OPINION:
Well, that was a wasted trip to Detroit for the Commanders. Hope they had some time to at least squeeze in a visit to the Motown Museum.
The so-called contest Saturday against the Lions was supposed to be the first look at quarterback Jayden Daniels in a game — a preseason game, sure, but still, a game — since he was injured on Dec. 7 against the Minnesota Vikings.
If you happened to turn your head briefly, you might have missed it.
First play, incomplete pass under pressure.
Second play, 10-yard sack.
Third play, handoff.
Coach Dan Quinn stopped there. That was all the action Daniels would see. He didn’t even get enough plays to get to his treasured number of five.
Asked by reporters after the game if he considered putting Daniels back out there, Quinn said the plan was for one series only, even if it was just three plays.
Quinn, a fight fan, should know the words of former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, who once said, “Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”
They got punched in the mouth, all right. The Washington offensive line looked helpless against the Detroit pass rush, which did not include their best pass rusher, All-Pro Aiden Hutchinson.
The Commanders were missing their shaky starting center, Nick Allegretti, but that’s hardly a wash.
If there was any inclination to give Daniels more game action with the new offense run by rookie offensive coordinator David Blough, it was likely abandoned after seeing Daniels under duress from the get-go.
I mean, there will be time enough for that when Washington takes the field for real in the season opener Sept. 13 in Philadelphia against the Eagles and their powerful defense, led by all-world tackle Jalen Carter.
Preseason football is often an illusion, played mostly by players who will not see regular season action and without any of the playbook that teams have been secretly working on in training camp. It is often foolish to believe what you are seeing, to come to conclusions about how your team will perform. So a 17-13 loss doesn’t mean much.
Those opening three plays, though … that was different. That was a reality check not about Daniels, but the team’s ability to protect him.
It was frightening.
Pro Football Focus originally projected that a Commanders offensive line anchored by Laremy Tunsil would rank just inside the top 20. Hardly worthy of celebration, but also not terrifying.
But when Tunsil went down for perhaps the entire season with torn triceps, that ranking dropped to 32nd — the bottom of the league. And if the NFL added franchises tomorrow in Scranton and Lubbock, Washington’s offensive line would be ranked 34th.
Allegretti — already a questionable replacement for Tyler Biadasz, who the Commanders released in February (he signed a three-year, $30 million deal with the Los Angeles Chargers, only to be lost for the season with a knee injury in training camp) —hasn’t been able to stay healthy. Washington went with Julian Good-Jones at center against Detroit, and watching from miles away on my television set, that didn’t seem like a good idea.
Then again, the options are limited. Rookie Matt Gulbin saw some action at center and didn’t seem like a realistic option.
Asked about the offensive line following the game, Quinn said, “Yeah, there’s a lot of groups that went in and out. And so, the first crew of (Josh) Conerly and (Sam) Cosmi, I thought I liked how they’re playing together, their communication.
“And Sam’s really having a good camp. He’s maybe playing the best that I’ve seen him play in the couple, three years. His technique, he’s on it. I like what I’m seeing on the outside at left tackle.”
Then he got to the heart of the matter. “So, we got work to do to figure out where we want to get to at center.”
The work doesn’t stop there. Quinn said he liked what he was seeing at left tackle, where backup Brandon Coleman is stepping in for Tunsil. That is certainly a work hopefully in progress.
General manager Adam Peters has done what he can to fix the offensive line, trading for Tunsil, one of the best left tackles in the league, in March 2025 and then drafting Conerly in the first round a month later.
But he has made some mistakes, the center position being one of them. Peters missed out on signing free agent center Tyler Linderbaum. Linderbaum wound up signing an outrageous three-year, $81 million contract with the Las Vegas Raiders. But that deal doesn’t seem so outrageous now, given what is a stake here — the very existence of Daniels on the football field, along with any hope that the Commanders can compete this season.
• You can hear Thom Loverro on “The Kevin Sheehan Show” podcast.
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