'That's How You Win Five Games': Commanders' Offensive Line Alarm Blares Before Cutdown Day
Week of Sat, Aug 22 – Sat, Aug 29 · generated Aug 29, 6:24 AM EDT
There is a very specific stomach-drop that comes with watching your team's offensive line get manhandled in the preseason, the kind where you already know how the group chat is going to sound before you even check it, and this week the Commanders delivered that feeling in bulk. Between a joint practice in Owings Mills that one veteran beat reporter called the worst she's seen this offense look in years, a season-ending injury and surgery for starting left tackle Laremy Tunsil, a center room held together with tape and hope, and a safety bluntly reminding everyone that flat practices are how you win five games, this was a week that tested the "it's only August" mantra to its absolute limit. Throw in a rookie linebacker getting run out of town on Twitter, a quarterback who would rather talk about September than his old jersey number, and the team's online store selling out of merchandise with a name ownership swears it will never bring back, and you have the full, chaotic Commanders experience in one seven-day window.
The headline event of the week was Wednesday's joint practice against the Ravens, and it was not subtle. Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic didn't hedge, writing plainly that it was "the worst I've ever seen the Commanders' offense in years," and calling the line "inoperable". Jeremy Reaves, for his part, wasn't in the business of handing out excuses afterward, telling teammates flatly, "That's how you win five games". Ben Standig allowed for context, missing linemen on both sides, no game-plan wrinkles, but still called it "a rough, rough showing" where the Commanders' offensive line "gave up pressure most plays", while John Keim noted the run game struggled and tackle Brandon Coleman admitted the day was "up and down". It wasn't a total wipeout: rookie receiver Antonio Williams flashed real footwork and vet savvy, drawing praise from Daniels for asking questions, and capped the day by hauling in a fourth-down touchdown thrown off Daniels' back foot as he absorbed a would-be sack, and cornerback Mike Sainristil picked off Lamar Jackson late. NBC Sports Washington's JP Finlay relayed a line from Mike Jones that probably sums up the vibe best: "If fans are worried I assure you Dan Quinn and Adam Peters are 10x more concerned".
While the joint practice score-settling got the attention, the more structural problem is that the Commanders are dealing with an offensive line held together by depth pieces. Laremy Tunsil's injury has already forced surgery, and the team responded by signing D.J. Humphries, though Brandon Coleman remains on track to open the season at left tackle regardless. Tunsil watched Wednesday's practice from about 20 yards behind the offense rather than participating, a visual Nicki Jhabvala didn't need to editorialize much on when she wrote, simply, "The Commanders need a center. Badly. Still. That is all". Nick Allegretti has been out for most of camp with a calf strain suffered on the very first day, briefly returned, then aggravated it again, leaving John Keim to note that Sam Cosmi's absence "made a difference" and that the team "needs a stronger plan" behind Allegretti. ESPN's John Keim and Jhabvala both flagged, on video, how much this lingering injury list has cost the team in valuable practice time heading into final cuts.
Through all of it, Jayden Daniels has been the calmest person in the building, which is either reassuring or exactly what you'd expect from a quarterback who has clearly decided panic is not a good use of August. Asked about the ugly joint practice, Daniels called it "not the best day that I thought we could've had, all around, myself and everybody else," but framed it as "an opportunity that we can learn from". He was even more direct about perspective later, saying, "You're not winning a Super Bowl right now. You're not playing for a Super Bowl right now", and reminding everyone that the season opener is September 13 and that's "when it really matters". Off the field, Daniels made clear he's done discussing his dispute with LSU over his old jersey number, telling reporters he's "said everything I needed to say," after his lawyer sent the school a cease-and-desist letter, with Nicki Jhabvala noting she asked about it specifically because it "left many questions unanswered". Separately, there's real belief within the building that a retooled offense, and a tight end room bolstered by free-agent addition Chig Okonkwo, could unlock a new gear for Daniels once the O-line issues get sorted.
Amid the O-line panic, rookie linebacker Sonny Styles became his own separate lightning rod this week, with Riggo's Rag arguing the backlash around his preseason play "exposes how quickly perspective has been abandoned". A to Z Sports took a similar line, suggesting Dan Quinn is deliberately keeping Washington's "most exciting" plans for Styles under wraps rather than reacting to outside criticism. It's the kind of overreaction cycle this fan base knows well: a rookie has a shaky camp stretch, and suddenly people are ready to write him off before he's played a real down that counts.
General manager Adam Peters has a genuinely miserable weekend ahead of him, building an initial 53-man roster and a practice squad while scouring the waiver wire, and Hogs Haven noted he "won't sleep much" doing it. There's a defensive-heavy offseason emphasis that left the offensive side thinner than anyone would like, which ClutchPoints flagged as the "most agonizing" decision looming on cutdown day. Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis, a seventh-round pick, has reportedly shown good signs and was framed as the player with the most riding on the preseason finale against the Ravens. Elsewhere, cornerback Darius Rush, still without much NFL production despite elite athletic testing coming out of the draft, keeps getting flagged as a name worth watching rather than forgetting, while other pieces warned the front office against sneaking certain rising players onto the practice squad where a rival could poach them, and floated trade candidates including a possible veteran center.
Even the merchandise aisle found a way to generate a headache this week. The team's online store sold out of gear bearing the franchise's old name and logo, first reported by WUSA's Eric Flack, with items still available at the brick-and-mortar store. Pro Football Talk noted the irony given that current ownership has said the name will never return, even as the front office keeps "dipping its toe" back into that branding, and Hogs Haven's daily roundup wondered aloud whether Josh Harris is intentionally keeping the debate simmering. It's the kind of self-inflicted subplot only this franchise could produce during the same week its offensive line was busy embarrassing itself in Baltimore.