Commanders Flat in First Preseason Game, Lose 48-18 to New England

The best news for the Washington Commanders. Most of the players on the field Friday night in New England will be either holding a clipboard, occupying the practice squad, or looking for work elsewhere when the regular season begins in less than a month.

After a lively joint practice with the Patriots on Wednesday, Washington came out flat, stayed flat, and lost its preseason opener 48-18.

“We missed it tonight by a lot. All three phases,” head coach Dan Quinn said in his post-game press conference. “So what I’m looking for over the next ten days is like really good improvement. We had made good strides coming up here for the joint. A lot of evaluations to take place between the practice and the game, and that’s still the case. I will look forward to going through both and getting to it.”

It was a bad night from the opening kickoff, which New England’s rookie running back TreVeyon Henderson returned 100 yards for a touchdown to give the Pats a 7-0 lead less than 12 seconds into the first quarter.

“Our flagship has certainly been on the special teams side,” Quiin said. “To see them score right off the bat, that one was a gut punch. I thought we battled back and got right to it and never clicked on in that way tonight.”

Most of Washington’s starters, including quarterback Jayden Daniels, watched the game in street clothes. With backup QB Marcus Mariota out with a leg injury, third-stringer Sam Hartman started the game, but wasn’t very effective. Many of his passes missed the target, and he finished just 9 of 19 for 64 yards with no touchdowns and an interception. He was succeeded by Josh Johnson, who completed 15 of 22 passes for 173 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.

“As a quarterback you want to take the responsibility of everything that transpires,” Hartman said. “It is never good to get beat like that. Not getting in the end zone is tough. I think as a unit, we are going to take responsibility of it all. We need to work to figure out what we can get better at and go from there. It was frustrating for sure.”

The Commanders run defense was a problem as it was last year. New England ran for over 100 yards in the first half. Patriots starting quarterback Drake Maye played two series and led two scoring drives. He ended one with a five-yard touchdown scramble, the other resulted in a field goal and a 17-0 Patriots lead.

There were a few bright spots.

Defensive lineman Johnny Newton had a sack-fumble of Maye in the first quarter that gave Washington the ball deep in Patriots territory. Newton is expected to help fill the void left by the off-season departure of Jonathan Allen.

“I’ve really felt like his hand use as a pass rusher has stepped up, stepped in,” Quinn said. “He’s got very good initial quickness off the ball. He can beat somebody to the punch. So there was a play, maybe the second drive, where he and [Jacob] Martin combined on a sack. You guys probably had a better view than me. I do like what I’ve seen from him pass rush — wise, his hands, so I thought he was off to a good start.”

Rookie cornerback Trey Amos had good coverage on a throw into the end zone, preventing a touchdown pass. He also came up and made a tackle on the five-yard line that forced New England to kick its first field goal.

Former Commanders running back Antonio Gibson burned his former teammates with a 62-yard kickoff return. Gibson is playing his second season with New England after being drafted by Washington.

Washington will play its final two pre-season games at home, and the starters will play most of the first half next week against Cincinnati. Judging by Friday’s performance, there is plenty of work to do.

Notes:

First-round pick Josh Conerly Jr. had a solid debut. He started at right tackle and seemed to play well. He didn’t give up any obvious plays for a loss.

Safety Jeremy Reaves flashed on defense, making several plays, including a big hit on a pass breakup in the first half.

Penalties were a problem as well. Washington was flagged 13 times for 98 yards while the Patriots committed only two.