The Good and Not So Good From Commanders’ Sixth Training Camp Practice

Jayden Daniels and Luke McCaffrey stacked another strong day, Washington hit its first true deep touchdown of camp and the increased physicality led to several confrontations.

Washington Commanders wide receiver Terry McLaurin lines up across from cornerback Mike Sainristil during training camp practice in Ashburn, Virginia. | HTTR4LIFE LLC/Screenshot

The Washington Commanders were back at it on Wednesday, with pads back on, in rainy and muggy conditions in Ashburn, Virginia. The offense was able to stack another solid day, as Jayden Daniels and Marcus Mariota put together multiple red-zone scores and the first true big-play touchdown of camp. That said, the defense still created several standout individual moments, while the added physicality produced the first chippiness of camp.

The Good

Daniels was golden for a second straight day as the former second-overall pick continues to settle in and get comfortable in new offensive coordinator David Blough's system. On the day, Daniels found Ben Sinnott, Terry McLaurin, Dyami Brown, and Luke McCaffrey for touchdowns. He also recorded his very first rushing touchdown of camp; Kliff Kingsbury would have crossed that bridge on day 1. Stringing together good practices while getting more and more comfortable with Blough's vision and concepts is a good sign that things are on the right track.

After an impressive practice on Tuesday, McCaffrey caught another touchdown and showed he can be shifty enough to win multiple reps against Mike Sainristil, who is no slouch. McCaffrey's continued improvement is a sign he is ready for more than just returner detail.

Marcus Mariota delivered training camp's first home-run-like touchdown on a play to Jacoby Jones, who beat the coverage with a pretty nasty double move. Jones needed a play that made his name rise above some of the others in that crowded receiver room. Mariota later threw touchdowns on three consecutive plays, respectively to Kaytron Allen, Quentin Moore, and Nick Nash.

The increased use of movement, misdirection, and unusual personnel packages is further evidence of Blough's lineage, both as a player and as a coach. There are shades of Ben Johnson's offense, with more to come. Ben Sinnott using a mesh concept to create traffic that helped free Antonio Williams for a touchdown was another sign of that. The offense also appears to be readying itself for the idea that trick plays will happen; on Wednesday, they got Laremy Tunsil involved.

Tight end Colson Yankoff continues to take advantage of his time on the field, making a one-handed grab from rookie Athan Kaliakmanis near the sideline. It seems every day Yankoff keeps his name in the conversation with another play.

The defense's best moments of the day included Joshua Josephs producing backfield disruption, Kain Medrano recording a tackle for loss, and Sonny Styles stopping Croskey-Merritt during goal-line work.

One on One showdown. WR's vs. DB's.

Here are the reps for Mike Sainristil

vs. Terry ❌
vs. Lane ✅
vs. Hilton Jr. ❌
vs. Terry ❌ pic.twitter.com/gYz1dLSQGI

— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) August 5, 2026

The Not So Good

McCaffrey and Sainristil had to be physically separated from one another at one point after their competitive sides came out a bit too much. That seemed like an isolated incident until Nick Cross made late contact with Kaytron Allen after a touchdown; Allen's response was to throw the ball at Cross. Van Jefferson got involved with Cross after that. Less than 20 minutes later, another shoving exchange between Quan Martin and Jacoby Jones signaled a trend. The best on offense versus the best on defense is supposed to bring out a certain amount of competitive emotion, but going too far or making contact after the whistle is a different story and should be handled by the staff directly.

Jaden Bradley had a touchdown against Will Harris earlier in the day using his height to his advantage, but then turned around and dropped a pass later. Kaliakmanis overthrew Tunsil on the trick-play attempt that otherwise worked perfectly. Both situations illustrate the same issue: creative design and favorable matchups mean nothing when the final execution is botched.

There was no kicking Wednesday, which gets a thumbs down from me.

Athan with a slight overthrow to Tunsil pic.twitter.com/psAbaXAfOi

— Denton Day (D-Day) (@TheDentonDay) August 5, 2026

The offense had itself a day and has now strung back-to-back positive performances together. McCaffrey is certainly making a case for himself. Washington produced its most physical and competitive practice yet, but they need to learn how to bottle that intensity without allowing confrontations to interrupt the work at hand.

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