Albert Breer Empties His Commanders Notebook From Training Camp

ASHBURN, Va. — Writing as I fly home, after first going to the wrong D.C. airport (long story). My five takeaways from Commanders camp, and the final practice open to fans.

• Dan Quinn is very much trying to instill a hard edge into his team after he felt like it lost a little bit of that in a come-back-to-earth 2025 season. So what does that mean? Longer practices, more time in pads, and conditioning and hardening a team under the sauna of the DMV summer. It has also meant more game-like conditions for everyone to sharpen their skills. More than anyone else, that’s applied to Quinn’s two new coordinators—David Blough on offense and Daronte Jones on defense. The Commanders are conducting mostly 11-on-11 periods, and most of that work’s been done in “call it” periods, where the coaches don’t have a script, are calling plays against each other and reacting to the circumstances in the moment. That’s great training, of course, for Blough and Jones as they build toward the season. And as for areas where the Commanders are getting the edge Quinn is looking for, corner would certainly be one, where both Amik Robertson and Mike Sainristil are playing with chips on their shoulders, which has been really good for the growth of younger guys like Trey Amos. Safety Jeremy Reaves, who, like Robertson, had to earn his way into the league, is another DB in that category.

• Blough brings new ideas after serving as the team’s assistant quarterbacks coach. This won’t be the Kliff Kingsbury offense he worked under the past two years. There are sprinkles of that, and the Sean McVay–influenced offense he played in under Kevin O’Connell. But there are more of Ben Johnson’s concepts than anyone else’s in what the Commanders are doing, if you had to drill down on the specifics. And that means a pretty significant change for Jayden Daniels, as he heads into his third season after an injury-stricken sophomore campaign. I’d look for Blough to highlight what Daniels is capable of as a passer. You’ll see that in the play-action and keeper game. What might be tougher to pick up is how Blough also plans to leverage Daniels’s football IQ by putting more on him and giving him more command at the line. How Daniels is now working cadence, kills and checks presnap are evidence that he can more than handle it. And, quietly, I get the sense that the staff can’t wait for the football world to see what Daniels is going to be in 2026—especially since a lot of that world seems to have forgotten 2024.

• One thing that’ll certainly help Daniels is Washington’s depth at receiver. The Commanders believe they have eight NFL-quality receivers in camp, which will force tough decisions in a couple of weeks. Terry McLaurin, without last year’s contract drama, is back to being Terry McLaurin. Interestingly, the difference-maker here has been Stefon Diggs, who’s immediately stepped into a leadership role, one he deftly handled last year in New England, and set a high bar for the room (as McLaurin always has). Among the young guys, Luke McCaffrey’s taken another step, and rookie Antonio Williams is one to watch, already capable of playing both the Z (split end) and F (slot) positions, which have made him a really good fit for the new system.

• The offensive line has questions, particularly after the loss of star left tackle Laremy Tunsil to a torn triceps. There’s a shot that he’ll make it back for the playoffs, but the Commanders won’t know for another 6–8 weeks, so they’re moving forward on the assumption that they’ll be without him this year. The staff briefly considered moving Josh Conerly Jr. back to his college position, but decided against it because they really liked his progress at right tackle, having gotten bigger and stronger. Plus, they didn’t want him to have to rewire everything for this year and then go back to the right side next year. So, Brandon Coleman will be at left tackle, as he was as a rookie in 2024, which means Chris Paul will be the left guard. The other question is at center, where veteran Nick Allegretti, who’s got high-end football IQ and is steady, is trying to hold off Julian Good-Jones and rookie Matt Gulbin. Also worth noting: Right guard Sam Cosmi might be the team’s best lineman through camp, coming back from an injury-marred season last year.

• Finally, Jones’s defense is going to be very multiple and throw a ton at offenses (as Daniels and Blough would attest), and that’s going to require having guys with positional flexibility. To that end, the guys up front have proved to be very good fits. Javon Kinlaw’s shown an ability to line up all over the place, and hyper-athletic edge rushers Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson, imported from the Chargers and Patriots, respectively, look like potential Swiss Army knives for Jones as he builds the scheme. And you can put No. 7 pick Sonny Styles in that category, too, as a guy who’s lived up to his reputation in just about every way and looks physically freakish, even among NFL players.

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