Hogs Haven
The Washington Commanders held a full practice today, and their coordinators got a chance to answer some questions before their preseason game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football. Kliff Kingsbury was up first before practice started. He started off by talking about the changes he’s seen from Jayden Daniels, and he said he’s focused and treating every practice like a game. Later on he talked about Daniels’ photographic memory, and ability to diagnose plays after being told one time.
Terry McLaurin is still holding in with an ankle injury, and Kingsbury said the offense is hard to evaluate when you’re missing your top two outside receivers, and two guards. There has been a ton of contact with McLaurin due to his holdout, and then current PUP status. Kingsbury said until McLaurin gets back on the grass, they won’t be able to build back up his relationship with QB Jayden Daniels, and the rest of the offense. They had a lot of time together last season, and Terry understands the system which should expedite the process, but he said to him, “time on task, together on the grass” is really the only way you can continue to build.
Some of the other receivers on the roster have taken advantage of the absence of McLaurin and Brown, but some have not. There’s a lot of competition for the last spot or two on the roster and the practice squad after roster cutdowns on August 26th. Kingsbury said the competition has been good, but they still have a lot to show over the next three weeks.
“I think not as much as we would if he were full-go, there’s no doubt. I think, like I said, I’m huge on walk-throughs, on practice things like that. Because until you get on the grass and actually do it, and feel the timing, feel the depths of routes and things of that nature, I don’t know exactly how much you can get out of that. So I think we’re kind of at that point where we need to start getting those guys when they’re available out there and gelling and seeing what we are as an offense.
I mean, there hasn’t been a ton of contact with him. You know, he’s been here, but he’s been working with the trainers, so until he gets back on the grass, that’s when we’ll start building that back up. Yeah, I think, you know, that’s one of those deals. This is time on task.
It’s still a work in progress, and some guys are taking advantage of the opportunities, and some have not. There are a lot of guys who are trying to earn a roster spot. And so that competition has been good, but I think there’s still a lot to...
