The Washington Commanders are ready for the first preseason game. Well, the defense is ready for the first preseason game. Washington opens the 2023 preseason next Friday against the Cleveland Browns.
Washington’s defense has been outstanding throughout training camp. That’s not a surprise. A top-10 defense in 2022 by every metric, the Commanders have almost everyone back and added defensive end Chase Young and cornerback Emmanuel Forbes.
The offense, though, has had its moments. Friday — Day 9 — wasn’t a good day for Eric Bieniemy’s guys.
Here is a recap of Day 9 from Commanders training camp with some notes and observations.
Sam Howell's day
Here is Sam Howell completing passes during Day 9 of Commanders training camp. pic.twitter.com/iwLYae0ofK
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) August 4, 2023
It was up and down day for quarterback Sam Howell. Stop me if you’ve heard that before. And that’s OK. Howell has 19 career passing attempts, and he’s learning a new offense. There were always going to be good days and bad days. The one thing head coach Ron Rivera and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy have praised Howell for is his ability to shake off negative plays and not make the same mistake twice.
One area in which Howell has been excellent is throwing on the run. That will be a big part of Bieniemy’s offense, and that’s good for a young passer like Howell.
The chippiness
There have been at least two fights at practice today.
Just before the St-Juste/McLaurin thing, Sam Cosmi body-slammed a defensive lineman (couldn’t see who) And earlier in practice, Nick Gates spiked the ball at Phil Mathis and Bieniemy got irate. https://t.co/QM4nNL86ss
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 4, 2023
Right guard Sam Cosmi got into a tussle with defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis. Cosmi spoke about the incident after practice, and there’s nothing to it. Typical training camp frustration. I’d argue that Cosmi has been Washington’s most impressive offensive lineman in camp thus far.
The above battle that Nicki Jhabvala mentioned is interesting. It made Terry McLaurin mad. While McLaurin is one of the team leaders, he’s known to always be polite, calm, cool and collected. He was not happy with Benjamin St-Juste.
Some of this has more to do with the defense frustrating the offense. It happens in every training camp. And the defense is constantly talking trash to the offense, which, when you’re on the losing end, isn’t too much fun.
It sure sounded like Rivera was happy for his team to be a little chippy.
Injuries
Injury report:
Logan Thomas (calf strain)
Emmanuel Forbes (groin)
Curtis Hodges (hamstring)
Cody Barton (hip flexor)
Sahhdiq Charles (calf strain)
All are tbd/day2day for now, per Rivera.
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) August 4, 2023
The Commanders have been fortunate through the first two weeks to avoid serious injury. Of course, Washington did lose tight end Armani Rogers in OTAs. On Friday, the Commanders had some players banged up, but nothing serious.
Tight end Logan Thomas was out with calf strain. Strictly precautionary with the veteran. Cornerback Emmanuel Forbes had a good practice Friday before exiting with a groin injury. Forbes assured everyone he was fine.
Saahdiq Charles is still battling a calf injury. He is in a battle with Chris Paul to start at left guard. Linebacker Cody Barton has been one of the more pleasant surprises of camp early this summer.
The Commanders have been fortunate since camp began avoiding major injuries.
Forbes is coming on
Nice battle between Forbes and McLaurin on the first pass of 11-on-11. Result: PBU for Forbes
— Zach Selby (@ZachSelbyWC) August 4, 2023
Before Forbes exited practice, he was again battling McLaurin. While Forbes has lost his share of battles against McLaurin, he’s won some, too. Playing against one of the NFL’s best in practice each day is exactly what Forbes needs ahead of his rookie season. These battles have been fun to watch.
Returner update
Players catching kicks in special teams drills: Kazmeir Allen, McGowan, Milne, Tinsley
— Zach Selby (@ZachSelbyWC) August 4, 2023
Kazmeir Allen and Dax Milne have been in the mix as returners this summer. Mitchell Tinsley and Kyric McGowan are also getting some looks. Allen and Tinsley are rookie UDFAs, while McGowan was a rookie UDFA last summer. Milne is entering his third season with Washington. It was easy to project Allen as the winner after the draft once everyone saw his college highlights. However, what happens in the preseason games will go a long way in determining who is the punt returner — and who makes the 53-man roster.
