You might’ve read this summer — even in this very publication — that the Commanders’ receivers room was an area of concern.
Well, mere seconds into the team’s joint practice with the Dolphins Wednesday, Washington proved that is not the case. In one-on-one drills between the team’s receivers and Miami’s defensive backs, both Terry McLaurin and Stefon Diggs quickly passed their defenders for easy scores.
That set the tone for the rest of the day, as Washington’s offense (save for the line at times) and defense both feasted on the Dolphins in the first-ever joint practice held at the Commanders’ practice facility in Ashburn.
“It all starts with the energy,” said defensive lineman Javon Kinlaw. “If you ain’t got that energy, what you going to lean on? I thought we did a good job of leaning on each other today.”
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The practice was sectioned off into two areas. On one field, the Commanders first-team offense faced off with the Dolphins first-team defense, and vice versa on the other field. Both offensive units worked from various spots on the field, including in the red zone for two-minute drills.
The Commanders passing offense was on point all day. Jayden Daniels completed about 70% of his passes and was surgical in the flat, across the middle, and on deep throws. He dropped long passes right in the bucket for both Dyami Brown (who bobbled and dropped the pass in tight coverage) and Treylon Burks, whose touchdown catch seemed to elicit the loudest response from the thousands of season ticket holders in attendance. Diggs, showcasing his elite route-running skills, also scored on a seam route.
The run game was a different story. Washington was missing center Nick Allegretti (calf) and left tackle Laremy Tunsil (triceps), and it showed in the run blocking — or lack thereof. Running backs Bill Croskey-Merritt and Rachaad White were consistently stuffed, rarely ever getting more than 5 yards down the field. It appeared to be more of an interior issue, as new starting left tackle Brandon Coleman held his own on the outside for most of the day in both run and pass protection.
“You can’t replace [Tunsil],” Daniels said. “LT is one of one. But I got confidence in [Coleman] and the next-man-up mentality, so I’m going to trust all my teammates to go out there and do the job.”
While there will continue to be questions about the offensive line, there should be few doubts about the defense. That unit has excelled throughout training camp, with an elite pass rush disrupting plays and large humans like Tim Settle, Kinlaw and Daron Payne clogging up the middle.
On Wednesday, Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis was constantly under duress. Linebackers Odafe Oweh and K’Lavon Chaisson were behind the line of scrimmage so quickly that you’d think they played for Miami, and defensive backs Amik Robertson, Rasul Douglas and Mike Sainristil didn’t give an inch to the Dolphins’ receivers.
During two-minute drills to end practice, the Dolphins ran five plays. Willis was sacked on three of them.
“I believe as a defense, wholeheartedly, we did an amazing job,” rookie linebacker Joshua Josephs said. “We were shutting them down. The standards we have set in previous practices, we were able to play up to those standards and just relax and fall back on our knowledge and our training.”
It should be noted that Miami went 7-10 last season and proceeded to get rid of their top four highest-paid players. Regardless, the Commanders looked like the much stronger of the two teams. With Allegretti back as early as Sunday and Coleman given time to gel with the starting unit, even the offensive line could come around. At this point in the summer, the Commanders are not perfect — but for a team coming off of a disastrous 2025 season, Wednesday’s practice is certainly a step in the right direction.
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