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The Commanders rested 26 players against the Dolphins last Friday. Washington will now head to Detroit for their second preseason game on Saturday afternoon. Should the Commanders play all of their starters this weekend?
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00:00All right, guys, as you know, we are here at the Skins training camp,
00:04Commander's training camp.
00:05They're technically saying, Cakes keeps saying it,
00:08that camp ends in a couple days.
00:11Well, at least to the fans.
00:12To the public.
00:13That's what it is.
00:14Because it doesn't end for the players.
00:15No, they still practice.
00:16They still practice.
00:17They still haven't made cuts.
00:18Yeah, I mean, like nothing really changes if they don't have to deal with this.
00:21Cuts have changed where now it's just one big day.
00:25Exactly.
00:26So, I mean, camp is still going for these guys.
00:28Sure, absolutely.
00:29A lot of jobs still be won out here.
00:32Let me see.
00:33We talked about it actually during the commercial break.
00:36There actually have been a couple roster moves they made.
00:39They signed a running back, Craig Reynolds, right?
00:43Yep.
00:44Played under David Blau, so there's familiarity.
00:46They also say that he was previously with Washington,
00:49so maybe he was here in camp in previous years because I don't remember.
00:53He filled in in Detroit a couple games when Gibbs and or Montgomery missed time.
00:58I mean, he's a serviceable player.
01:00Yeah, I mean, he's got some credentials.
01:02He's got career rushing totals of 658 yards.
01:05He's got experience on special teams.
01:07You know, we talked about during the break with the McNichols injury,
01:11it does bring some opportunity from people, at least a roster spot for now,
01:15so that'll be good.
01:16See what happens there.
01:16And they signed a linebacker, Chris Barnes, veteran, who's played a bunch,
01:2275 career games, got 303 career tackles, added for linebacker, special teams depth.
01:28He's previously played with the Packers, the Cardinals, the Panthers.
01:32So just when you think, you know, you're kind of settled in,
01:37you never really are in this league, the not-for-long, right, league?
01:40Just ask Jake Moody.
01:41But both those guys may not be on the roster once they make the cuts.
01:45They may just be bodies right now.
01:47Now, I think Reynolds has a shot.
01:48Absolutely, yeah.
01:49Depends what they do with Henry and Allen.
01:52Like, if they go practice squad and they want a vet in there,
01:55depending on how long McNichols is out.
01:57But they don't have top-end talent at running back, you know,
02:03with Ja'Cory Krosky, Merritt, Bill, and Rashad White.
02:06They now have some depth.
02:07Yeah, and Reynolds last year was with the Patriots.
02:11Well, he was with the Lions for four years, but then he joined the Patriots.
02:13I think he was on the practice squad.
02:15And now, yeah, he comes here this year to fill in.
02:18McNichols is down a little bit.
02:19So we'll see what happens after that.
02:21So as far as, like, and we don't know, they might like him more than McNichols.
02:25You know, they might like him more than others.
02:27I mean, Blau knows what he can do.
02:28Yeah.
02:29And maybe he's looking for a specific trait.
02:31From Kutztown.
02:33Kutztown, PA.
02:34That's right.
02:34He went to Kutztown.
02:35I didn't realize that Kutztown was 30 at this point.
02:38I thought he was a little bit younger than that.
02:40So if you look at currently the position battles that are there, there's a couple.
02:47We can go through each one of them.
02:48I'd say at running back, you know, as you mentioned, you got Bill, you got Rashad White.
02:52Those are your top guys.
02:54You got Fat Man, who I think is firmly in the mix there.
02:58Then, of course, the undrafted free agent, Robert Henry Jr., he impressed with how he was running around.
03:04You've got McNichols.
03:05You got Jerome Ford.
03:06Now you've got Craig Reynolds.
03:08So there's definitely some battling going on there in the running back room.
03:11It would be interesting to see where they settle in there.
03:14I think at the bottom.
03:15I haven't heard much about Jerome Ford during camp.
03:18Yeah, but again, you've got to look at it.
03:20It's 53 and it's 70.
03:22How many of these guys are going to still be there when they cut to 70?
03:26I thought Jerome Ford was going to be a guy who would make the team and would be a contributor
03:32just based on what he was doing when he was a Cleveland.
03:35It's just going to become a numbers game.
03:36But now he's maybe five or six on the depth chart.
03:39Yeah.
03:40I mean, I would say that's one of their most competitive position battles.
03:43Obviously, at center, they have Nick Allegretti set to rejoin practice.
03:50The rookie, Matt Goulbin, has gotten some praise for people.
03:54I know, I think John Kahn has liked what he's seen from.
03:58I've heard Logan Paulson say some nice things about him.
04:00Dan Quinn said some nice things about him.
04:02So it'll be interesting to see how he develops.
04:05He's their sixth round pick.
04:07Julian Good-Jones, you see good things, and then sometimes you see him get pushed way back, and you just
04:13wonder where he fits in.
04:15This guy doesn't have a lot of experience, so these reps have to be good for him.
04:19Yeah.
04:19The guy's missing time.
04:21Hopefully, Allegretti comes back healthy, ready to go, and kind of just eases all the concerns there.
04:26Supposed to practice today.
04:29Safety, still got a tough battle there.
04:31Quan Martin had an interception in the opening, right?
04:35Yep.
04:36There seems to be a battle with him and Jeremy Reeves to play alongside Nick Cross, who's really had a
04:44good camp,
04:44and everybody's excited for what he's going to bring to this team.
04:47Personally, I'm more of a Jeremy Reeves guy.
04:50Just that when I've seen him get opportunity on the defense, I feel like he's flashed.
04:56But Quan Martin had a solid showing in the opener, so he's certainly in the mix there.
05:01Yeah, but it kind of tells you where he is on the depth chart, right?
05:03Because the guys who played in the opener, for the most part, were not starters.
05:08Yeah, absolutely.
05:09I mean, they sat 26 guys.
05:10The third quarterback position is one that's interesting.
05:14I thought, you know, when I looked at every throw afterwards, you know, I brought up every throw for AK,
05:21Cali Kemanis.
05:22I was kind of low-key impressed with him, to be honest with you.
05:26He's not super athletic, but he's got good size.
05:27I mean, they drafted him for a reason.
05:29They like him.
05:30Yeah.
05:30I mean, they drafted him a lot of college football.
05:32Yeah.
05:32So, I mean, I definitely think there's something to work with there.
05:35How much taller is he than 6'2"?
05:37He just looks so much bigger.
05:38He's less than 6'2".
05:39He just looks bigger.
05:41How tall is Hartman?
05:42Hartman's not that tall.
05:43He's less than 6'1", I think.
05:44Hartman's less than 6'1", but he looks just smaller.
05:47He looks smaller, right?
05:48But he's more athletic.
05:49And to Hartman's credit, you know, at least there's a play or two where he took off running,
05:53and, you know, he gives you that element.
05:55And Hartman did make some nice plays.
05:57He also had the overthrow and interception.
05:58You know, so you get a little of both there.
06:01Again, we talked about it yesterday.
06:03DQ praised both those quarterbacks for how they handled the end of the half
06:07and the end of the game situations.
06:09And those are things you don't really often think about, right?
06:12You kind of take it for granted.
06:13Was DQ asked yesterday about the potential of Jaden Plain on Saturday?
06:18I'm not sure.
06:20I think he'll be asked at 745.
06:21I'm not sure.
06:24Wide receiver.
06:26That's still probably the other biggest battle there.
06:30You've got so many guys there now that they've brought Diggs in.
06:34He's kind of locked in as that two guy behind Terry McLaurin Cakes.
06:38Antonio Williams.
06:40I think that he is impressing people.
06:43I think they expect him to be featured prominently.
06:45Then, of course, you've still got Traylon Burks.
06:48You've got Luke McCaffrey.
06:50You've got Jalen Lane.
06:51You've got Deami Brown.
06:53I don't know.
06:54They like Jade Bradley from DeMatha.
06:57DeMatha boy.
06:57So they've got a nice little, I think, wide receiver room.
07:02Whereas before everyone was kind of questioning it,
07:04when you add Diggs to it suddenly, it looks a lot better.
07:07Well, it's just elevated, obviously, with the add of Diggs.
07:09He instantly becomes the number two or the 1A, 1B, 1B guy to Terry McLaurin.
07:16So all those other guys now get just pushed down in the pecking order.
07:20And that's nothing but a positive for the team.
07:22Like, Stephon Diggs showed last year that he still has plenty of juice left.
07:27Like, he played in the Super Bowl.
07:30He was a really good target for Drake May, and now he's a year removed further from the ACL.
07:35So it should be even better here in Washington, you would hope.
07:38So with the upcoming schedule, you've got the Lions game on Saturday.
07:42That's a 12 p.m. start.
07:44You guys will be at the Freedom Races at 12 p.m.
07:47That's right.
07:48Then you've got the final preseason game on Friday, August 28th.
07:53That's at 6 p.m.
07:54That's actually also going to be on NFL Network.
07:57And then you've got your regular season opener.
08:00Today's the 18th.
08:01Cakes, I can't do the math on that.
08:03That's September 13th.
08:05That's less than a month away.
08:0626 days.
08:07Three-ish weeks.
08:08Yeah, yeah.
08:0826 days, I believe.
08:09That'll be a 425 kick.
08:12Which you love.
08:13You love 425 kicks.
08:14Don't love that.
08:15But we did talk about it yesterday.
08:17I'm going to go around, let's just each make our official, let's say, what you predict
08:22and then what would you do regarding Jaden in the preseason game.
08:30I guess I'll start.
08:31I think I have now come to the conclusion that preseason is kind of a joke.
08:36These preseason games, kind of like Pro Bowls and All-Star games.
08:41And the juice is just not worth the squeeze.
08:44To put them in there for eight plays or something, God forbid somebody gets hurt.
08:48I think I'm at the point now where I think I would sit them.
08:52I'd sit most of the starters.
08:54And I think that's what they're going to do.
08:57I'm with the great Tom Brady.
08:59They should be playing.
09:00They need to find a rhythm.
09:02I'd like to see Jaden in for at least a quarter.
09:06At least a quarter.
09:07All right, so you would play him and you think they will play him.
09:12I'm willing to.
09:13I told you, we made our bet, double or nothing.
09:15I don't have great confidence, but I definitely would if I was the coach.
09:20Right.
09:21But I want your prediction.
09:22I want your prediction, though, what you think they're going to do.
09:23I'll predict that he's going to play.
09:25I don't know if he'll play for a quarter.
09:27I mean, I'd play him for a half.
09:28Back in the day, they would play for a half.
09:30Sometimes in the first time.
09:31Not back in the day anymore.
09:33Back in the day, a guy would get cracked, knocked out,
09:36come to the sidelines, smelling salt, go back in the next series.
09:39That's true, but in the preseason, I think you need,
09:43look, there's a reason they have training camp.
09:45You could go down this road, well, we don't want our guys to get hurt.
09:48Let's not even have training camp.
09:49Well, it's gotten to the point I feel like it's more about evaluating
09:52the back end of your roster and protecting your top tier guys.
09:57I think a young quarterback who didn't play a lot last year
09:59should be in there and play for a little bit,
10:01but I don't believe he's going to play.
10:03All right, so you think he should, but he won't.
10:05He should, but he's not going to play.
10:06All right, how long would you play him?
10:07I've switched my stance.
10:08I'd probably play him for two, three series.
10:10Yeah, I mean a quarter.
10:11Cakes?
10:12Yesterday, I was vehemently against playing him.
10:14I've switched my stance a little bit.
10:15All right.
10:16I think he's going to play two series, and then he's done.
10:19Yeah, but he's asking you, what would you do?
10:21What would I do?
10:22I'm a scaredy cat.
10:23I would wrap him in bubble wrap, and he would never see the field
10:25until they take the field against the Eagles.
10:28But again, like we talked about yesterday, if he plays,
10:31you've got to play all your number ones.
10:32You've got to play all the ones, especially along the line.
10:34I think Dan Quinn wants to see what he can do with the offense
10:37in a new offense before we get to September 13th.
10:41In like a real, close to a real game scenario.
10:44Yeah, you might be right.
10:45Except they're not going to show anything.
10:46It's going to be super vanilla.
10:48I mean, I guess you could go through sort of the rhythm of it,
10:51but you could do that in the joint practices.
10:53See, I think the joint practices have replaced the games
10:57as far as where the real evaluation is going with their key guys.
11:01But if they take it easy with Allegretti and they don't play him this weekend,
11:04I don't know if they're going to play Jaden behind a backup center.
11:07Can you imagine the calamity if, God forbid, five got hurt?
11:12Just what a disaster it would be and just how much it backfired.
11:16The juice is not worth the squeeze.
11:19Yeah, but that can happen in week one.
11:21That's fine.
11:21Week one, he's playing.
11:23There's no debate.
11:24This is debatable.
11:25What if he doesn't play that well in week one?
11:27So what?
11:27Maybe the preseason helps.
11:29So would you play – so you don't think Caleb Williams will play this week
11:32or Drake May?
11:33I mean, it's got to be an individual case.
11:35Why did Jackson Dart play?
11:36I mean, some of these younger quarterbacks have played.
11:37Well, I mean, obviously coaches have different philosophies.
11:39But it's about 50%.
11:42It was actually less.
11:43It's less.
11:4412 out of 15.
11:44But that was week one.
11:45Week two, I think it would be more.
11:46Week two would be more.
11:47I mean, Josh Allen played.
11:49Right.
11:49He doesn't need a rhythm.
11:50He's also built different.
11:52I mean, maybe he's got a new offensive coordinator, right?
11:54Well, no, Brady is the head coach now.
11:56Brady, yes.
11:56It was his offensive coordinator.
11:57At some point, you have to acknowledge that as tough as Jaden is,
12:00and I put him up there as tough as anybody, he's a toothpick.
12:03All right?
12:03So I got to treat a toothpick different than a tank.
12:08I mean, it's just – at some point, you have to face reality.
12:10Right.
12:11And I think that's –
12:12Look, I think it's reasonable.
12:13I just would prefer to see them catch a rhythm heading into the season.
12:18And this training camp was supposed to be different.
12:21We'll talk to Dan Quinn about that coming up in about a half an hour.
12:24This training camp was supposed to be different.
12:27And by all accounts, it has been with less rest days, a little more energy,
12:33trying not to be lackluster heading into the season.
12:35And I think preseason games is part of it or should be part of it.
12:38Well, if he comes out flat in the first two games and they go 0-2 –
12:41That's going to be the blame.
12:42And he doesn't look good or sharp, people are going to start pointing fingers at Dan Quinn
12:47and saying, well, you probably should have played him for a few series in the Detroit game.
12:51I'm willing to go on record now.
12:51You should have played him in the opener.
12:54Listen, he's an unbelievable player when he's healthy.
12:57Agreed.
12:57He's not going to come out flat.
12:59I mean, maybe one series.
13:00But over the first two games, you know what he's going to play like?
13:04A freaking pro bowler.
13:05I hope you're right.
13:06He's going to play great.
13:07So why didn't he do that last year?
13:08He fits and starts, fits and starts, and never got there.
13:11You think he's going to play great in the first two weeks?
13:14I would – if I had to bet –
13:15I don't know about that.
13:16I would bet he's going to play great over play bad.
13:18I would always bet on him playing better.
13:20I know, you have confidence in him, but he could come out on the road against a good team.
13:23Of course, he's got a bad game.
13:24Of course.
13:24That's what I mean.
13:25People have bad games.
13:26But I would always bet on that kid, if he's healthy, to play well.
13:29I would never bet on him to play poorly unless he's hurt.
13:32I don't know, unless he hasn't played.
13:33We'll see if Dan Quinn agrees.
13:34And remember, for those of you that's going to throw him into all these preseason games,
13:37they sat him in regular season games last year.
13:41That's because the season was over.
13:42They were tanking.
13:43That's because those games didn't matter.
13:46I know.
13:46Well, this is a little different.
13:48How does that do matter?
13:49Because you're prepping for the season, which does matter.
13:51He's doing plenty of prep during the week.
13:54I would play him for two series.
13:56One, if he marched them down the field and looks crisp,
13:59and he's running the offense effectively, then he takes a seat.
14:03And I'm also telling him, no crazy running.
14:06And if you run, you better either run out of bounds, or you better be sliding.
14:09Well, he knows.
14:10Good luck with that.
14:11Let's not throw your elbow out in the preseason game against the Lions.
14:15The guy's a competitor.
14:16They're going to flush him out.
14:17He's going to take off running.
14:18And everyone, there's going to be 80,000 scared people.
14:20And I want to see that.
14:22I don't want to see that.
14:23But I don't think we will.
14:23In the preseason.
14:24I don't think they're going to play him.
14:25All right.
14:25Coming up in just about half an hour, Commanders Head Coach Dan Quinn.
14:29He will join us.
14:30We are coming to you live from Ashburn for Commanders Training Camp.
14:33We're the Junkies.
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