There has been no official confirmation yet on whether third-round pick and presumptive starting left tackle Brandon Coleman will suit up for the 2024 season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it looks like the former TCU offensive lineman is getting close to making his NFL debut.

That's the direction it seems like things are heading, at least.

Coleman, who missed all three of the team's preseason games with a shoulder injury, was listed as a full participant on Wednesday's injury report. Head coach Dan Quinn confirmed that Coleman was on the right track, saying that "we're aiming towards playing and getting into that."

There are still some steps that Coleman must take before the team is confident enough to make him available for Sunday, but Coleman believes he will be ready to go.

"I'm feeling great," Coleman said. "The recovery is good, and now I'm working back into things."

Should Coleman continue with his progression, Sunday will be the first time he will face off against a pass rush that doesn't come from his own defense. Coleman was absent for most of training camp, aside from the first week, meaning not only did he miss Washington's preseason games but also the joint practices against the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets as well as most of the team's padded practices.

Still, what he showed in the Commanders' first handful of training camp practices had coaches and fans excited about the possibility of the team finding a long-sought answer to its left tackle position. Though widely viewed as a guard in the draft process, Coleman showed exceptional quickness and strength on the edge, holding his own and winning reps against the Commanders' best pass-rushers. Coleman began camp splitting reps with Cornelius Lucas but eventually worked exclusively with the starting offense.

Of course, Quinn wanted to see more of Coleman in August, but the head coach also didn't feel like he needed to rush him back into action for the sake of him getting a few extra reps.

"We're just going to use all the caution we can with him...to make sure there's no setbacks, and that's super important, too," Quinn said. "As much as the want is there, we'll make the more difficult 'right' over the easier 'wrong' every time when it comes to the player's safety."

One of Quinn and general manager Adam Peters' priorities in training camp was to make sure that the team went into Week 1 as healthy as possible. However, assuming Coleman does start against the Buccaneers, it will be quite an introduction to the NFL for the rookie. Head coach and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles is known for bringing pressure to challenge younger players. The Buccaneers blitzed on 40.1% of their snaps in 2023, which ranked as the third highest rate in the league.

Coleman insists that he is ready for the challenge.

"Todd Bowles does a great job," Coleman said. "I'm excited to just go into this preparation and take a look at everything to be as prepared as I can out there."

And while nothing can compare to live reps, Coleman has made the most of his time on the sideline by watching more film and staying active in meetings to make sure he's as prepared as possible for his debut.

"If anything, I think it's a little easier," Coleman said. "I had a lot of time on my hands. I was able to watch everything from the back and kind of get a better view of things."

The Commanders want to be at full strength when they take on the Buccaneers this weekend. Having Coleman back would go a long way towards that goal, and Quinn said it's been good to have the rookie tackle back in action on the field, even though they aren't ready to declare him as active yet.

But when it comes to playing Coleman with little action over the past month, Quinn isn't bothered by that at all.

"It's an example of you can only control the things that you can, and so would it have been better? Yes, but okay that is not how it went down," Quinn said. "This player's really put in the work and he's really ready to go. So yeah, we're excited to get him into it. Would it have been better for him and anybody else? Of course. But like I said, you can only control what you can but the player is really putting the work and is ready to go."