- 12 minutes ago
Tashan Reed from The Washington Post joins The Junkies to analyze the Commanders' training camp thus far. Washington’s defense started out strong the first few days, but now the offense is starting to gel together.
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00:00Welcome in Tashaun Reed, Commander's Reporter for the Washington Post.
00:05Tashaun, thanks for the time. We really appreciate it.
00:08No problem. Appreciate you having me on.
00:10Yeah, of course. So you were out at practice yesterday at training camp.
00:13First day of padded practice.
00:17Take us through some of your overall observations.
00:21It looks like the offense finally started getting the better of the defense
00:25in some of the drills that were done at the first padded practice yesterday.
00:31Yeah, I would say it was pretty easily the most competitive practice of camp so far.
00:35And you would expect that with pads coming on, right?
00:37But, you know, not just in terms of the physicality,
00:41but the offense punching back a little bit more.
00:44I think through the first week of camp, the defense, you know,
00:46have been pretty dominant.
00:47You know, it was clear that they had the advantage in every practice
00:51and the offense was struggling to get things going a little bit.
00:53And really from the jump, you know, starting with that pass,
00:57I'm sure everybody's seen on social media, you know,
00:59Jaden Daniels finding Terry McLaurin in the back of the end zone on that fade route.
01:03That set the tone for the day.
01:05You know, Daniels in particular, that connection with McLaurin was working.
01:09And, you know, just the offense overall, it looked more crisp, more in sync.
01:13We saw Cheyga Conquo get going on a nice touchdown catch in the back of the end zone as well.
01:19You know, it wasn't all good for the offense.
01:21I still think the offensive line, you know,
01:23was at a disadvantage against the defensive line,
01:26both in the run game and in pass protection.
01:29You know, you saw Adafi Owe and Charles and many who get after Daniels a couple times.
01:35And there wasn't much going for the run game overall, regardless of who's in the backfield.
01:39And so I think that's what you want to see.
01:41You know, as a head coach, if you're Dan Quinn,
01:43you're probably pretty happy with practice yesterday.
01:45You know, the offense and the defense sort of trading blows back and forth.
01:49So for a layman, if you were just watching the defense,
01:52because we're hearing such good things,
01:54what looks different about this defense versus last season?
01:59I mean, the defensive front, it literally just looks different.
02:03You know, I mean, there's so much bigger, stronger, and faster up there
02:06with some of the additions that they made.
02:08I just mentioned a couple of them, but also Caleb on chase on,
02:11Sonny styles, Leo Chanel.
02:13Like, it's almost a completely reworked group.
02:16You obviously have some guys coming back like Deron Payne and Javon Kinlaw
02:19and Frankie Lou Blue, some familiar faces.
02:21But the overall strength and depth of the defensive front
02:25really just jumps out at you on the defensive side of the ball.
02:29And then they're also more multiple than they were last year.
02:32We saw them start to get into that out of necessity, I thought,
02:36once they had some of those defensive end injuries.
02:38Like, you saw Frankie Lou Blue playing on the line of scrimmage
02:40more in the second half of the season.
02:41But now it's more of a function of the defense
02:44than something that they're doing out of desperation.
02:46You know, you see Leo Chanel lined up, you know,
02:48as more of a pass rusher on certain plays.
02:51Then they might go to a nickel package.
02:53Then they might bring a three-safety package on the field.
02:55And so they're not just mixing it up just for the sake of doing so.
02:59Part of it is they're trying to dictate what the offense does.
03:02You know, Dan Quinn's mentioned this a couple times.
03:04Most times the defense is responding to the offense,
03:07especially if they make a last-minute audible or something of that nature.
03:09They're trying to force the offense to adjust to them.
03:12And defensive coordinator Deronte Jones has done a really good job
03:15of mixing things up.
03:17You know, it's early on in camp,
03:19so he hasn't shown his full playbook by any means.
03:22So we would imagine that's only going to continue as camp wears on
03:25and then once we get into the regular season.
03:26To Sean, it sounded like Sonny Stiles was really flashing yesterday.
03:30He blew up Bill in the hole in a goal-line drill,
03:34and he didn't tackle him.
03:34They're not bringing guys to the ground at this point in training camp.
03:38He was covering Jalen Lane in some zone coverage.
03:41You've seen blitzing as well.
03:42So it just sounds like he's getting his feet wet on the pro level,
03:47and he's being used in a variety of different ways.
03:49And he's a guy they're counting on.
03:51I mean, they picked him in the top ten.
03:53Yeah, anytime you take an off-ball linebacker that high,
03:57you set the bar in the sky, right?
04:00He has to be pretty much an all-pro-tier linebacker at some point,
04:05not as a rookie necessarily, for that pick to be worth it.
04:08That sounds harsh, but that's kind of just what it is.
04:11And it's too early to make any judgments about that, of course,
04:14but you see all the athletic traits and the reasons why they were interested
04:19in taking him that high.
04:20I mean, he's huge, but he's also fast as hell.
04:23You know, good pass coverage skills, as you mentioned.
04:25You know, he was rushing a little bit as a blitzer.
04:29You know, they've been working him in, I think, a little bit,
04:32like, slowly in training camp so far.
04:34Like, sometimes you'll see it's just Luvu and Chanel out there,
04:37for example, in certain packages.
04:39You know, they haven't decided yet who's going to wear that green dot.
04:42Like, you would think, you know, it would be Sonny Stiles,
04:45and I think it will end up being him, but that hasn't been nailed down just yet.
04:50And so even though they drafted him as high as they did,
04:53they don't want to rush it, right?
04:54You know, he still has a lot to learn, and he's a guy that people can't forget.
04:58You know, he was a converted safety to linebacker.
05:01You know, linebacker's still a relatively new position for him
05:04in the grand scheme of things.
05:05And so there's a big adjustment, you know, even for a guy talented,
05:08and he is, you know, making a jump from the college to the NFL level.
05:12And so, you know, we'll see, you know, what he looks like come week one,
05:17but he's starting to flash a little bit for sure in practice.
05:19So the last couple years, Bobby Wagner has been the leader on this team in tackles.
05:25We hope that Sonny Stiles picks up there.
05:26The criticism on him was speed and coverage skills.
05:31You mentioned that Stiles was a former safety.
05:34Have you seen him in these coverage situations against backs?
05:37How's he been doing?
05:39Yeah, I mean, you know, training camp is usually skewed towards the pass, right,
05:43especially on the unpadded days.
05:45And so we've seen a good amount of coverage reps from him.
05:49You know, I think some of, you know, when there are lapses,
05:52I think it's more so about just knowing where to be, you know,
05:56assignment and alignment more so than it is about ability.
05:59You know, he can cover.
06:00Like, he has all the ability to do so.
06:02I think it's just learning the defense and, you know,
06:05getting a feel for NFL-caliber athletes, you know,
06:08when it comes to those, you know, a tight end, for example,
06:11like Chia Gakonkwo, there's not too many of those, you know,
06:13at the college level.
06:14A guy that can move as quickly as he can and run routes like he can.
06:17And so, you know, you've seen it.
06:20You mentioned yesterday he had a nice dive-in pass breakup
06:23off of J.D. Daniels in the end zone, kind of goal line situation.
06:27And a save would have been a potential touchdown.
06:30And so, he's had those flashes.
06:31You know, there's been some times where he's gotten got to, you know,
06:34but that's going to happen, you know, when you're a rookie
06:36and then sort of figuring it out.
06:37So, Tayshaun, is it your prediction?
06:40I know we're over a month away, but opening series against Philly in week one,
06:45is it going to be Luvu and Styles, or will it be Chenal and Styles?
06:52I think it kind of depends if they're in base or nickel.
06:55They've been using a lot of three-linebacker packages.
06:59You know, early on in the game, a first down, early situation,
07:02I think all three of them are going to be out there.
07:04You know, maybe Chenal lined up as that Sam linebacker
07:07along the line of scrimmage, and then Luvu and Styles man in the middle.
07:11That seems to be, when they have three linebackers on the field,
07:13that seems to be their preferred alignment.
07:15And so, I think that's ultimately what we see,
07:17especially with, you know, the Eagles having Staphon Barkley back there,
07:20they're probably going to run the ball in first down.
07:22Okay.
07:22We're joined by Tayshaun Reed, Commander's Reporter for the Washington Post.
07:26Give us your initial impressions of rookie wideout Antonio Williams.
07:30How did he look in first day in pads out there in Ashburn?
07:35Yeah, so he was pretty much working with the backups almost exclusively from what I saw.
07:40He did have a nice touchdown in the red zone drill, you know,
07:44from Marcus Mariota working in that way.
07:46It was a fade route, kind of similar to the McLaurin touchdown
07:50that got shared on social media.
07:52You know, he was a guy that last season in college, you know,
07:55he mostly worked out of the slot.
07:57The year before that, he did spend more time outside,
07:58but the skill set seems more attuned to the slot,
08:01and that's kind of a little bit of the issue with their wide receiver room.
08:04You know, you look at Luke McCaffrey, Jalen Lane,
08:08him, processes of learning how to get there.
08:10You know, in practice, I would say he's mostly been working from the slot
08:13and working with the backup, so, you know,
08:16it's going to be bringing him along, you know, a little slowly,
08:18but you see some of that ability as well.
08:21Like, he's not the biggest guy, but, you know,
08:23he ran about a 4-4 at the combine and has some good athleticism
08:27and has some nice savviness when he's route running and some explosiveness,
08:31and so you can see the vision there.
08:33They just haven't really given him too many reps working from the outside
08:36with that starting unit so far.
08:38So what other receivers are standing, besides McLaurin,
08:41who's going to be the true number one,
08:43what other receivers, in your opinion, are kind of standing out
08:46and could possibly be on that first unit?
08:50In terms of standing out and making plays,
08:52I don't think really anybody from the group has, like,
08:55really jumped at you so far.
08:56That was kind of part of the issue the first week we kept in particular
08:59where the receivers were really struggling to separate.
09:02It was a lot of red zone work,
09:04so it's always a little bit tougher to separate down there,
09:06and I think it got better at practice yesterday
09:08as they started to open up the field a little bit more.
09:11But, you know, Traylon Burks has been the guy
09:14that's running with the starters the most often.
09:16You know, he missed a day of practice due to a foot injury,
09:18but he's been back out there otherwise,
09:20and you tend to see him working with McLaurin on the outside,
09:23but he hasn't been making a ton of plays,
09:26and so, you know,
09:29from reporters like myself saying,
09:32hey, it looks like they probably need to go ahead
09:33and, you know, follow up Stephon Diggs
09:35or explore something else in terms of adding a veteran wide receiver.
09:39It's early in camp, you know,
09:41and, you know, especially for a young guy like Antonio Williams,
09:44like, you know, when we get close to week one,
09:46has he been working more outside?
09:48Does he look like he's contributed
09:49and maybe they don't have to sign somebody?
09:50I think that's what they're waiting to see, you know,
09:53like, do these guys internally develop
09:55and show them that they don't need to make a signing?
09:56But I think they're sort of keeping that in their back pocket
09:59just in case they need to once you get close to the season.
10:01And when you're talking about a veteran receiver,
10:03you know, let's use Diggs as an example,
10:05since he's probably the most attractive option.
10:08While there's still an advantage to him
10:09having more time to learn the system,
10:11he's a guy that can kind of pick up and go.
10:13You know, he's played enough different offenses at this point.
10:15He knows football, obviously,
10:17and so there's less concern with him,
10:18you know, being able to jump into it late if need be.
10:21And so I think that's the approach, you know,
10:24from the front office right now,
10:25and we'll see if it pays off.
10:27Tashaun, are you surprised that our hands-on
10:29offensive coordinator David Blau is at this training camp?
10:33I saw a video of him yesterday
10:34participating in ball security drills with the wideouts,
10:37where he's basically just trying to pop the ball loose
10:39as they're streaking down the sideline.
10:41Were you surprised to see that?
10:44No, I don't think so.
10:45I think he, you know, especially as a first-time,
10:47not just a new offensive coordinator,
10:49but a first-time offensive coordinator.
10:51Like, he's never done this before.
10:53You know, he's still learning on the job.
10:55That's just kind of the reality of the situation.
10:57And, you know, early, you know, past 30 years old,
11:00he was just a player not too long ago.
11:02And so I think he needs to be as hands-on as possible.
11:05You know, he's sort of learning as he's teaching.
11:08And, you know, while he worked really heavily
11:11with the quarterbacks in particular,
11:14you know, the last couple of years,
11:16he didn't spend as much time working
11:18with the other position groups just naturally.
11:20You know, that's sort of a tough position to break out from.
11:23And so it would make sense that he's going to work
11:25with these different rooms and bounce around just to,
11:28you know, he knows these guys.
11:29Obviously, he's watched a ton of film
11:30and he's been there every day.
11:31But getting to know how to work with them
11:33on a more intimate basis, I think that's smart.
11:36And he's been really collaborative,
11:37as he's been saw in his offense.
11:39Like, obviously, he has his principles
11:40and his non-negotiables,
11:41like any other play caller is going to have.
11:43But, you know, he's been open to feedback
11:45from players as well.
11:46Terry McLaurin talked about that a little bit last week.
11:49And, you know, ultimately, the goal is to put these guys
11:51in the best positions and feed.
11:52And, you know, while a coach may have an idea
11:55of how to go about doing it,
11:56I think it's only a good thing when, you know,
11:58he factors in the input of players as well.
12:00And, you know, I think that's all just part of the process
12:02as he ventures into this first season
12:05being a play caller.
12:05So, you mentioned the defensive line,
12:08giving the offensive line some problems,
12:09especially in the middle.
12:11Who was playing first-team center yesterday?
12:13Was it Good-Jones?
12:14Or did they work Trey Hill in there?
12:17Yeah, it's been Julian Good-Jones,
12:19you know, pretty much exclusively with the starters
12:22since Allegretti suffered that calf injury.
12:25You know, even with the signing of Trey Hill,
12:28I don't think they're overly concerned
12:29about Allegretti's injury.
12:31You know, I think he'll end up
12:32returning to practice next week.
12:33You know, I would sort of earmark that joint practice
12:36that they have against the Dolphins next week
12:38is probably when you would like to see him get back
12:40and get to compete against another team, right?
12:43And so, you know, like Allegretti's had some injury issues
12:46in the past, and he's an older guy,
12:48so I understand, you know, the concern
12:50about him basically being the only proven,
12:53and he hasn't even been a guy that has played center
12:55that much in his career,
12:57but he's the only guy you would think
12:58would be a starting caliber center on the roster.
13:00And so, it's certainly a position to keep an eye on.
13:03You know, Julian has been in the building
13:05for a couple years now,
13:06but he's mostly been on the practice squad.
13:08I'm pretty sure he's still only played
13:09in one career game in the NFL,
13:11and so, you know, it's tough.
13:14You know, I think you, going back to the offseason,
13:17when you cut a guy like Viatish,
13:20why he got hurt, you know, last season?
13:22Like, he was a pretty solid center, in my opinion,
13:24and you let him go,
13:25and a lot of people were wondering why he did that.
13:27Yeah.
13:28You know, Allegretti was a guy
13:30that you could have kept around as a backup,
13:32right, you know, behind him,
13:34and then you don't go out and draft,
13:36you know, a center or sign another one
13:38in free agency.
13:39You know, it's going to raise some eyebrows,
13:41and it's understandable,
13:43and it might be something that comes back
13:44to bite them,
13:45but just in terms of right now,
13:47I don't think that they're,
13:48you know, this Allegretti calf injury,
13:49I don't think it's something that they think
13:51he's going to be out for multiple weeks
13:52or something of that nature.
13:53Right, I think they're expecting about a week.
13:55All right, last question.
13:57Nick Cross and Amik Robertson
14:00and Witherspoon, Douglas,
14:02guys that they brought in in the secondary.
14:03Anybody making any plays out of the new guys?
14:07Has really stood out
14:09working as outside cornerback.
14:11You know, he's probably been
14:12the most consistent guy working outside.
14:14It's been a bit of a rotation,
14:16but, you know, he's somebody
14:17that's been a guy that's capable
14:19of making plenty of plays on the ball
14:21throughout his career,
14:22despite being a little bit undersized.
14:23And I think he's been listed out in camp so far.
14:25Okay.
14:26Tashaun, thanks for the time, man.
14:27We really appreciate it.
14:28Have fun covering the rest of camp.
14:30We'll talk to you again soon.
14:32Appreciate you having me.
14:33Yep, that's Tashaun Reed,
14:34Commanders reporter for the Washington Post.
14:36So we've got pads again today with fans.
14:39It's season ticket members, I believe.
14:41It's not open to the general public,
14:42but if you're a season ticket holder,
14:43you get in.
14:44Gotcha.
14:45So that's the case today.
14:46I believe practice starts at 8.30
14:49for the Commanders.
14:51I drove by again yesterday.
14:52It's just packed.
14:53I'm sure it was.
14:54I was just packed over there.
14:55Yep.
14:55All right, when we come back,
14:56we're going to tell you
14:57the most likely animal
14:58to kill you by U.S. state.
15:01And here's a little hint.
15:03Maryland and Virginia,
15:04they share the same animal.
15:05We'll tell you who it is next.
15:06We'll tell you who it is next.
15:06We'll tell you who it is next.
15:07We'll tell you who it is next.
15:07We'll tell you who it is next.
15:07We'll tell you who it is next.
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