Ashburn, Va. – Four practices into year three of the Dan Quinn-Adam Peters era, the Washington Commanders are trying to answer the only question that matters after a season that went sideways: was 2025’s 5-12 face-plant a blip, or the real team? You don’t get that answer in July. What you do get, and what Washington has delivered in spades this week, is a defense that looks like it showed up with something to prove, and an offense that’s still finding its legs.
Here’s what four practices in Ashburn actually told us.
The defense hasn’t lost a rep yet
This unit arrived at camp with an attitude, and it’s shown from snap one.
In the very first practice, Washington’s front seven made life miserable for Jayden Daniels and the offense, keeping them out of rhythm for most of the session. Daniels found Treylon Burks for a touchdown in a goal-line period and flashed some clean throws elsewhere, but the timing was choppy all day, which, to be fair, is what new-system camps look like in July.
Day two was more of the same. Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson got after the edge all afternoon, and safety Percy Butler picked off a pass and took it the other way for six.
Then the pads came on, and the gap got wider. Plenty of “completions” that looked fine on the stat sheet wouldn’t have survived a real defense; the pass rush had already blown up the pocket before the ball came out. That’s the annoying part of evaluating camp football: defenders can’t finish plays, so some of what looks like a sack shows up on tape as a catch.
NFL insider Lake Lewis Jr., who’s been on-site at the BigBear.ai Performance Center all week and breaking down each practice on his show, has said flatly that the defense has won every practice so far. That tracks. Defenses are always ahead of offenses in July: attacking is instinct, while running a new system with precision takes reps nobody has yet. But the speed and physicality defensive coordinator Daronte Jones promised this offseason is showing up right on schedule. Washington wanted a defense that makes opponents uncomfortable. So far it’s made its own quarterback uncomfortable, which is at least a start.
The offense is still looking for a rhythm
Nobody in Ashburn is panicking, but the offense hasn’t put together a clean, complete practice yet.
Daniels has been a study in contrasts, mixing a handful of sharp, decisive throws with possessions that never got going, some of it on him, some of it on drops from the receivers and tight ends. Saturday’s practice moved a little better, though the receiver room outside of Terry McLaurin was quiet. McLaurin did McLaurin things, rookie Antonio Williams chipped in a few catches, but nobody’s had the breakout day yet that turns heads.
It’s way too early to say Washington needs to go shopping for a receiver, but the room is thinner than the team probably planned on. For most of the offseason, Brandon Aiyuk ending up in Ashburn felt like one of the league’s worst-kept secrets. A clean break from San Francisco seemed inevitable, and just about everyone in and around the building expected him in a Commanders uniform this fall. That expectation has quietly fallen apart. Aiyuk has spent the year on the 49ers’ reserve/left squad list and refuses to even file for reinstatement, and a string of off-field trouble, including a viral video of him driving 104 mph that he later apologized for, a subsequent misdemeanor arrest warrant, and a run of social media posts that left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, has turned a near-certain trade into a non-starter. So instead of pairing McLaurin with a proven No. 2, Washington is left waiting on an unproven receiver room to figure itself out in camp.
The backfield has been the bright spot. Jacory “Bill” Croskey-Merritt has continued showing the receiving chops that made him a name as a rookie, and free-agent addition Rachaad White, one of the more reliable pass-catching backs in the league during his Tampa Bay days, has looked comfortable running routes out of the backfield. That matters under new offensive coordinator David Blough, who’s made clear he wants the running backs doing more than blocking and running between the tackles. Second-year tight end Ben Sinnott has also emerged as one of Daniels’ go-to options through the first two open practices.
The pieces are there. They just haven’t clicked together yet.
The kids are already making noise
The most fun storyline of week one might be how many young, unproven players are already forcing veterans and coaches to pay attention.
Antonio Williams has been the headline rookie so far. McLaurin has gone out of his way to praise the Clemson product’s route-running and natural feel for the position, while pointing out, correctly, that the job now is to do it again tomorrow, and the day after that.
The bigger surprise is undrafted receiver Jaden Bradley, a 6-foot-3 target out of UNLV who spent the offseason training alongside McLaurin and Dyami Brown and has clearly absorbed some of it. He’s a longer climb to a roster spot than Williams, but he’s putting himself in the conversation, and McLaurin’s attention is not nothing.
Both receivers are chasing the same thing McLaurin has been preaching all camp: stack good days on top of each other. One great practice gets you noticed. A month of them gets you a job.
There’s also a kicking battle worth watching. Undrafted rookie Drew Stevens has been booting balls well past the back of the end zone, and it’s more than a training-camp novelty: Jake Moody, the incumbent, was a 2023 third-round pick who’s never fully locked down the job, and a strong summer from Stevens would let Washington walk into the season without carrying a shaky, expensive answer at the position. That’s a real roster spot in play, not just a leg-strength highlight.
The next stretch of camp, with more pads and more live reps, should start separating the real standouts from the hot-start guys. It’ll also make it a lot easier to judge the O-line, the pass rush, and the run game without squinting at practice tape and guessing.
Four practices in, the story in Ashburn is simple: the defense looks fast, physical, and ahead of schedule. The offense has the pieces to get there. It just isn’t there yet.
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