00:00We're one of the later games, of course, on Sunday at 4.30,
00:03but we're ramping up here.
00:04We're getting close.
00:06Got to kick off the season, obviously, against the Philadelphia Eagles.
00:10It's a 4.35, no, actually 4.25 kick-cakes at Lincoln Financial Field.
00:15Right now, Philly's still currently favored between five and five and a half points.
00:20Total looks like it's around 44 and a half.
00:23A tough road opener, obviously, for Washington.
00:26We've been talking about it all offseason.
00:28Two new coordinators.
00:30David Blau on the offensive side.
00:34Durante Jones on the defensive side.
00:36Of course, the Eagles also have a new coordinator.
00:38They have Sean Mannion who's going to be coordinating the offense.
00:41They kind of go through their deal there.
00:45But their defense is kind of what leads this team with Vic Fangio,
00:49widely considered one of the best defensive coordinators in football,
00:53and he's got some players, some talent to work with.
00:57Washington, of course, coming off a disastrous 5-12 season.
01:02The preseason and training camp, et cetera, didn't start out great with Laramie Tunsell going down.
01:07But I think all the coaches have been very complimentary.
01:10I mean, I don't know if they would say otherwise, but very complimentary of Brandon Coleman filling in for Tunsell.
01:16They have confidence in Nick Allegretti in the offensive line.
01:19I know that's a huge question mark for the fans.
01:21It's a super challenging matchup with Jalen Carter and those boys.
01:26I know I was watching JP and our buddy Mitch Tichler, and those guys think we're really going to struggle
01:32to run the football against Philly.
01:35Just haven't really demonstrated that in camp, that they're really able to pound the football yet.
01:40So if they win this game, it's going to have to be with Jaden doing a few special things.
01:45I think you're going to know within the first series or two what the pressure looks like up the middle,
01:49whether Allegretti can handle it, whether they need to bring in Rashad White to play a bigger role in pass
01:55protection to keep Jaden upright.
01:58That's going to be a key early in that game, is seeing the type of pressure that Jalen Carter and
02:04Davis are going to bring.
02:05Yeah, I mean, they're going to be under duress.
02:06How do the commanders counteract it?
02:07Yeah, I mean, I don't think it's going to be a game where we light up the scoreboard.
02:11I mean, hopefully it's a game where we just keep it close and maybe you could steal it in the
02:15fourth quarter, Cakes.
02:16Here's an interesting stat.
02:18You know, Nick Sirianni gets a lot of grief around the league.
02:25He's 5-0 lifetime, though, in week one, Cakes.
02:27He's not only got a great record.
02:29It's kind of daunting.
02:31He's great in week one.
02:32So they certainly have...
02:34I didn't know that when I picked the commanders to upset the Eagles in week one.
02:38You didn't do the research on it.
02:39I wish I'd known that nugget.
02:41They certainly have their work cut out for them.
02:43Of course, injury's still playing a factor, even though Coleman's stepping in and he seems to be doing a decent
02:48job.
02:50And they expect good things from Allegretti.
02:52We still have question marks about Odafe Owe and Caleb Von Chason.
02:56Both guys, I think, were listed as limited, but practicing.
03:03Limited participants, both Wednesday and Thursday.
03:05They have not been ruled out, and I think the feeling is they're maybe expected to be available, but through
03:12a snap count.
03:14Surprising add to the injury list.
03:16Deron Payne pops up with a knee.
03:18Yes.
03:18Limited practice.
03:19He was added to the report on Thursday.
03:22We can talk to Adam Peters about that coming up at 825.
03:25I don't love that at all.
03:26We'll get the full injury update, hopefully, from AP.
03:29Others that were full participants that have been kind of on this list all year.
03:34Allegretti, full participant.
03:36Kinlaw with his back, full participant.
03:38Linebacker Jordan McGee, full.
03:40Marcus Mariota, full.
03:42Amenahue, full.
03:44Sinnott, so that's good.
03:45Of course, they won't have Armstrong.
03:48They're not going to have Johnny Newton and Tunsell and those guys, and Trey Amos will be out for the
03:53first four or five weeks or so.
03:54So, it is what it is.
03:56Both coordinators took to the podium yesterday.
03:59I was watching it.
04:01A lot of people listen to heavy metal or hard rock when they work out.
04:06I work out and I watch Redskins press conferences.
04:09Very good.
04:10So, I watch David Blau.
04:12Get your palms.
04:14And he was super complimentary, like I say, of Coleman and what the guys have done.
04:21He was super complimentary of Jaden.
04:24A lot of questions about Jaden and how he's grown.
04:27Those guys have been here from the start.
04:30Wasn't he asked what he wishes he had that Jaden has?
04:34What he ever thinks about it.
04:35Pretty much everything.
04:36He's like his speed.
04:37His size.
04:38His arm.
04:39His height.
04:39His athletic talent.
04:41All of that.
04:41But he's really complimentary of Jaden and his mature approach to the game.
04:45Um, there was even a quote somewhere, uh, where, uh, they talked about, look, he has
04:52his idea of how he wants to run his offense, but if it doesn't fit Jaden, they're not going
04:56to just try to force it.
04:58Right?
04:58So, it's got to be.
04:59He's a flexible coach.
05:01It's got to be something that Jaden, uh, is comfortable with and is, excels at.
05:07They're not just going to force him to do things.
05:08He's playing to his strengths.
05:09You know, you don't want to have a guy who's so rigid and just imposes his system on a
05:14quarterback or any player and say, you have to do it this X, Y, and Z, or we're not going
05:18to do it.
05:19Right, right.
05:19You have to play to guys' strengths.
05:20Got to play to his strengths at some point, no matter what your system is.
05:23It's going to be interesting to see how different it looks compared to when Kingsbury's running.
05:27Of course, we're all expecting a lot of pre-snap motion, uh, under center, I don't know,
05:32maybe 50% of the time.
05:33Maybe it won't be.
05:34Maybe, maybe they decide that Jaden actually isn't as comfortable under center as they say.
05:38By all accounts, he's looked comfortable in camp, though.
05:41So, um, I don't know.
05:43I don't know if that'll be a limiting factor or not.
05:44If that pressure's on him early, maybe you do switch to more, you know, pistol and shotgun
05:49looks to keep, you know, a little bit of distance away from him and the defenders.
05:53Right.
05:54Of course.
05:54It's just going to have to be the, he's going to have to feel that out over the first few
05:57series.
05:57Most of the narrative, uh, throughout the off season, uh, about this team has been about the
06:03health, uh, of Jaden.
06:05I think most people are, uh, pretty confident and sold on his talent around the league.
06:11Uh, but the question is his availability, not ability.
06:15And to that end, I thought this was interesting.
06:18DQ talked about how he had him review every one of his runs last year cakes.
06:24And they kind of, I'm paraphrasing here, but they kind of essentially asked him to evaluate
06:29where he could have better protected himself on every single run.
06:33And DQ even went so far as to say something to the effect of, he didn't feel like Jaden
06:39had a very good handle on that part of his game.
06:42That was, that was something that he needed to improve.
06:44I'm surprised Coach Quinn went that far to kind of criticize Jaden Daniels.
06:49The question will be whether you can actually flip a switch and change the style of play
06:57that you've had your whole life and been successful at your whole life.
07:00Well, you can, in a sense that you could take off, but just get down.
07:03I know, but if you've always had that competitive edge where in certain moments, instead of ducking
07:09out of bounds, you cut inside.
07:11Look, there might be moments where he's going to need to do that.
07:14You know, the game's riding on, you know, riding on it.
07:16I think he's going to be good at thinking about that during the play.
07:19But I think he's going to be a little bit more, I think he's going to be a little bit
07:21better at it, too.
07:22Yeah, he's going to be more cautious.
07:24Durante, also impressive at the podium.
07:26I really like that guy.
07:28He talked about, and was asked about, you know, play calling, what's that like, you know,
07:32sort of for the first time.
07:34And he mentioned, though, that working under Brian Flores, that Flora had given him the
07:38opportunity last couple preseasons to call plays during the preseason.
07:43So it's not completely brand new to him.
07:46And he'd kind of gotten his feet wet doing that.
07:49They talked about, you know, the injury factor.
07:52And they just kind of go with, you know, the old typical next man up.
07:56And that's just kind of the philosophy and the way those guys have played.
07:59He talked about trying to slow down a Saquon.
08:02He talked about how it's not a one-man job.
08:05What an incredible player Saquon is.
08:07It's going to take a total team effort to do that.
08:09He was asked about the team's lack of turnovers that they created last year and how that's
08:16been a big point of emphasis and that how he sees guys taking that extra step to get
08:22that extra swipe at the ball or make an extra play on the ball.
08:26And that time will tell.
08:28But it's certainly been a huge point of their emphasis as they lead up here to Week 1, Cakes.
08:34Do you like his response to the tush push?
08:36His basic response was, don't get in that position.
08:39Don't get in that position.
08:40They're 75% when they're in that position.
08:42The way you defend the tush push is, don't end up in third and shorts.
08:46Don't let them get to the two-yard line.
08:49Basically the message there.
08:50Because they're going to score.
08:51Yeah.
08:51Yes.
08:52He's also asked about his undersized corners.
08:56And he made a point of saying, look, and I'm not saying relative to talent, but there
09:01are guys that have been in this league, like Daryl Green, that have had Hall of Fame careers
09:06that use technique and skill and ability, et cetera, to overcome those things.
09:10So they're not going to grow overnight, but that they can play still at a high level,
09:16even though they're a little bit undersized.
09:17He talked about moving Sanders still and all these guys all around.
09:21He talked about Sonny Stiles and that how he's processing the game probably at a higher
09:26level than most rookies.
09:28So that was good to hear.
09:31You know, overall, though, a big challenge.
09:34I told you, I'm trending toward picking our guys.
09:38I'm going to pick us.
09:39I thought you already did.
09:40Yeah, I'm just, look, things change every day, but I'm going to pick us because I just
09:46think the narrative has just gone too negative against us, especially when I see these power
09:50rankings.
09:51We talked about it at the NFL.com power rankings had Washington 31 out of 32 teams.
09:58Just utter disrespect.
10:00That's comical.
10:01I feel like that's comical.
10:03I mean, the Browns ranked above the commanders, I believe, or maybe they were 32nd.
10:08So, I mean, look, they got their work cut out.
10:10I think Miami was 37, Miami.
10:11Yeah, yeah.
10:11The Browns above the commanders.
10:12That's the one team that we did kind of take advantage of in the preseason.
10:16When we come back, let's open it up to commanders fans.
10:18Who do you think is going to win?
10:19Put it up as the junkies poll of the day brought to you by Surfside iced tea and vodka or
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10:24This summer, grab a Surfside, your go-to canned cocktail made with real vodka.
10:28Only 100 calories and zero bubbles.
10:30It's not a seltzer.
10:31Surfside must be 21.
10:32Please drink responsibly.
10:33The poll is very simple.
10:35Who's going to win?
10:36Early voting.
10:3856% in on the Eagles.
10:41How does Washington pull off this win?
10:43Give us their path to victory.
10:441-800-636-1067.
10:47Want to hear from commanders fans?
10:48Play the music, cakes.
10:49I can do that.
10:50It is a football Friday here on the Junkies, presented by Adios Premium Cam Margarita.
10:55Say hello to Adios DC.
10:56We're the Junkies.
10:58Be back as we talk Commanders Eagles opening week.
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