Commanders Training Camp: Offense vs. Defense ... in Pads!
ASHBURN, Va. -- Fans were back in attendance Tuesday for Day 6 of Washington Commanders training camp, and for those attending for the first time they picked the perfect day.
Tuesday was the first day in pads for the Commanders and an opportunity to turn talk into action as players got as close to hitting someone as they will before heading on the road to face the Cleveland Browns in their first preseason contest.
And that's where we're starting today's training camp notebook.
CLASH IN THE TRENCHES
The team started its first padded practice with stretches and individual drills but when the offense and defense met on the field it was in a goal line scenario.
"It was exhilarating," Washington offensive tackle Alex Akinbulu said when asked about the first pop of the pads this season. "It kind of snaps you back into that mode. After that first one then it's like, 'Okay, we're in it now.'"
Akingbulu, according to my expert media opinion, won all three of his reps in one-on-one drills in matchups against rookie defensive linemen Andre Jones Jr. and Joshua Pryor.
Another player who went undefeated according to our count was defensive lineman Benning Potoa'e.
"It feels really good," Potoa'e said. "Obviously it's a game of competition, we're out here competing against each other...so it's good to win."
PLAY OF THE DAY
Our play of the day is going to be a little bit different and it doesn't come from any team-on-team drills, but rather from the offensive and defensive line one-on-ones.
Toward the end of the session, undrafted rookie free agent Mason Brooks lined up as an interior lineman against second-year defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis.
Mathis was the Commanders' second-round NFL Draft pick out of Alabama last year and Brooks came out of Ole Miss this year - so there's a history there.
While Mathis isn't exactly expected to be a dominant pass rusher for Washington's defense as he's more of a space-eater and run-stopper, nobody expected Brooks to win as easily as he did in the matchup.
And he did it twice.
Called up to reset the drill and do it again not only did Brooks handle Mathis in both reps, he actually did better in the second and had his counterpart face down in the grass by the time it was over.
Of course, in these drills it's inevitable a guy will lose - even defensive end Chase Young lost one of his sets against a second-team offensive tackle - but to see that big of a disparity in the matchup was surprising, and deserving of our play of the day.
HOWELL WATCH DAY 6
The Commanders quarterback completed five of his 10 pass attempts on Day 6 starting with a 2-for-2 performance in his first set while taking his first-team offense against the second-team defense.
Outside of the two passes the rest of the set was dedicated to running plays as Washington looked to take advantage of the first padded practice of the year.
Perhaps the best play of the day we saw from Howell's unit came in goal line when the quarterback connected on a shuffle pass to tight end Logan Thomas for what looked to be an easy touchdown.
However, after witnessing previous iterations of that same play we know it is not easy - just something that looks that way after much practice.
It was a clean day in 11s as far as interceptions are concerned, but Howell did have a botched handoff to running back Antonio Gibson at one point that certainly looked to be an error on the quarterback.
Find David Harrison on the Locked On Commanders podcast or text him directly at (202) 760-2188.
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