Commanders coach Dan Quinn arrived frustrated for Sunday’s training camp practice, the team’s first since a 48-18 blowout loss to the New England Patriots in their preseason debut on Friday.
The anger quickly dissipated, he said later, with the realization that there are still 28 days until the regular season opener against the New York Giants. Practicing in front of 4,000 members of the military and their families helped boost the mood, too.
The military’s “after-action reports,” where leadership dissects what went well and what failed during an operation, carried Quinn through the day.
“There’s no levels. It’s just ideas and thoughts and ways to do it better,” Quinn said. “It keeps the emotion adapted and allows you to focus on the task at hand — having you get better at the process.”
Though 30 players — mostly starters and role players recovering from injuries — sat out Friday’s game, Quinn saw holes in the process. The work to patch up the gaps began Sunday.
“These are the things we saw in the game; these are the things we want to identify. Because then you can say, these are the things that we want to work on this week as players, as coaches,” Quinn said. “Then you can flush it.”
The Commanders were messy in all three phases on Friday, allowing a special teams touchdown and tossing a pair of interceptions in the blowout.
It was still a welcome test for rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt.
“I was just blessed to be out there,” the seventh-rounder said.
He’s fighting to be the third man in a crowded running back room that Quinn singled out as one of the strongest groups on the roster. The Arizona product’s first NFL action saw him earn 24 yards on seven carries — not the explosive start he said he was hoping to see.
“I know I can improve on a lot of stuff, so it was good to take some of the things I can improve on and bring it into next week,” Croskey-Merritt said. “I’ve got a lot to clean up right now.”
The preseason performance — combined with how players react during this week’s practices — will factor into the final roster decisions looming at the end of the month. Quinn, like countless media members and fans, has already started rough drafts of what the final group could look like.
“It’s fun; sometimes I’ll snapshot it with my phone. Where am I at in the spring? Where am I at now? What may have changed?” Quinn said. “That allows you to focus in on a few of them. … It makes you think and dig in a little harder.”
The coaching staff brought in several players for tryouts after practice. A roster spot opened up after Friday’s game when offensive tackle Lucas Niang — who signed with the team two weeks ago to replace the recently retired Nate Herbig — tore his ACL.
One rookie won’t have to worry about his spot on the roster — he’s virtually locked in. Cornerback Trey Amos has been making plays since the spring’s rookie minicamps. He kept that trend going with well-played coverage as a starter on Friday.
In the subsequent practice, he terrorized the offense with three endzone pass deflections during a red-zone drill.
The second-round pick’s confidence is palpable. He said he wasn’t shocked by the speed and physicality of the NFL.
“It actually slowed down for me,” he said. “Had to do my job, and that’s what I did.”
The cornerback group is mostly set, with Amos joining returning defensive backs Marshon Lattimore, Mike Sainristil and Noah Igbinoghene alongside Jonathan Jones, who signed with Washington this offseason.
The receiver group has brought more questions, though. Pro Bowler Terry McLaurin has skipped training camp practices as a “hold-in” while he negotiates a new deal. None of his teammates in the receiver room has shone in his absence.
They struggled to find gaps in the secondary on Sunday, allowing countless passes from star quarterback Jayden Daniels to fall harmlessly to the turf. A return to the postseason will require someone from that group to break out.
Rookie receiver Jaylin Lane is still looking to impress after a quiet performance on Friday.
“Didn’t do a lot, but I feel like for my first time on the field, it was fun and I had a good time,” the Virginia Tech product said. “You just got to take the coaching points and the film, take whatever points and just flush it. Don’t dwell on it and never get too low.”
After another week of training camp practices, the Commanders will host the Cincinnati Bengals in their second exhibition game on Saturday.