OWINGS MILLS, Md. — If a neutral observer only saw the tail end of the Washington Commanders‘ joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens, they would have said Washington more than held its own.
In the final drill, both teams got one possession, trailing by four with under a minute left. The Commanders’ defense got a fourth-down stop when Mike Sainristil intercepted Lamar Jackson. The Commanders’ offense followed that up with Jayden Daniels fading away from heavy pressure and lofting a beautiful pass to Antonio Williams for a touchdown. The Commanders’ sideline erupted and stormed the end zone.
But if said observer had watched the entire two-hour session, they might have thought the two teams didn’t even belong on the same field. Baltimore’s thorough dominance was both eye-opening and telling of where both teams stand with the regular season two and a half weeks away.
Training camp and the preseason deliver us a lot of information at once. Some of it proves to be overreaction, but some of it proves prescient. As such, let’s play a game of “fact or fiction” from Wednesday’s developments.
Commanders offensive line needs major reinforcements: Fact
By far the biggest mismatch was the Commanders’ ragtag offense against Baltimore’s defense, a unit already loaded with talent and poised to be one of the league’s best under new head coach Jesse Minter.
Yes, Washington was without three starting offensive linemen — LT Laremy Tunsil (torn triceps) will miss extended time, if not the whole season; C Nick Allegretti (calf) continues to miss much of training camp; and RG Sam Cosmi (illness) was also out — and its top two running backs, Jacory Croskey-Merritt and Rachaad White.
But at a time when teams are supposed to be building and evaluating depth, Washington looked in disarray. As longtime Commanders beat writer Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic posted …
There were multiple miscues on snaps, the most basic aspect of football at any level, as fifth-round rookie center Matt Gulbin got first-team reps. Julian Good-Jones, who had been working at center in Allegretti’s absence, shifted to right guard with Cosmi out but hardly fared any better. Tanoa Togiai also worked in with the first team.
If the day could be summed up in one play, it was Daniels being forced to field a wayward snap, only to throw an interception to Kyle Hamilton on a play doomed from the start.
“I feel like we were just out of sync, a little bit, with our combos,” RT Josh Conerly Jr. said. “There was a little bit of a mixup in the lineup as well, so there were some guys next to each other that haven’t worked next to each other all camp.”
Daniels found Terry McLaurin for one chunk gain but otherwise was limited mainly to underneath throws, scrambles and would-be sacks.
“Not the best day that I thought we could have had, all-around, from myself to everybody else, but these are the opportunities that you get to learn from,” Daniels said. “Good thing about it, man, it’s August.”
He’s right. It is August. But August is slowly slipping away, and not in the right direction. In preseason Week 2 — the only preseason action the starters got — Daniels was heavily pressured on his first play and sacked on his second. Washington ran a draw on third down to escape any further damage and punted. As such, this joint practice seemed to be a crucial one, and it did not go well.
The offensive line is, plainly, a mess. The Commanders were never anticipating Gulbin playing significant snaps (and he still might not). Good-Jones has played two NFL snaps, back in the 2023 season finale. Togiai is an undrafted rookie. They are back-of-roster or practice-squad players.
“I gotta do my job at the end of the day,” Daniels said. “They have to do their job. I’m never one to go out there and complain about X, Y and Z, because at the end of the day, I can [only] control what I can control. … Julian, Matt, they’re doing a tremendous job up front with the situation that they’re in.”
The situation they’re in, though, is the issue. The entire operation can’t just fall apart when backups are called upon. Injuries happen and, in fact, already have. There are limited ways to improve substantively this late in the preseason, but whether it’s via free agency, waivers or trade, Washington must do so.
Commanders are already doomed: Fiction
The season is by no means over. To say that would be ridiculous. But the past week — the awful cameo against the Lions and the rough extended performance today — shows Adam Peters and Dan Quinn that they desperately need to add up front. They’ve added five journeyman veterans since training camp opened, but much more significant work needs to be done. They are behind the eight ball, but they’re not doomed to stay there.
The goal is for new offensive coordinator David Blough’s schematic changes to make the sum greater than its parts. It will all be for naught, though, if the offensive line gives him no chance to do so. Here’s one example: Blough drew up a beautiful play-action look for Daniels against the Lions, but John Bates — a good blocking tight end who had missed significant time earlier in training camp — got beat. Does Washington have the players to execute what could be a promising scheme?
If one were to look on the bright side, they’d see that Daniels himself has been terrific throughout training camp. Allegretti has been a quality backup (and sometimes starter) throughout his career, and the Commanders are bullish on what he provides at center, even though he has made only two starts there in his career. Cosmi is an excellent tackle, and while the falloff from him shouldn’t be as steep as it is, this was a one-day absence for him. Coleman has looked mostly solid taking over for Tunsil at left tackle, though he, like most Commanders, was none too happy.
Croskey-Merritt and White could be a better running back tandem than most are giving them credit for, as Croskey-Merritt was ninth in the entire NFL in rush yards over expected per carry. McLaurin and Stefon Diggs form by far the best receiver duo Daniels has ever had, and Chig Okonkwo fits this offense to a T.
Furthermore, the defense should be miles better than it was last year. Neither Odafe Oweh nor K’Lavon Chaisson practiced Wednesday, but both dominated the Dolphins when Miami came to town a few weeks ago. Dorance Armstrong had back-to-back excellent reps, one of which might have been a sack of Jackson and the other of which almost certainly would have. He also had a nice run stop on Derrick Henry. There’s going to be a transition period for Sonny Styles, but his speed alone will be crucial. Defensive coordinator Daronte Jones, like Blough on the offensive side, is trying to have the sum exceed its parts.
Lamar Jackson is primed for bounce-back year: Fact
Lamar Jackson looked solid — not spectacular, but certainly solid — even without Zay Flowers. In an 11-on-11 drill, he fired a perfect pass outside to Rashod Bateman and also completed quick passes to Bateman and Elijah Sarratt for decent gains. He then hit Mark Andrews in the middle of the field for a chain mover.
His biggest play, though, was a strike to Devontez Walker, who had gotten between the linebacker and the safety. Walker took it to the house untouched. It’s the final play below.
Jackson usually had plenty of time in the pocket, too. The offensive line did a stellar job in pass protection.
Jackson’s biggest adjustment will be getting more under-center play action reps, but this is actually an area in which he’s thrived.
With a more physical offensive line than was in place last year, Derrick Henry figures to be very good again — he got to the second level nearly untouched many times Wednesday — and that will make Jackson even more dangerous off play action.
Ja’Kobi Lane has surpassed Rashod Bateman: Fiction
Ja’Kobi Lane has been one of the biggest stars of training camp league-wide and the biggest star of Ravens training camp. Not only is the 6-foot-4, 200-pound rookie capable of winning 50-50 jump balls and making spectacular athletic catches — a size-skill combo Baltimore has very much needed — but he’s earning lots of reps with the first team.
But let’s not get too far out over our skis here. After Flowers (who was out Wednesday), Bateman is still the No. 2 receiver. He had a big day, cooking Amik Robertson twice in one-on-one drills and also collecting several catches in team drills.
Bateman hasn’t lived up to his first-round reputation yet, but maybe the new offense and the Lane and Elijah Sarratt draft picks provided a spark. “I would definitely say I could benefit from the situation that I’m in,” Bateman said last week.
Lane will play plenty, and that’s a great sign for a mid-round rookie on a team with a lot of talent. He has had a tremendous camp. But Bateman is still ahead of him.
The Ravens’ defense will be a top-five unit: Fact
Yes, it came against backups, but the Ravens’ interior defensive line is absolutely monstrous. Travis Jones had multiple strong reps, including a sack, Calais Campbell batted a pass down, and Broderick Washington had a strong run stop. Adding Nnamdi Madubuike, who is coming back from a neck injury, will take this group to an even higher level.
Then factor in the EDGE group. Trey Hendrickson flashed multiple times in both team and individual drills, with multiple would-be sacks. His speed around the edge caused Coleman issues on a few occasions, and on one rep, he and Jones nearly met at the quarterback. On another, Hendrickson and another EDGE collided while trying to avoid touching Daniels. (Quarterbacks are strictly non-contact in these drills.) It’s easy to forget how dominant Hendrickson was in 2024 given the contract issues and injury since, but 17.5 sacks and a second-place finish in Defensive Player of the Year voting should speak for themselves.
Also at EDGE, Tavius Robinson has had a nice camp, 2025 second-round pick Mike Green has flashed, and 2026 second-round pick Zion Young is a physical edge setter.
In the secondary, Nate Wiggins seems primed for a breakout and Marlon Humphrey primed for a rebound. Minter has long gotten the best out of his secondaries. Hamilton is simply an incredible player. On one instance, he got a TFL against the run in the blink of an eye. Minter is going to love lining him up all over the place. He also made a soaring pass breakup. The highlights are unreal.
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