Commanders Pressers: Everything David Blough Said Before Week 1 vs. Eagles

The Washington Commanders are days away from opening the 2026 season against the Philadelphia Eagles, and offensive coordinator David Blough met with reporters Thursday to discuss Jayden Daniels, Stefon Diggs, Antonio Williams, Washington's offensive line and the challenge awaiting his unit in Week 1.

You've been around Jayden now obviously all three of his years. How would you compare this summer to what you've seen from him in the past and what you saw from him?

“Sure. This is the young man that we saw from day one, man. He has come in every day. Really, a lot of communication in the offseason, but April 20th we started and he has been the same guy. Has been arriving early, staying late, attacking his physical side of it as much as the mental. And I'm excited for everybody to see him again.”

He talks about not feeling pressure to remind people what he was, but can you see anything behind the scenes where there's a little bit more with him this year because of what he experienced last year?

“You know, I'd say he's very internally motivated, and it's been that way ever since he's been here. His life has changed a lot over the last few years, and we have seen him come in and do excellent things at this level, and there's things to build off of too. So he knows there's areas he's got to work at to get better. And that's our job as coaches, trying to challenge him in those spaces, and then he can go ahead and go take it and run from there. And we're just trying to provide the direction to help him, whether it's persevere through last year or help as we grow and go into '26.”

Sticking with Jayden, I think you and Quinn have both mentioned his accuracy in camp. What have you seen in that regard change? What has helped him become even more accurate, if that's possible?

“You know, he's always had kind of an innate ability to keep the ball out of harm's way. When you watch the college tape, his first couple years, that shows up on the tape. And then, you know, we learn by repetition. So the more reps that he has had with the same pass catchers, this group of guys, the more times in this system, you just see it. You see his brain processing it more. That's why, in my opinion, we'll see a guy tonight play who I think has gotten better with time. Quarterbacks, as they just take all the reps that they have over the culmination of a career, they continue to get better because it really is so mental, and trying to pull from that bank of all the data points that you have to be able to anticipate and throw early, different things like that.”

With the injuries last season, dealing with that adversity and some of the off-field stuff that has come out and led to criticism, what have you seen from him in how he's handled that and processed it while still keeping his focus on football?

“You know, he's the same guy that we've always seen. He was elected a captain by his teammates, which is as high an honor as you can get in this league. And we are excited that he is our quarterback.”

What have you learned about Stefon Diggs since he walked in the building that maybe you didn't know before he got here?

“Sure. I think from day one you could just feel his passion for competing, and that's what we thrive on here. You all have heard DQ say it. I'm incredibly competitive. Our whole unit is. And so he didn't miss a beat just walking in, being incredibly competitive. And there's a reason he's got however many thousand yards and receptions and where he's at on all those lists. It's just because of how much he loves this game and competes.”

How would you describe Stefon Diggs' football IQ?

“I would describe it as high. For the same reason that we talk about Jayden becoming more accurate every year. He's seen all the zones. He's seen all the mans. He's seen the different techniques. He's had the conversations with a lot of high-level play callers that he's gotten to be around. And so all these opportunities are shaping how he views the game now, and that's really what we all are. So, you know, it's exciting for us to have that as part of the room.”

On the topic of Stefon, he was careful with his words when asked if his chemistry is where he wants it to be with Jayden going into Week 1 because he wants perfection. Is it where you want it to be Week 1 between Jayden and Stefon?

“Yeah, I think that's fair. I think we know that we will continue to evolve as a unit. So what we see on Sunday may not be the same connection that you see Week 15, Week 17, as we progress throughout the season. So I'm excited for them to get to display the work that has gone in for the last month, and then even as we continue to build on it from there.”

We've heard a lot from the staff and players that we really haven't seen everything this new offense and defense are going to show in the regular season. But if we're not seeing it out there and you're not repping it as much because we're not seeing it, what gives you confidence that it's ready for Week 1?

“What gives me confidence is that this game always comes down to fundamentals. And the team that blocks better, the team that tackles better, the team that throws and catches better, the team that takes care of the football better will win the game. And we've been drilling it. We've been teaching. So I'm excited for people to see what our unit's about and our play style on full display. But, you know, we know as a group what it comes down to.”

#Commanders OC David Blough on his confidence in the starting offense:

“I’m excited for people to see what our unit is about and our playstyle on full display” pic.twitter.com/HokySkZvRo
— brandon (@JayDanielsMVP) September 10, 2026

You guys have a bunch of different types of running backs in your backfield. How does that diversify what you can do in the ground game?

“Sure. You know, I think they do different things well, so we may not ask them to all do the same thing. And then we're going to try to utilize them to their strengths, at the end of the day, to put us in an advantageous position to continue to do that.”

Within the run game, Jayden Daniels obviously has a lot of ability in that department. How do you go about picking your spots from a play-calling perspective for when it's time to press that button and use that skill set versus when you try to preserve him a little bit?

“Right. And I think with every play you call or every play you design, every rep you take, there's risk involved in all of it. And we try to look at all those things as we make the decisions, whether it's critical downs, whether it's different ways to utilize it to be able to let it work into our favor. There's different ways that we can try to set that up to help protect him. And then, man, at the end of the day, it does come down to teaching. It's, ‘Okay, is it smart to slide here? Is it smart to get out of bounds? How do we protect our head? How do we protect our shoulders?’ All those things. So we spend a lot of time trying to help him grow in that area too.”

What complications, if any, do the Eagles' two bigger interior defensive linemen, Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis, provide for you?

“Yeah, sure. I mean, premier players in our league. So we as a group have the utmost respect for their defensive line, Coach Fangio, what they've been able to accomplish over the last few years. And, you know, Jordan and Jalen, they both bring a different element with physicality and stopping the run and rushing the passer. So we'll have to be on our A-game and have a good plan for handling both of those guys.”

For the Commanders defense that you saw all summer, how did they prepare you not just for the Eagles defense but for any of the top defenses in the league?

“Yeah, I think what I mentioned about Stefon is this whole thing has been set up around competing. We wanted to capture that. And so with all the call periods, everything we've done in training camp, our offensive unit has had to go out and prepare for unscouted looks on installs. It's not just scripted plays, very similar to how the game will be on Sunday. So I think all the repetition, like we talk about for us for learning, all the unscripted stuff will come to life. They'll have something that we haven't seen before, and those experiences will help us draw from that to be more prepared for it.”

As you've called plays throughout the preseason and now going into Week 1, what's the collaboration like with Dan Quinn about when to pick your spots, when to take shots and when maybe not to?

“Yeah, I think those are ongoing conversations. Even if it's him coming in, sitting in the office and saying, ‘Hey, when are you going to get to this play?’ Or, ‘Hey, when are we thinking that this could come up?’ It's all of us being on the same page about how we're going to attack. And he sets the direction for Daronte and I, and to both units, for how we try to make sure we're shooting at the same target to go win collectively as a team, in a complementary style.”

You have a rookie wide receiver making his NFL debut on Sunday in Antonio Williams. What have you seen in his progression over this past month that makes you believe he's ready for this moment, and what type of factor can he be Sunday?

“Yeah, a lot of growth. I think since the first day we've had him, he has been a joy to work with, and you see kind of the eagerness to learn. And then as we've progressed throughout, him earning rep share, different things over the course of the time, he has not flinched in any moment. So, you know, similar to a lot of guys on our offense, he's made for kind of those big-time moments. And we knew that when we were evaluating him. He has confirmed that hunch since being here. So we're excited about him and his growth, and we'll see where it goes.”

Speaking of moments, Sunday is going to be a big moment for you in your own coaching journey, your first time calling plays at the NFL level. In terms of emotions and butterflies, what do you think you're going to be feeling Sunday?

“I think we'll all be ready to compete. You know, I think you can trust your instincts when they're founded in hard work, and our whole group has done that. So that's kind of the mantra for us. We're going to go cut it loose and let it all out there.”

How much has your experience being part of the process of game-planning against this Eagles defense and Vic Fangio during the last two years with Jayden helped you feel comfortable this week leading up to the game?

“Sure, man. They're so sound as a defense. You know how they attack you, where they try to stress you as an offense. And they got a lot of really good players who have been there for a long time. So we've seen matchups with some of our familiar players. We've seen things that Jayden does well. We've seen ways that they've tried to attack us. So all of those data points for us kind of go into how we build the plan to get after them this week.”

How excited are you to see this offensive line come together, not just this week in practice but Sunday, after having some injuries early in training camp and guys in and out of the lineup? How excited are you to see them in a new system compared to where they were last season?

“Sure. I'm very excited, man. We have so much confidence in that group and the room as a whole, and Darnell's done a fantastic job getting those guys ready. It's been cool to see Brandon, after Laremy goes down, just step in and do a really good job. And so I'm excited to see them gel. That takes time, and we're really confident in that.”

Following up on that, what challenges does it present trying to game-plan and put everything together with the snap counts and identifying defenses with all the injuries the offensive line had during training camp?

“Man, we roll. We understand there's injuries that occur throughout the course of a season. They certainly do at any time. But we put the next man in and we operate as we're rolling from there.”

You're going up against Vic Fangio calling the defense for them, arguably maybe the best defensive coordinator in the league. Do you like getting thrown into the deep end automatically in Week 1, or would you feel that way about any opponent?

“Yeah, we want, as a unit — not even speaking for myself, but as a unit — we want to play against the best. And this defense was premier, and we know we get some awesome opportunities to start that way. So as we look at Philly and how we try to game-plan them and get ready for them, we know that they are an excellent unit and we have our hands full, and we'll be ready.”

This is a question for David Blough, the former quarterback. When you've been around Jayden and watched him do what he does, is there any part of you going, ‘Come on, man, you're doing that too easily,’ or anything you're a little bit envious of him about as a quarterback?

“Often. Often. Man, I always wish I could run. I wish I was as tall as he was. I wish I could see. There's a lot of things that he could do that I wish I certainly could have done.”

Taking a look at the tight end group, they're often utilized almost as an extension of the offensive line with their blocking ability and the progression of offensive plays. What have you seen from that group from that respect in their overall blocking ability? How confident are you in where they are right now?

“Sure. I think, similar to the question as it pertains to running backs and how they do different things, there's different flavors in that room as well. So there are certainly fundamentals that we teach in blocking that these guys have progressed at throughout the course of the offseason, but guys have different strong suits in that space as well. And we will try to utilize them to the best of their abilities there to make sure that we put ourselves in advantageous positions.”

Understanding it's Week 1 and it's a progression, at the start of OTAs you talked about three areas you were focused on: ball security, explosiveness and situational football. For this week, where do you think you are in that progression?

“I think all three of those, similar to the fundamentals conversation, all three of those directly correlate to winning football. We've hammered it home. We work it really hard. So if we want to put ourselves in position on Sunday, all three of those need to go in our favor.”

Blough and the Commanders will get their first opportunity to put the new offense on full display Sunday when Washington opens its season on the road against Philadelphia.

Below is the full press conference:

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