If nothing else, Jayden Daniels is an optimist.
After another shaky performance by Washington’s offense, this time in a joint practice in Baltimore, Daniels appeared frustrated with how his unit looked less than a month away from the start of the season.
In his post-practice press conference, the quarterback stared off into the distance in stretches, gathering his thoughts. He provided what felt like sarcastic laughs when discussing the team’s injury issues and the offensive line. But, when asked about his general concerns following a day of mistakes, Daniels kept everything in perspective.
“You just overall have to keep building and keep growing,” he said after the joint practice session with the Ravens. “You’re not winning a Super Bowl right now. You’re not playing for a Super Bowl right now.”
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He’s right. The Super Bowl isn’t for another 172 days. Week 18 is 137 days out. Even Week 1 is still 18 days away. The Commanders, in theory, have a lot of time to right the ship. But that doesn’t change what was obvious Wednesday: Washington’s offense will be incapable of moving the ball down the field this season if the offensive line doesn’t improve.
In Baltimore, the group had trouble keeping Ravens out of the backfield. The running backs, who averaged a paltry 2.1 yards per carry against the Lions last week, struggled to find running room. And when rookie Robert Henry Jr. did find space on one play, he fumbled the ball away at the end of his run.
On passing plays, Daniels was constantly forced to move around the pocket or scramble. Rookie center Matt Gulbin, taking the first-team snaps that had previously gone to Julian Good-Jones, didn’t exactly seize the opportunity. On one of the first plays during 11-on-11 drills, he was pushed into the running back, ending the play before it had a chance to start. Later, Gulbin snapped a ball too low in shotgun, leading to a rushed throw and an interception. But Daniels seemed unfazed by the uncertainty at center.
“Doing my job with the guys that I have, Matt and Julian,” Daniels said. “They’re doing a great job. It’s been like that for a majority of camp, so you won’t see me complaining.”
At other times in 11-on-11, there were notable missed blocks by right tackle Josh Conerly Jr. and receiver Jaylin Lane.
“I feel like we were just out of sync a little bit with our combos,” Conerly said. “There were some guys next to each other that haven’t worked next to each other at all this whole camp, but we made it work, and we got going eventually.”
It wasn’t all bad: Running back Kaytron Allen continued to impress and Daniels found Terry McLaurin multiple times during the first period of 11-on-11 drills against the Ravens’ starting defense. During 45-second drills at the end of practice, Daniels — fading backward — found Antonio Williams more alone than Macaulay Culkin and hit him for a touchdown.
The defense fared better. Facing the Ravens’ starting offense, pass coverage forced Lamar Jackson to have to check down to his running backs on multiple occasions. Linebacker Dorance Armstrong and defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw stuffed Derrick Henry on back-to-back plays. Cornerback Amik Robertson picked off Jackson in the end zone during the Ravens’ 45-second drill.
But due to injuries on the front seven — defensive tackle Daron Payne and linebackers Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson were all out — there was virtually no pass rush. It made the rest of the defense, which mostly sat back in zone coverage, susceptible in the middle of the field. At one point, Jackson found Devontez Walker on a deep route for a 70-plus-yard touchdown.
Washington will have another shot at the Ravens in its third and final preseason game Friday night. But the Commanders are running out of time to fix their issues before Week 1. At the very least, Daniels does not seem to be alone in his positive attitude.
“There’s so much good shit that happened today from receivers hitting their marks, to Jayden doing what he does, O-line communicating, running off the ball. There’s so much good stuff that you take away from the same day,” left tackle Brandon Coleman said.
“That’s what practice is. There’s good stuff, there’s bad stuff, and you always want to correct the bad stuff because the good stuff is the expectation.”
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