ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — The Commanders have played six games so far this year. Yet it feels like their season could be on the line Sunday against the Eagles.
After a bye week, the Commanders say there’s a sense of urgency to improve quickly. If Washington doesn’t start winning soon, the season could slip away far earlier than players or coaches anticipated.
“Sometimes I’ll go big picture — in this case, it was just three weeks,” coach Dan Quinn said of team meetings this week. “I started the meeting Monday, ‘This is the next three weeks. Three in the conference, two in the division.’ And then I shift it back to, ‘All that really matters is this fight and this game.’ So I do acknowledge, not in the length of months, but in short bursts. And I did that with the team, but the only way this chase begins is by our best this week.”
Washington will take on that challenge without top wide receiver Terry McLaurin, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in a loss to the 49ers on Oct. 19.
In order to improve, the Commanders will need to eliminate penalties and become more consistent — they fell behind 23-3 to the 49ers only to rally and lose by six. A fourth-quarter touchdown that would’ve given them the lead was wiped off the board by a penalty.
“I think we’re a really good football team,” guard Sam Cosmi said Wednesday. “I think we have a lot of talent on this football team. ... We can compete, obviously, with the best. We’ve shown that multiple times. It’s the execution and being able to do those things on a consistent basis.”
The Commanders have been without quarterback Jayden Daniels for two games this season, have lost McLaurin and have been without offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil all season. But a two-point loss to the Eagles in Week 1, a disheartening tie against the Giants and the loss to the 49ers all showed flashes of what the Commanders think they can be.
But they can’t afford any more near misses. The Commanders are 2 1/2 games behind the NFC East-leading Giants, and a loss to the injury-plagued Eagles would put them deeper in the basement.
For Washington’s season to turn around, its offense has to take a step forward.
“To our benefit we still have an opportunity to shift our season and try to win the division,” Daniels said. “And you got to not really look at that, but you got to take it day by day and have that optimistic mindset of, you’re gonna go out there once one gets rolling, hopefully a lot more follow. So, you just got to take the process day by day and not really try to focus on the outcome. We know what’s out there, we’re not blind to that, but it’s just day by day. As soon as you start thinking about that and you get out of your process, your routine, that’s where you get all messed up.”
Bye week gives Washington some much-needed rest
The Commanders had a staggering 22 players listed on the final injury report before their Oct. 19 game against the 49ers, 13 of whom had a designation of questionable or out.
Setting aside the huge loss of McLaurin to a torn left patellar tendon, the Commanders emerged from the bye week with far fewer injury concerns. Defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw did not practice Wednesday and appears unlikely to play against the Eagles, and tight end John Bates was working out off to the side.
Receiver Stefon Diggs had a scheduled day off and was expected to practice in full on Thursday. Defensive tackle Jer’Zhan Newton, who suffered a torn pectoral muscle in the first preseason game, returned to practice and had his 21-day window for activation opened.
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Andrew Gillis, The Associated Press