The "mini-bye" weekend following the 26-18 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles has done the Washington Commanders some good. After going four months of constant physicality from training camp to Week 11, the extra days of rest provided a chance for players to get healthy, and that showed as position groups like the offensive line were full participants in Wednesday's practice.
Just as important for the Commanders is getting back to a regular practice schedule. That, they believe, should help the players, particularly quarterback Jayden Daniels, get back on track.
It's clear that Washington's offense, which was operating at a historic pace at the start of the season, has been noticeably off for the past few weeks. Part of that has been Daniels not looking quite as sharp against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, both of whom have some of the NFL's best defenses. Quinn said "clearly and honestly" that Daniels' is not injured right now but did admit that the time he missed while recovering from his rib injury created a level of difficulty both for the quarterback and the offense.
The return to a traditional, full practice schedule should fix some of that.
"Timing, I would say," Quinn said when asked about what could be the result of a lack of practice reps. "Whether it's matching a certain route to a coverage, deep balls, deep overs, just the exact timing of some of the plays."
Quinn emphasized that it's not like the Commanders haven't been practicing, but the way the schedule fell forced Washington to alter its schedule last week. A tough, physical game against the Steelers was followed by an equally physical game against the Eagles four days later, and like every other Thursday night game, everything about the Commanders' normal weekly schedule had to be truncated and moved up to accommodate for the short prep time.
Adding to that was Daniels missing time while recovering from the rib injury he sustained against the Carolina Panthers. Daniels missed almost all of practice heading into the Chicago Bears game and was limited on Wednesday and Thursday leading up to the New York Giants game. He wasn't on the injury report leading up to the Steelers game, but it still took some time for Daniels to get back up to speed.
After factoring in the short turnaround between the Steelers and Eagles, it's been difficult for even someone like Daniels, who prides himself on his preparation, to catch up on the fly.
"That's hard on all the guys," Quinn said. "It's a really, really important part of what we do. And we don't have banked reps in here, so we're very much looking forward to getting back onto a full week and regular practice sessions with the guys."
Daniels had his moments against the Steelers and Eagles, but to Quinn's point, it's clear that his timing and rhythm was not what it was in previous weeks. Moments like missing Luke McCaffrey on what would have been an explosive play against the Steelers and throwing a pass at Noah Brown's feet against the Eagles are examples. The team did mostly walkthroughs leading up to the Eagles game, which Quinn said are helpful in terms of where to line up and who to target on plays.
That doesn't replace the benefit of having full speed reps in a traditional practice.
"And so that's why that's such an important piece of what we do, the Wednesday, the Thursday, the Friday of the week," Quinn said. "So, we'll look forward to getting into some full weeks for sure."
Daniels' stats certainly don't look as efficient as they were in the beginning of the season, as he completed 59.5% of his passes against the Steeler and Eagles with a touchdown and an interception. Some will point to that as a sign of Daniels' rib still bothering him, but Daniels has also delivered some impressive throws since his rib injury, like his 34-yard pass to Noah Brown against the Giants; a 54-yard dime to Terry McLaurin against the Steelers; and the two-point conversion to Zach Ertz against the Eagles.
Still, Daniels admitted that the offense hasn't been "clicking on all cylinders," and that circles back to the lack of full speed practice reps.
"You can't replace practice reps," Daniels said. "You can replace those types of things. So, I'm with DQ. Those practice reps are very valuable."
But it isn't just the reps during practice that Daniels benefits from; the time he gets with his receivers before and after practice can be invaluable in terms of getting into a rhythm on certain plays and forming a plan on how to attack defenses. That's what Quinn believes Daniels has been missing with the combination of recovering from the rib injury and the short week. He's hopeful that will fix some of the problems with the offense, which failed to record 300 yards against the Steelers and Eagles.
"The concept hasn't changed, in other words, there's not a new route, but it may be the little different leverage that a team may have," Quinn said. "So honestly, getting back into those are a big deal ... That's why I'm glad that Jayden's going on the way up. And it's a little bit of a reset for all of us to get back into a normal routine here heading into this week."
The Commanders will need that rest, because despite losing back-to-back games for the first time all season, they can still have the most successful year in a decade because of how the schedule falls for them. They have four more home games plus the bye week to recover even further. Four of their last six opponents have losing records, starting with the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday. A win over the NFC East rival would put them at 3-1 in the division, a first for the team since 2012.
The Commanders will need to get back to their normal level of production if they want to finish strong. A normal week of practice fresh off a long weekend is a good way to start that.
"I was able to reset and refocus, restart," Daniels said. "It's kind of needed in a long season like that. It was great to get away for a little bit, but I'm glad that we're back now."
