The NFL doesn't give out awards for Special Teams Player of the Week, but if they did, Washington Commanders punter Tress Way would have been a good candidate.

With just over four minutes left in the fourth quarter of Washington's preseason game against the New York Jets, Way launched a 54-yard punt to the Jets' 12-yard line. Returner Brandon Codrington avoided four Commanders defenders on the play, even ducking under a tackle attempt, and turned upfield to what he thought was a clear path for at least a sizable gain. Way had other plans, though, as he dove and brought down Codrington before he could make it to the sideline.

Head coach Dan Quinn said the team "made a big deal on that," but not necessarily for the tackle itself.

"I think as big a deal on that was the sideline's reaction to him making a tackle," Quinn said. "And I think it probably speaks to the love that his teammates have for him."

To be clear, as great as it was to see Way bring down a returner, the wasn't necessarily a need for him to make the play. While the preseason has value for players in position battles, the stakes are almost nonexistent for Way, a team captain who is arguably the best punter in franchise history and not in a fight for his roster spot. If Way had elected not to sprint downfield to be the last defense on the return, it likely wouldn't have been a damning indictment against the 10-year veteran.

But Way's decision to make the tackle speaks to the philosophy Quinn and his coaches have been preaching since they arrived in Washington; they want to see competition at all levels, regardless of position or status on the team. And Quinn made note of that in team meetings.

"What I pointed out to the team was their reaction to that, and you can see this is a real team leader for how many people were excited that he made a play," Quinn said. "I thought that was a pretty cool statement about who he is as a teammate as well."

Linebacker Frankie Luvu was the first to meet Way on the sideline, and he was followed by Jeremy Reaves, Phidarian Mathis and a slew of other Commanders.

The fact that Way was willing to put his body on the line in a game that didn't count is just another reason why he's a favorite among fans and teammates alike.

Here are some observations from Tuesday's practice.

-- It seems like quarterback Jayden Daniels gets better by the day. He only had one dropped pass on the day -- a toss intended for Terry McLaurin in the corner of the end zone that was nearly caught -- and had multiple impressive completions by Zach Ertz, who continues to look like he'll be one of the focal points in the offense.

-- On the note of focal points in the offense, Olamide Zaccheaus had another solid day with two catches to open 11-on-11 drills. Zaccheaus and Daniels are developing a strong connection because of Zaccheaus' reliability and knack for getting yards after the catch. We likely won't see much of how the Commanders intend to use Zaccheaus in the regular season, but if Daniels trusts him this much, it makes sense to get him as many looks as possible.

-- The Commanders added to their receiver room this morning by signing veteran Martavis Bryant, who hasn't played in a game since 2018 but was an explosive deep threat with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It will take some time for Bryant to get acclimated to the offense, but he did have a nice block that allowed Jamison Crowder to break free on a swing pass in 11-on-11 drills.

-- The Commanders went through a four-minute drill near the end of practice, and Austin Ekeler showed off his exceptional vision once again. He took a handoff up the middle, made a few jukes to avoid tacklers and broke into the third level of the defense.

-- Luke McCaffrey has shown that he is already a polished receiver, but his previous experience getting snaps at running back in college has come in handy as well. He followed a pair of blockers near the sideline, waited for a lane to clear and cut upfield for a solid gain.

-- Once the third-string offense got done with four-minute drills, the Commanders transitioned to a two-minute drill for the starters. Daniels marched the unit downfield with ease and wrapped things up with a touchdown throw to McLaurin, who made a nice contested grab over Noah Igbinoghene.

-- Quinn briefly touched on the team's plans for the joint practice with the Miami Dolphins. As expected, there won't be much in the way of game planning but rather an intensified focus on answering their biggest questions.

"It's really more about us and our performance, our skills and finding some matchups and just digging in on more information, more detail. So, less scheme and really more on the personnel side, the evaluations, and [General Manager] Adam [Peters] and I and the staff, we've met for a long time last night to discuss both the practice and the game from New York, and say just from those exposures, what'd we see? What do we wanna see more of? So, it's almost a similar process for this week's game."