00:00We have ourselves a preseason schedule for the Washington Commanders.
00:05We've got dates lined up now, and we know when they'll be playing
00:09on the practice field against their opponents leading up to these games
00:12in scrimmages as well.
00:14When's your vacation this year?
00:16Will you be missing a Commanders preseason game?
00:18No, it's a little earlier this year.
00:20We're end of July, basically, going to the Old Beach.
00:24Oh, you're Team July now?
00:25Yeah, that's not.
00:26Now, listen, there's a lot of mitigating factors.
00:28We have so many children.
00:29There's a lot of people involved.
00:30That ins and outs, a lot of what-have-yous.
00:32So we are trying a different house for the first time, a different Brady,
00:35for the first time, different house from D.C., for the first time in almost 20 years.
00:40Different time.
00:41Yep.
00:43Joint practice with the Dolphins in Ashburn, Wednesday, August 12th.
00:47Is it only the one-day Wednesday?
00:49There's not a Wednesday-Thursday leading up to the preseason game on Friday?
00:53I guess that makes sense because you would not practice the day before a game,
00:57so everyone would be off.
00:58The Dolphins will probably have a walk-through, jog-through at some high school in the area.
01:02The Commanders will come in, work out some lactic acids, do a couple things around the track and on the
01:07field,
01:08and then they'll get ready for the game on Friday.
01:10But that's a one-off Wednesday practice.
01:13So here is my pushback on how great these joint practices are.
01:16I get it.
01:17Teams like them more.
01:18They're more helpful.
01:19They're more beneficial because you get to go through all game situations.
01:22You want to work on goal line?
01:24We're setting that up.
01:24You want to work on a two-minute drill?
01:26We're setting that up.
01:27You might not get that in a preseason game.
01:29It's one day of practice.
01:30How many times have we heard the team or people speculate how big of a deal it was that they
01:34lost their joint work with the Ravens?
01:36So just that one day in July was this huge difference?
01:40I mean, the Ravens' joint practice is Wednesday, August 26th before a Friday game.
01:45It's one day.
01:46It's two hours of work.
01:47That gets you that much closer to the football season?
01:50I have a hard time believing that.
01:52Now, you have two of them over a couple of weeks, so I'm not suggesting that you're better off not
01:58doing those.
01:59Two joint practices with Miami, with Baltimore, is better than not.
02:04But can we not pretend like these are the end-all, be-all if it's only once?
02:07If you were doing this nine times, maybe.
02:09If you had two days leading up to all three preseason games, sure.
02:13It's four hours on the practice field that we're talking about in August.
02:16That's it.
02:17Yeah.
02:17I mean, sure.
02:19Yes.
02:19Ultimately.
02:20Is it, as you said, the end-all, be-all?
02:22No, of course not.
02:22How much are they really getting done?
02:24It's a really good workout.
02:25Yeah.
02:25But it's one workout.
02:26If you and Toby do one really good workout, and then you don't work out again in three weeks.
02:30Then I'm chiseled and great, right?
02:32No, not at all.
02:32You see what I'm saying?
02:33Yes, of course I do.
02:34So much is made out of these.
02:35Yeah, but I think you could say that for anything.
02:37Like, how much do you really get done in a preseason game?
02:39You know, if you get one target, then you go sit down, and you drop back for one pass.
02:44And maybe your point is, well, get more.
02:46And I think that's perfectly reasonable.
02:48But to me, those joint practices are so valuable because all you've been doing is going up against your own
02:53team
02:54that already knows everything they're going to do.
02:55So, and every tendency and whatever, and it's just hard to simulate that work.
03:00This is the, what does it look like when they don't know what's coming?
03:03You know, what do the strangers think of us?
03:05It's the great way to evaluate, you know, can someone really stop this guy?
03:10Or does this one dude who knows all the pass rushing moves, is he blocking him for real?
03:14Or can he actually block?
03:15And vice versa, can you actually get by somebody, you know, when the other guy's job was on the line,
03:20et cetera?
03:21So, I think it's really valuable.
03:22It's clearly more valuable than regular practice.
03:24But you're right.
03:24I mean, there's probably too much made of it in the sense that it is the, I think, as you
03:27put it, the end-all be-all.
03:29I'm glad they're doing it.
03:30I want them to do as many of these as possible.
03:33They're instructive based on being able to analyze the performance, as you said,
03:37because it's the closest thing to authentic football that you get in August.
03:41And they are important for the development of the players on the team side.
03:45Yes, agreed, no problem.
03:47But it's one day in the middle of August and one day at the very end of August.
03:53If you take them away, you're about the same amount of ready come September, I think.
04:00And I just think back to how big of a story it was that they didn't get their day with
04:05the Ravens.
04:05I heard somebody on, might even be Mitch and Finley last week, talking about, and I always joke about the
04:11Ravens not doing it just because it was kind of a jerk thing to do, I thought.
04:14But someone was saying, yeah, they didn't get to have those joint practices with Baltimore, so it really set them
04:18back.
04:19It's one day.
04:20That cannot be the reason that we're saying that you weren't ready for the bright lights.
04:25Now, this is one of several things I would do differently, and they are, to their credit.
04:29They're lining up multiple joint practices.
04:32They're going to take it very seriously.
04:34But every practice that they have with themselves, by themselves, at their own facility with no other team there, has
04:40to be a better practice this time around.
04:41They have to ask more from the players.
04:43I don't know what they're able to do in terms of staying on the field more or hitting more, tackling
04:49to the ground.
04:49I know a lot of teams don't do anymore.
04:51Some of the really good ones do.
04:52Some of the really physical ones that you don't want to play in September do.
04:56But the Kansas City Chiefs don't have a problem tackling to the ground at training camp or playing in preseason
05:01games with their best players.
05:03They do it a little bit different than everybody else.
05:05But I need them to make sweeping changes this summer to get ready for the stretch and the gauntlet that
05:13begins right away with Eagles, Cowboys, Seahawks.
05:16Yep.
05:17Massive changes.
05:18And we don't know what the Colts are.
05:20I feel like when the schedule came out, I took the tact of the Colts will be mediocre.
05:23You play them in week four in London.
05:25It is possible that the Colts are actually really good.
05:27Yeah, I have not.
05:28And I know everybody accuses me of being a doomsday prepper and a pessimist.
05:32But you have cans underground in a small room that is built in your backyard.
05:37They were 7-2 last year with Daniel Jones.
05:40They'll have Daniel Jones back.
05:41I'm not telling you he's a world beater, but they found something there.
05:43They got a pretty decent group.
05:45I think they're okay.
05:45You do think Daniel Jones stinks.
05:48Yes.
05:48And you've always hated Daniel Jones.
05:50Yes.
05:50So this feels like a little bit of both sides of my mouth, Ruye.
05:54All I have to do, all I can do is say, they started, I guess they were 8-2.
05:59I forgot that they won their 10th game.
06:01And not just that, by the way, he was like an MVP candidate.
06:03He was playing really well.
06:04I have always thought he stinks, and he will let you down.
06:06I think he's a bum.
06:06And I think anybody that invests in him is making a foolish mistake.
06:10That said, the data was the data.
06:12They went 8-2 to start last season before their bye week, before losing every game afterwards.
06:16I'd have to look up, see if you can find where they ranked defensively last year.
06:21Because anecdotally, I thought they were kind of middle of the pack, but had a chance to be good on
06:23defense.
06:24Points against 21st.
06:26They could run the ball.
06:27Jonathan Taylor is a problem.
06:29And that's what I am excited to see is, how does Washington do?
06:33We know they're going to rush the quarterback better.
06:35Durante Jones is going to dial things up from all over the place.
06:37They'll be able to use their new litany of pass rushers, led by, among others, their big free agent addition,
06:44Adafi Owe and Kalevon Chason.
06:46But how do they stop the run?
06:47And we're going to see a 1,500-yard back, 5 yards per carry, 18 touchdowns, who was an OPOY
06:53candidate last year in Taylor early on.
06:55That's after you see Saquon Barkley.
06:57That's after you see Seattle and Jackson Smith and Jigba, who actually won the Offensive Player of the Year award,
07:03early on your schedule.
07:05So that defense is going to get tested really quickly.
07:08They're middle of the pack yards per play, 21st in points.
07:11It went downhill again after the bye week.
07:13So I couldn't tell you every element of their season if they had injuries or otherwise, but some of those
07:17averages were hurt.
07:18I think they gave up 48 points to San Francisco, gave up a 30-burger.
07:21They didn't give up 30 points through the first 10 games of the season as they were, again, going 8
07:25-2.
07:27Do you expect training camp practices to look different as you're standing there watching them?
07:33Like, are we going to be able to notice?
07:35Is that going to be a theme when we're talking to reporters like, hey, this actually has a different feel
07:40to it?
07:40That, by the way, is the question.
07:42I think it is, too.
07:43Like, it's more competitive or it's more physical or Quinn's asking of more.
07:47Because there was a little – everyone always joked about Club J.
07:50There was some Club Quinn last year.
07:52For sure.
07:53And we kind of went, well, okay, I get it.
07:55They've got a bunch of veterans.
07:56They're giving vet days off.
07:57I mean, literally, the second day of practice, they gave some vets the vet day off.
08:01But that was their bit all year long was like –
08:03They love doing that.
08:04Did you work hard for us yesterday?
08:06Okay, here's your carrot.
08:07My feet is up.
08:08Yeah.
08:08But they had the oldest team in the league, and it wasn't just the oldest last year.
08:11It was the oldest in a span of 10 or so years.
08:14And this year, the numbers suggest they're still old, but they're completely flawed.
08:19It's like Tressway, a couple of their specialists, basically, who are super old.
08:24But basically, if you look at it, it's a completely reworked younger team.
08:28They don't have to have those built-in off days, and you don't have to practice days that they've had
08:33the last couple years.
08:34That's my hope.
08:34Now, I'm of two minds.
08:36Again, I don't know where I'd put my wager just yet.
08:38My number one is, this has been such a disaster in terms of starts to the season.
08:43Even the great season they had.
08:44They didn't start off very well.
08:45Did not play good football.
08:46It took a few weeks to get there.
08:47You can't afford that this year.
08:49And my number two is, this is just how we do it.
08:53So, I've got too much experience, too much time in this league, too much, and in order to be Mr.
08:58Popular, Mr. Fun Guy that everybody likes to hang out with and chuck and jive and we finger point at
09:03each other, this is how Dan Quinn wins people over, is soft-ass stuff in July and August, getting ready
09:10for the season.
09:10I hope that's not the case, but I worry that that might be.
09:13A lot of the coaches that are beloved and, like, Mr. Popular with their players still have the ability to
09:20get after it.
09:22And I'm sure Dan Quinn's one of those guys.
09:24You can have all the fun in the world.
09:26We'll play the games, but on Competition Wednesday, we buckle up our chin straps and we go compete on Wednesday.
09:31Competition Wednesday.
09:32That's a real bit.
09:33I know.
09:34Logan talks about it from his time in Atlanta with Dan Quinn.
09:36I forgot about Competition.
09:37Competition Wednesday.
09:38So, tell the truth Monday.
09:39Competition Wednesday.
09:40Nothing happens Tuesday.
09:41That's the off day.
09:42I think it's Take a Nap Tuesday.
09:44Yeah.
09:44And then Competition Wednesday.
09:46Thirsty Thursday.
09:46Everyone has to do a lap.
09:48No, you have to drink extra water.
09:49Yep.
09:50You have to drink to the line on the bottom of the water bottle or something like that.
09:54And then it's Frisky Friday.
09:55That one.
09:56The HR does not come.
09:57There's no HR in the building that day.
09:59And then Saturday is Serenity Saturday.
10:03They listen to it like an iPod and it kind of takes them to do some breathing exercises.
10:07And then it's Sunday.
10:10Game day.
10:11Sunday.
10:11Sunday.
10:12No, that doesn't work.
10:13Sneaky Sunday.
10:14Were you surprised somebody?
10:15Nope.
10:16Yeah.
10:16Surprise them as the underdog.
10:17Suck it up Sunday.
10:19Oh.
10:20You know what I mean?
10:20Yes.
10:21Yes.
10:21Workshop it.
10:22I need you guys to, like, you're not feeling great.
10:25Maybe your mind's in a different place.
10:26Suck it up.
10:27It's Sunday.
10:27Suck it up.
10:28We have to go out there and be at our best.
10:30Slog through Sunday.
10:31Suck it up Sunday.
10:32Yeah.
10:33Shine on Sunday.
10:34Sunday shine.
10:35Adam shine.
10:36Adam shine.
10:37Yes.
10:37Don't you get it?
10:38And then Monday, we're telling the truth again.
10:39Double play comes your way next.
10:41What's going on in our lives?
10:42Nothing to do with sports.
10:43And then we're got your Beltway Blitz at four o'clock.
10:46Aldean, Brian tickets, Nats Park, country music.
10:49If you want to go, you've got to be listening on the fan.
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