Daron Payne has some new running mates heading into his seventh season with the Washington Commanders, and he loves what they bring to the new-look defense.

The Commanders made two significant changes to their defensive line at the 2023 trade line, sending both Montez Sweat and Chase Young elsewhere for second- and third-round picks, respectively. Some of the first moves general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn made when overhauling the roster in March was to find their replacements, bringing in veterans Dorance Armstrong and Clelin Ferrell, both of whom have been with the starters throughout the first week of camp.

Ferrell and Armstrong are fundamentally different players from Sweat and Young, who Payne played alongside for most of his career, but they bring new, refreshing energy to a defensive front looking to take bigger steps in 2024.

"It's just to see different D-ends come in, how they move and what things they do to get wins," Payne said.

Both Armstrong and Ferrell joined Washington after some of the best performances in their career. Armstrong, who has spent most of the past six seasons as a backup, set a career-high 38 tackles with 7.5 sacks in 2023 with the Dallas Cowboys. Armstrong's production as a pass-rusher jumped dramatically once Quinn became the Cowboys' defensive coordinator. Twenty-one of Armstrong's 23.5 sacks came in the previous three seasons.

Ferrell, the No. 3 overall pick in 2019, was back as a full-time starter last season with the San Francisco 49ers after being limited to a rotational role in 2021 and 2022. He started the entire season -- a first for the former Clemson Tiger -- recording 3.5 sacks and 28 tackles with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

It's been fun, Payne said, to work with both players, but Ferrell's approach to practice has particularly stuck out to the Pro Bowl defensive tackle.

"That boy Cle, he's high energy, high effort," Payne said. "He's gonna get after the quarterback."

The Commanders' pass-rush needed a new approach, based on the results from last season with four first-round picks in the first half of the season. The team ranked 26th with 39 sacks and 21st in pass-rush win rate. Jonathan Allen was the only Commanders defensive lineman who ranked in the top 20 of pass-rush win rate rankings (17th).

Quinn and defensive coordinator Joe Whitt Jr. have a solution for how to fix that: go. Rather than forcing their defensive linemen to win one-on-one matchups on most plays, something that occurred often in 2023, they are rushing as one and utilizing more stunts and twists to help generate more sacks.

With Armstrong's knowledge of playing for Quinn and Whitt and Ferrell's added energy on the defensive line, Payne believes the two are perfect fits to the new mentality.

"We're really working on just flying around, getting to the ball, hunting," Payne said. "That's the main emphasis right now, just he [Whitt] wants everybody hunting. Be around the ball, no matter how far the ball is down the field."

Here are some more observations from Sunday's practice.

-- Today was the first real example of the Commanders experimenting with different combinations on the offensive line, and there was plenty of it. Cornelius Lucas, who played at left tackle during the first three days of camp, was bumped out to the right side with the starters. That freed up a space for draft pick Brandon Coleman to get starting reps at left tackle. Michael Deiter also got reps with the first offense as a left guard, while Nick Allegretti took snaps at center. It's still too early to make any determination on the team's intentions at offensive line, but the movement is a sign that Quinn is keeping his word on mixing and matching players to find the best winning group.

-- Andre Wylie was noticeably absent from team drills, despite being on the field with a helmet. After practice, Wylie said he was experiencing "some tightness" and the team was being cautious with it. Wylie wrapped up the scrum by saying he would be back on the field for Monday's practice.

-- The fans were out in full force at the team's facility to see Jayden Daniels in action for the first time, and it's clear they already love the No. 2 overall pick. He ran through the left of the defense on a read-option play for a decent gain, which drew a roar of applause from the crowd.

-- There were a couple of impressive catches from two players at the bottom of the tight end depth chart. Ben Sinnott made a one-handed catch on a pass from Daniels that was slightly behind him, while Armani Rogers had a diving catch near the middle of the field. Rogers' potential is still a mystery, thanks to him missing last season with an injury, although he's looking to recapture some of the hype that he had with the previous coaching staff.

-- Mitchell Tinsley had a strong day with another impressive catch in seven-on-seven drills, managing to keep both feet in bounds on a sideline catch with tight coverage around him. It's the second time in a week that Tinsley has made a high-difficulty catch, the former being a touchdown. That should go a long way toward separating Tinsley from the group of other wideouts looking for a roster spot.

-- We saw two interceptions from the defense today. The first came from Tyler Owens on a tipped pass, while Kyu Blu Kelly jumped a pass from Marcus Mariota intended for Terry McLaurin.