be the balance. So, it's more of the decision making, and those are some things that we'll evaluate. So, having the chance to do more red zone work this training camp, it'll be quite a bit."
2. What the offense looks like around Daniels
Though Daniels is the top storyline at training camp, his supporting cast has some question marks. Here's what the first-team offense (mostly) looked like around the quarterbacks:
- Running back: Brian Robinson Jr.
- Wide receivers: Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson, Dyami Brown
- Tight end: Zach Ertz
- Offensive line (from left to right): Cornelius Lucas, Nick Allegretti, Tyler Biadasz, Sam Cosmi, Andrew Wylie
Lucas has played in 115 games (starting 47) across 10 seasons and five teams. At this very early stage, he got first-team reps over third-round rookie Brandon Coleman, who took second-team left tackle reps. That will be a position battle to watch throughout the coming weeks. Regardless of who starts, it'll be a completely new left side of the line, with Allegretti coming in from Kansas City and Biadasz coming in from Dallas.
Maybe the most crucial addition, though, is Kingsbury. The Cardinals' head coach from 2019-22, Kingsbury had a top-10 unit in 2020 and 2021 in terms of total offense before things fell off in 2022.
Kingsbury, sporting his customary wide-brimmed hat even in cloudy (and, at times, drizzly) conditions, was very active, standing right next to and chatting with his quarterbacks during positional work. The quarterbacks focused a lot on touch passes over "defenders" in the back part of the end zone, sometimes having to read and evade "pressure" before making the throw. It's also worth noting former NFL quarterback David Blough -- now an assistant quarterbacks coach -- was busy in the drill as well.
One drill featured the four quarterbacks plus Blough each throwing a pass while five receiving options -- three wide receivers, a running back and a tight end -- ran routes on air. It required a good bit of concentration to follow five different footballs at once. McLaurin, Dotson, Brown, Robinson and Ertz were the first group to go through. Brycen Tremayne, Luke McCaffrey, Olamide Zaccheaus, Ekeler and Bates followed.
One last note: Mariota was encouraging throughout the practice, often clapping and shouting encouragement for Daniels, Jeff Driskel and Sam Hartman after good reps.
3. New digs at the facility and away from it
In owner Josh Harris' first full offseason, he's pulling out all the stops as he aims to improve the Commanders' experience away from the field. The team is staying at Lansdowne Resort in nearby Leesburg, Va., and Quinn thanked Harris for that opportunity.
"There's some chemistry, there's connections that take place after meetings at the hotel, breakfast meals together, that type of thing," Quinn said. "So, it'll be important. The time together that we have is so intense. That's what training camp is. And so to have everybody close by here, back to it, it pays dividends much like a road trip for a few days would."
Allen and McLaurin, addressing the media after practice, echoed the sentiment.
Andrew Wylie noted the facility itself looks completely different, too.
"It's great getting back with the guys," Wylie said. "The building has undergone a ton of changes. We got a great o-line room now and we got a players' lounge. Just seeing all the guys here, it's good vibes in the locker room, for sure."
4. Odds and ends
- McLaurin said another big difference this year is how the locker room is arranged. In the past, it had been by position. Now, he's next to cornerback Emmanuel Forbes and some linemen.
- Allen said he hired a personal chef for the first time this offseason. "I'm just really trying to go all in, on and off the field," he said. "I'm spending a lot of money on my body and my health off the field so I can perform even better on the field."
- Newton being available to begin training camp -- he'll start with individual drills before adding teams drills -- was a big boost after his offseason food surgery. "He has absolutely busted his ass to do everything he can to get ready, so what a great sign for him," Quinn said.
- In the only other injury news, defensive lineman Efe Obada is on the PUP list.
