ASHBURN, Va. — Back in the day when the team held training camp in Carlyle, PA or Frostburg, MD, once the final day of camp was over, players were famous for speeding out of town. Police would station themselves down the road for easy money. Speeding tickets were popular.
But there's no such drama with this era. The team practiced Friday on their brand new grass field on the final day of camp, went through some two-minute drill situations and called it a day. The only difference now, is the players can go to sleep in their own beds. For the duration of camp, by design, the entire team and staff lodged at nearby Landsdowne resort.
Defensive tackle Benning Potoa’e was a big fan.
"I thought it was a cool experience," he said. "I think camaraderie is a huge thing."
There is one preseason game left. Washington hosts New England in Landover at the newly named Commanders Field with an 8 p.m. kickoff. When I asked head coach Dan Quinn if Jayden Daniels would play on Sunday, he was definitive.
"He will not, Batman," he said. (For context, I was wearing a batman shirt at the news conference before I changed into my "TV outfit."
What Quinn and staff now must do is figure out how to cut their roster from 90 to 53 by Tuesday’s 4 p.m. deadline. For Quinn, he’s trying to put the players, admittedly some who won’t be here in a week, in the best possible position to make this roster or another one.
"We’ve had plenty of those conversations to individual players to say, 'this is what we would like to see in this game Sunday night and we’re gonna give you some calls and give you some plays to go do that.'"
Camp may be over, but the work is really just getting started.