ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — With the preseason opener still to come and the first game that counts more than a month away, Dan Quinn hopes to narrow down the Washington Commanders depth chart with training camp competition.
“The name of the game that we’ll see today is going to be competition,” Quinn said before practice Thursday. “It’s not on reputation. It’s on the performance. And I think every good ball player knows that. It’s like, ‘What are you doing?’ That’s the performing. That’s the reputation, not what you have done (in the past).”
No. 2 pick Jayden Daniels has not yet been selected as the starting quarterback, but that position is one of the most solidified on the roster, with veteran backup Marcus Mariota also in place. Quinn mentioned running back, wide receiver, tight end, defensive line, linebacker, cornerback, safety and kicker as still competitive.
Players are well aware of what is at stake.
“The word of the month is competition,” said veteran offensive lineman Cornelius Lucas, who is competing with rookie Brandon Coleman, a third-round pick, for the starting left tackle job. “The word of the year is competition … I’m always excited to compete because the word of the year is competition.”
Although competition has been the word of the year, Thursday marked the second day the Commanders took the field in full pads, opening the door to an increasingly competitive atmosphere.
The next few days of training camp will be the most important to Quinn.
“The team’s close to ready to compete because of the competition they have against one another,” Quinn said. “These next couple of days and this block is a really big one … Guys do what is called a mock game Saturday, which is a situation where we’re trying to stress them out in different spots.”
Perhaps underrated but still important is the newfound competition at kicker. Washington claimed Riley Patterson off waivers from the Jaguars on Wednesday to give Ramiz Ahmed some competition.
The Commanders are in flux at the position because they released Brandon McManus on June 2, after he was sued for sexual assault. Patterson, 24, has spent time with seven other NFL teams already, kicking in the regular season for Detroit, Cleveland and Jacksonville.
“Just kind of like the theme of everything, we’re just not going to back off from competing in every spot. We’ve been pleased with what we’ve seen so far with (Ahmed),” Quinn said. “But as part of this competition, that’s also part of the job and what goes into it.”
Patterson and Ahmed will get many opportunities to audition for the role before the Commanders’ Week 1 matchup at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 8.
“These guys together will both kick on the same day, there won’t be any alternation as we go through it, so we’ll begin that process soon,” Quinn said. “We’re looking forward to seeing how that plays out.”
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