- 2 days ago
The Commanders training camp has been a roller coaster over the last few weeks. One thing that Washington is chasing has been steady improvement ahead of their week one clash with Philly. What’s been your favorite training camp storyline to follow?
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00:00Great day yesterday out there, actually.
00:02You know, we played the Nick Cross interview.
00:04We've got Terry McLaurin playing later.
00:07Jeremy Reeves we talked to, Chig.
00:10Of course, AP stopped by.
00:11We were so crowded, we didn't even have time to get to him.
00:15But we talked to Mark Klaus, but we also talked to Dan Quinn.
00:20DQ's been great with us.
00:22The few times that we've had him on, he's always been gracious.
00:24He called into our anniversary show.
00:26I touched him 12 times.
00:27Jason was petting him throughout the interview.
00:29The over.
00:30The over.
00:31He just sits there and just touches you.
00:33I didn't notice it.
00:34Yeah, he just touches you.
00:35It's kind of a weird thing, too.
00:37He just touches you.
00:39Jason, you do this.
00:40It's his way of, like, buddying up to him.
00:43Probably looks really weird.
00:46But, you know, right away we basically cut to the chase with him
00:49and we wanted to ask him about Jaden's availability
00:52for this second preseason game.
00:54Are you leaning towards Jaden playing on Saturday
00:56or you just haven't decided yet?
00:58We haven't got there yet.
00:59Like, the next two days we're still, like, back into our camp space to go.
01:02So I kind of look at the whole team, you know, once we get through, like, Thursday
01:06and then we can decide who we're going in.
01:07But with new systems today, tomorrow, man, like, back to camp and going to dig in.
01:12So that's where we're at today.
01:13What are the pros and cons of playing versus not playing?
01:16Obviously not playing the pros is they don't get hurt.
01:18Right.
01:19So that's the pros.
01:20I mean, the cons, excuse me.
01:21The pros is new systems, timing, you know, new looks.
01:25So when you have the joint, that helps.
01:28When you have the joint practices to get some of those guys work in that space.
01:31But just having the time together in a game, it helps for sure.
01:35And then also, like, going through the entire routine of what it looks like to go play.
01:39Yeah.
01:39You know, without getting yourself all the way ready.
01:42If you decided, okay, Jaden should get a couple series just to get him in the rhythm.
01:47Right.
01:48I would assume you have to play the number one offensive line, too.
01:50You've got to play all the starters.
01:51100%.
01:52Would that include receivers and everything?
01:53Is that kind of an all or nothing deal?
01:55It's not all or nothing.
01:56It's really custom to, like, where the health of the team is.
01:59Like, if somebody was not healthy enough to go, you know, then we wouldn't.
02:02It'd have to be, hey, man, like, all systems are go, then you get to play.
02:05But, yeah, that would, like, the all line would certainly be a factor.
02:08I defer to you.
02:09I mean, obviously, you're the pro.
02:10We don't know anything.
02:10But it seems like, from afar, that preseason has almost become, like, the way, like, the
02:15Pro Bowl is and, like, the way all-star games are.
02:18Like, you guys are getting your big work in the joint practices, and this is more for
02:22back of the roster.
02:23Some of that in some games.
02:25The juice just isn't worth the squeeze, as I'm making that argument.
02:28I don't want my guy to play two series.
02:31Yeah, we disagree on this.
02:32Yeah, and you're going to say, hey, Jay, just stay, you know, just dump it off, whatever,
02:35get rid of it.
02:36But he's a competitor.
02:37Somebody's going to blow around.
02:38He's going to take off.
02:39And 80,000 people are going to freak out.
02:42That's going to happen whether it's preseason, regular season.
02:45Right, but regular season, it matters.
02:46Yeah, well, this matters, too, to get ready for the regular season.
02:49That's what I said.
02:49That would be my argument.
02:50Yeah.
02:51To say, if you can find a margin or an edge, you know, like, winning in the NFL is really
02:54hard.
02:54So, if there's a space that it makes sense to do that, then you should.
02:58But there's certainly cases where it doesn't.
03:00Yeah, that's when I decided I'm going to lose.
03:02I'm going to lose the bet.
03:03He's going to play.
03:03Yeah.
03:04So, basically, what that tells me is if the guy's up front, everybody stays healthy,
03:08Jaden stays healthy, it's going to give him a run.
03:10Yeah, the killer quote there for you as we made this bet on whether Jaden would play
03:15is this matters, too, to get ready in the regular season.
03:19Yeah.
03:20Yeah, I mean, I'm losing the bet.
03:22He's playing.
03:23So, provided everybody's healthy.
03:24It sounded like that towards the end of the injury, but I don't know that it's a done
03:27deal.
03:27Now, he was also asked.
03:28Like, he could also just be happy.
03:30The work that we saw when we were watching, you know, the last period of practice when they
03:35were running the two-minute drill, he might be like, you know what?
03:36Jaden looks good.
03:37We don't need to put him out there.
03:38No.
03:39No.
03:39It doesn't even matter.
03:40because he said it's about sort of the rhythm, the process of getting ready for the game,
03:45going through the motions.
03:46So, that doesn't, if that's important to you and he thinks that's an important thing,
03:50that doesn't satisfy that.
03:52So, I'm losing the bet.
03:53He's playing Jaden in the second game.
03:55I don't believe he's going to play much, but he's definitely going to play.
03:58He won't play a lot.
03:58He's playing five in the second season game.
04:01Take it from me.
04:03You know a loser when you see it.
04:05I know a loser when I see one.
04:06I lost that bet.
04:07Sure.
04:07It happens.
04:07Valzee, did you want to play?
04:09He was also asking about that.
04:10It makes Saturday more interesting.
04:12I'm sorry.
04:12Yeah, sure.
04:13Just kind of compare what he said to you guys and then also how he said it to the press
04:18when they're asking.
04:19They asked him like five minutes later when he just went 10 feet over to that.
04:22I believe the specific question was, do you feel comfortable if Jaden doesn't take any
04:26preseason snaps?
04:27And this is what he said.
04:29Yes.
04:29I'd be comfortable with him and other veterans that have played to go.
04:33But, yeah, we haven't decided in terms of will we or won't we.
04:37We had a joint last week.
04:38He got a lot of reps.
04:39He'll get a lot today and tomorrow going against our defense.
04:42So, I'll have a better sense for where everybody is before we make any of those decisions.
04:46But he's thrown like an incredible training camp.
04:49His accuracy, his command of it.
04:52A new system, you wouldn't feel like that for him.
04:56But I've been certainly impressed by what I've seen so far by him.
04:59He seems confident.
05:01Yeah, but he didn't.
05:02He went into much more detail with us.
05:04He's definitely thinking about it.
05:06It's not, well, we're just going to sit him out the entire preseason because we've predetermined
05:11that.
05:12No, I think he has every intention to play him.
05:14He believes in playing his guys in a preseason, at least some playing.
05:17Well, you know how sometimes you just, you already make that decision in your head that
05:20I'm not, like, this guy's not going to see the field in preseason?
05:23That wasn't, I feel like that wasn't predetermined.
05:25No, no, I think his pre-wire is, oh yeah, Jaden's going to play in the preseason.
05:30It's just a matter of how much.
05:31Yeah, I don't think it's a done deal.
05:33I don't feel, I don't feel, I feel confident.
05:36I already forwarded if you do the money.
05:37He's leaning towards playing him.
05:39Unless something weird happens in today's session, I would expect him to play one or two series
05:47on Saturday.
05:47If Coleman goes down or Allegretti gets hurt, then they may not say, you know what, we need
05:53to protect him.
05:54Right.
05:56I mean, if Allegretti gets hurt after coming back, after missing three weeks, that's just
06:00the worst luck ever.
06:01By the way, did you see Biotis got carted off?
06:02I did.
06:03That's terrible news.
06:04Terrible.
06:04Feel bad for that guy.
06:05But that's why you get those G-Dub deals.
06:08Wasn't there another former commander that got hurt in practice?
06:11Yesterday?
06:12No, no, no.
06:12Don't know.
06:13A few days ago?
06:14I saw Quentin Johnson also was injured in that Chargers, I think it was Chargers and Niners
06:19were practicing with each other.
06:21So, obviously, after we talked to DQ, the guys went out and they had their practice,
06:28and we actually talked to DQ about Drew Stevens winning the job.
06:32You don't have to get the audio, no big deal.
06:34But he solidified it, at least, you know, reinforced why he won the job.
06:38Went six for six by most accounts yesterday.
06:42So, that was good.
06:43I think including banging a 60-yarder.
06:47So, that was good.
06:48Did he get him off on the right road?
06:50Yes.
06:51Good.
06:52I remember, I think part of the reason why he's, just paraphrasing DQ when we had him
06:58on, is he said, hey, number one, he earned it.
07:00And number two is kind of that rhythm of getting ready before games and all of that, knowing
07:05you're the guy, wants him to go through that here, especially being a young kicker.
07:09So, it gives him two preseason games knowing he's going to be the guy.
07:14If you just read accounts, I know some of us, JP was down there.
07:18I was down there.
07:19I watched Hartman execute the two-minute drill.
07:21And I have to say, Hartman was fine.
07:23It was a little bit of a longer slog to get down the field, but he did.
07:28Jaden went out there, two plays.
07:30Diggs, Chig, touchdown, boom.
07:32I mean, it was exciting to watch.
07:35Was the Diggs completion, was that over the middle?
07:38No, on the right side.
07:40It was right side.
07:40It was like a zone deal.
07:42I think it was yesterday, Diggs also had a really nice one-handed catch.
07:46I'm not sure if it was from Jaden or who threw it to him, but he had a nice one
07:50-hander on
07:50the side.
07:50Pretty impressive when you are there, because we aren't on the sideline that often anymore
07:54these days.
07:54But these guys are just, they're just so fit.
07:57They're so big.
07:59Hyper-talented.
07:59They're just so athletic.
08:01They're so gifted.
08:01All of them.
08:02Diggs surprised me when he walked by us.
08:05Looked bigger than I thought.
08:07He's just pretty sturdy.
08:09He's not a slight guy.
08:11He doesn't look like a, maybe like you would think, like a Jameson Crowder or something.
08:16You know what I mean?
08:17Like, yeah, he's got something to him.
08:18He's got the swag.
08:20And he and Terry, you saw a video of them.
08:23They kind of follow each other around, and they're doing a lot of stuff together.
08:27So I think that's going to be a great tandem.
08:29And I know you'll hear us talk to Terry about it.
08:33But I didn't think they necessarily had to add a two, even though everybody thought,
08:37oh, they had an obvious hole at receiver.
08:40They don't have a clear-cut two, which is obvious.
08:42I just thought, I like the room.
08:43I think these guys can do the job.
08:45Since adding Diggs, I think it just takes the receiving group to another level.
08:48Which makes the whole room so much better.
08:49Yeah, it just makes them so much better.
08:50I just feel like you can't have too many weapons.
08:52Like, the number two wide out now is a, he's a certainty.
08:56It's not a big question mark.
08:58Like, you know if Diggs is healthy, he's going to be hyper-productive.
09:02And if, God forbid, something happens to Terry, Diggs can fill in no problem.
09:06It's the way they talk about him, too.
09:08When Dan Quinn was talking about Stephon Diggs, it was different.
09:12You can see kind of that twinkle in his eyes.
09:14Yeah, exactly.
09:15He lights up talking about having that as a weapon.
09:18Everybody talks about, even though he's been around forever, that he's still got the speed.
09:21He runs ridiculous routes.
09:23He's got great work ethic.
09:24He's, you see him on the sideline working.
09:28Like, even the guys at the back of the roster, receivers, after they have a rep, they come to the
09:33sideline, Diggs is talking to him.
09:35Terry's talking to him.
09:36You know, coaching up the young guys.
09:39It's pretty impressive stuff.
09:41You see, also, I noticed, but like, when Diggs wasn't in the play, he's standing right next to what I
09:49think was the receiver's coach.
09:51You know, he's right there, heavily involved.
09:55He's not, like, off to the side like you see some guys.
09:58He's right there in the mix.
10:01Very impressive.
10:02If you looked at just the various accounts, because we were doing the show through a lot of the practice,
10:07a couple guys really stood out.
10:10Brandon Coleman, apparently, is, you know, holding his own.
10:15I know our buddy Mitch Tischler was super excited for what he saw with Brandon.
10:21Mitch loves to evaluate the offensive lineman.
10:25Said he looked very impressive in one-on-ones and in an 11-on-11.
10:30So, that's good, kind of solidifying his spot there.
10:32I saw him walk by.
10:34I mean, he's a big, strong, athletic dude.
10:37I mean, he looks the part every bit, Cakes.
10:42Joshua Josephs, apparently, still turning some heads, making some waves in camp.
10:49He stood out.
10:50Percy Butler, I believe he's the one that had that one-handed interception.
10:54Yeah, it was Percy.
10:55Off AK that ended practice right before the skirmish.
10:59And it was an impressive interception.
11:02I mean, he had to go up for it.
11:03Yeah, yeah.
11:04It was kind of like an over-the-middle deal.
11:06I felt bad for AK, right?
11:08The rookie.
11:08You don't want to end practice on a note like that.
11:10It might have even been the same type of pass that Jaden connected with Chig to.
11:13He just didn't get it over to the linebacker or safety.
11:16Right.
11:16So, obviously, everything's gearing up for the next preseason game against Detroit,
11:23which is on the 22nd.
11:25And then we have, we keep talking about it,
11:27the joint practice in the scrimmage with the Ravens coming up.
11:32So, there you go.
11:34It hurts to have two weeks after the last preseason game until the opener.
11:39Yeah.
11:39I think it's like on the 29th or 28th.
11:41Well, that's when you have some college football start to fill in the gaps, right?
11:44And you've got the Seahawks Patriots.
11:46They open the season, I think, on the 9th of September.
11:48And you have your fantasy drafts.
11:51Yeah, that'll fill in some of the gaps.
11:52That's true.
11:54It'll get here like this.
11:55It'll be quick.
11:57After that Ravens preseason game, it's going to be two-plus weeks.
12:01Yeah, but you've got college football for two weeks.
12:02I know, but it's not quite the same.
12:04I thought about you when my guy Shane was over.
12:06Big college fan.
12:07Just fixing the sub-zero the other day.
12:10He said he had already had his fantasy draft.
12:13Really?
12:13Pretty early.
12:14Kind of early.
12:15Pretty early.
12:16Be a dagger when he loses a player to a torn ACL.
12:18I like to have mine like week before the season starts.
12:22That's when all the preseason games are done.
12:24You know guys aren't going to get injured.
12:26In that interim time.
12:28Having them in like early to mid-August, a little bit dicey.
12:32Very dicey.
12:34Very dicey.
12:34Might want to stay away from those.
12:35All right, you are going to hear from Terry McLaurin coming up at 8 o'clock.
12:38We sat down with him yesterday.
12:40And Paul Taboney, Nationals President of Baseball Operations, at 9 o'clock here on The Fan.
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