Training Camp Eve Press Conference With GM Adam Peters And HC Dan Quinn — Washington Commanders

[0:00] yeah okay what's up everybody uh welcome uh it's awesome to be back really really excited about [0:06] this year um had a great break and and now we're refreshed and ready to go and and uh really pumped [0:13] about the team we put together and the staff and and the whole building so um it's it's gonna be [0:19] a really fun year uh it was good seeing most of you guys last night if not all of you yeah that [0:24] was a fun time so thanks for putting that together sean and thank you guys for coming [0:27] um so i will start off with a couple of just procedural moves uh in addition to the moves [0:34] we made earlier in the week um tress way and kane madrano are both dealing with injuries [0:40] so they won't be dressed up tomorrow uh tress suffered a pectoral injury he'll be rehabbing [0:45] off to the side um it's not expected to keep him out for an extended period of time though so [0:50] not too uh worried about that and then the same thing with madrano uh just a minor hamstring [0:56] training in the off season and he should be back shortly so uh those are the two pieces [1:01] of news and and i'll hand it over to dq all right for me reporting day uh the first thing that i [1:07] noticed um it was the energy but this looks to be a team that is in very good physical condition [1:15] you can just see this is a lot of guys that absolutely work their asses off to put themselves [1:19] in a good space leaving in the spring it was not you know you're going to play your way back into shape [1:24] and so we knew that conditioning was going to be key and so that fired us up for sure but uh [1:30] nobody's more pumped than me and the guy sitting next to me to get this thing rocking with the team [1:34] and so let's get it rocking with you guys and so tonight just if you could it's me or to adam [1:39] it would kind of be easier that way so john if you want to kick it off let's get it rocking okay well i [1:43] guess for both you guys you guys had to make a decision yesterday with ben steward tight ends coach [1:47] just curious what one did what went into that decision um to release him versus keeping him around yeah i'm not [1:54] going to leave it on that and so i know the team issued a statement and uh we definitely wish ben [1:58] the best um him and his family so uh best decision for us the time we're excited to get rolling you [2:04] know on training camp tomorrow west welker will be working with the tight ends uh and that's how we'll [2:09] proceed forward yeah certainly um really wish the best for ben and his family uh a lot of thought was [2:16] put in that decision and um you know it's just uh it was unfortunate but you know hopefully the best for him and his family [2:22] and then for adam specifically i guess receiver right that's been a big topic of course in the [2:28] offseason here and you had talked about wanting to surround jayden with as much talent as possible [2:33] how do you feel you've done that this offseason do you feel you still need to even more add more and [2:37] are there still possibilities that that exist for that yeah i think i'd start by saying um you know [2:43] really happy with what we've done in the offseason throughout the offseason our staff did a great job [2:48] working together and identifying guys that would help us both offensively and defensively uh specifically [2:54] wide receiver wise i think i've said to you guys before really happy with who's in that room uh really [3:00] happy with how the guys progressed in in the offseason and stepped up and and i think they're going to take [3:05] another step in this uh training camp but just like with any other room any other place uh if we have [3:11] ways to get better we're always going to look into that and and really the you know assess the decision if uh [3:17] if it's the right move for our team or not and if we do think it is and we're not afraid to do that [3:21] just for clarity is welker's title changing at all or he's going to work with the title we haven't [3:27] discussed all the way through yet but that's where we're headed in that space he's working with the [3:30] tight ends moving forward here okay um cornerback how do you feel generally about the depth there [3:37] starter level talent etc are you guys comfortable with that group overall we are and it's actually a deep [3:44] group that we feel going into nikki and so i think kind of the secret sauce is how do we fit in [3:49] who's going to play inside who's going to play outside how can we work through that and i think [3:53] that in itself is going to be some intrigue and it'll it'll take a few weeks for us to get to that [3:57] space um so much of of seeing different looks different plays it'll it'll take us a minute to go [4:05] right now ai man it's there it's here i know it but you want to go yeah go ahead that's it yes yeah [4:14] clap it up there you go yeah hey hey yeah yeah [4:22] you gotta have a little fun yeah um yeah yeah yeah um [4:31] everybody's off course now for adam um obviously jayden's work and his work ethic are going to [4:37] determine most of how he develops and continues to develop but what do you think you have put in [4:43] place since the end of last season that will help him max out and become the best version of himself [4:49] going into year three yeah i think there's a lot that goes into it and and like you said first and [4:54] foremost it's him he's he's had an incredible off season um you know really from the jump you know as [5:00] soon as he got healthy has been working his tail off working on his body working on his throwing [5:04] working on you know working with his teammates you know even before he got here and now working with [5:09] his teammates uh after we left out in la so he's shown a great leadership uh picked up the offense [5:14] really well um so you know really happy with what what he's been doing and he's always been doing that [5:21] since he got here but really even in at another level now um and then in terms of surrounding himself [5:27] kind of like what we said earlier is just on offense on defense you know making the defense as good [5:32] as possible so he doesn't have to always you know make every play at the end of the game you know and [5:37] and putting that together our defensive coaches have done a great job installing the defense and [5:42] then same thing on the offensive side of the ball with the players we brought in um the the scheme [5:47] the coaching uh really been pleased with everything that's gone on there's a great energy in the [5:52] building on both sides so i think when you bring all those things together i think uh you know that [5:58] the staff has done a really good job of surrounding himself with with opportunity to win adam we've talked [6:04] to dan um about this over the off season but what do you like about the schemes that blau and durante [6:11] are bringing like just schematically what what do you like about you guys are going to feature yeah [6:16] i you know me personally you know i love i think first off just watching those guys coach and teach and [6:23] just it's been really impressive to see both of those guys live and in action in the meeting rooms and then [6:28] on the practice field the way they coach and they teach and really the whole staff uh obviously it [6:33] starts with q at the top and then those guys as it trickles down um but then offensively you know [6:38] they're they're we we're going to be more multiple we have you know a lot of different personnel groupings [6:43] and a lot of different ways to attack you um i think you know it it really it's more quarterback [6:49] friendly i think in a way and i think that'll really help jayden uh like i said earlier he doesn't [6:54] have to always make a play you know we're going to try to scheme up things so and have answers so [6:59] he doesn't always have to make a play and i think the same way on defense you know the defense is um [7:03] is designed to you know you always want to have the pen last and so the defense we have a lot of [7:08] different ways to attack you and different things we can change up so um you know we have answers you [7:13] know going into the play and then you know during like at the line of scrimmage as well so um yeah [7:20] i couldn't be happier with with how everything went in the off season really really excited for [7:24] it really adam when it comes to the receiver position um you know terry mclaurin is probably [7:30] the only player that you would lock in as a starter at this point um what made you guys comfortable [7:35] going into training camp having that position be you know pretty wide open as both that side [7:40] receiver and on the outside in terms of competition and seeing where that leads you in terms of who [7:44] ends up starting yeah i mean i think just watching those guys the way they work the way they've [7:49] worked in the classroom and and really i'm glad you pointed out terry his leadership has been [7:55] fantastic like throughout the off season and and carrying the young guys along and teaching them [7:59] and coaching them and being uh that type of guy in the room but just the way the guys have progressed [8:06] how much we've invested in that position in terms of draft capital i think we've invested a lot and then [8:11] our guys have done a really good job and in the free asia market to bringing in some real good [8:15] competition there so what what it what it does is create great competition and great competition [8:21] will you know the cream will rise at the top so i'm confident that those guys will will all uh take [8:26] a step up adam what's your process going through getting this roster from 90 to 53 how involved are [8:34] you in the day-to-day and figuring out who should be there and who shouldn't be yeah it's it's um we're [8:40] all involved and that that's what's great about this place we all talk daily and and we're we have [8:44] meetings all the time about you know roster and and just the 53 and it's really you know we look [8:50] at it we've said it a bunch of times that it's really 70 and not 53 we look at those practice [8:54] squad guys as an extension of our team and and oftentimes they're they're playing quite a bit so [9:00] that makes it a little easier to look at you know and understand okay we have these guys on the 53 but [9:05] we also have these guys that that are really they're all commanders and they're all going to be expected [9:10] to play at some time but um we're evaluating these guys every day we're watching practice [9:15] during practice we're watching the tape after practice we're meeting on it we're meeting on how [9:18] they do in the classroom how they're learning how they're understanding their positions how [9:23] versatile they are can they play more than one position you know can they be more versatile on [9:27] game day do they play special teams does that help their their roster value and those types of things [9:33] i could probably go on and on but there's a lot of conversations and just back and forth and just [9:38] uh really tons of different things that go into that equation to get the best team for us hey guys [9:45] dq you've mentioned a few times you want to run your most competitive camp yep now that we're here [9:49] and it's about to start like what specifically should we be looking for what might look different i think [9:54] what you'll see um you'll find some competitions like in an everyday sense and i think that's one of [9:59] the very best ways that we'll get better you know like just good on good some situations like [10:05] into tomorrow there'll be a two-point play competition best out of five and those are the [10:09] moments i want to i think you'll find some game scenarios and situations in every practice two [10:15] minutes and four minutes last plays setting the field goals so those are the ones we're trying to [10:19] even a difficult camp can also be like stressful you know can we put ourselves in these spots so when [10:26] we the air gets thin that we feel like that's our space and we're going to work really hard into that [10:31] spot so tough camp doesn't always mean like you know banging all the time it's like the execution [10:36] the elevation think of like you and i is boxing the sparring to get ready to go compete and if we [10:41] think in those ways that's what i'm looking for and there'll be days where it goes one side versus [10:46] the other and so i feel a hunger from the team so they're ready to get into that and adam what for [10:52] you just in a general sense as you're always looking to improve the team when you're evaluating [10:57] guys to maybe bring in for workouts whatever what role if any does kind of a player's social media [11:02] have in that evaluation process that's a good roundabout question you are straight badass right [11:09] there but um no we i mean we look at everything jp i mean it's a great question but we do look at [11:14] everything and and um you know we want to make sure it's the right player to to be in our locker room [11:19] in our bloodstream and in our culture and and you know we often you know we look at that stuff i mean [11:25] it's not always the first thing we look at obviously you're looking at the tape and you talk [11:28] to the the the teams that the players have been on and and how they were in the locker room the [11:34] players that have played with them and so on and so forth to make those decisions but um you know [11:39] that's not not usually a huge part of it usually well played both of you for dq you mentioned fostering [11:50] that culture of competition i'm curious when you're looking back at this camp six weeks from now [11:55] how do you know it was successful how do you define that success yeah that's a good way to go about [12:00] it and sometimes we'll let's start at the end and work back you know what are some of the things that [12:04] we want to gain in that space when you're talking about new systems you really want to say how [12:10] elevated can we get our execution you know because through the spring you're developing your individual [12:16] skills so much with the players it's so devoted to them developing their skills when you get into the [12:21] fall and in training camp in the fall it's really about the team development and the team growth [12:26] and so so much of the off season we try to make so specific about this player the skills you need for [12:32] this thing and then as you get into camp so if we're going to work back from the end how did our team grow [12:39] how did our execution go in all three phases by that point you're hopeful some roles begin to emerge [12:45] it's way too early to call into that and so let's let that play and we're we're ready to do that and [12:52] so we'd like to see that execution go we won't be the february version of our team will be much better [12:58] than the august version but the september one will be much better than the one today it'll take a lot of [13:03] work to get there and like the hunger the competitiveness the camp that we're going to throw like all that [13:08] leads into that good evening gentlemen uh coach got a question for you to start off with um [13:14] you mentioned unscripted periods during your practices to kind of try to ramp up some of that [13:18] emotional uh competitiveness like how from your teaching experience kind of how how will that [13:24] impact the the value that the guys get out of those sessions it's uh it's not just for the players [13:29] that's also for the staff as well and uh calling the different down and distances the personnel groups [13:34] that you have to put in so as much as we can to get game-like uh without it being in the game [13:40] you want to dig into that space you'll see shot clocks you're going to see us trying to fit into [13:45] those space from officials to being here the joint practices so having as many of those unscripted as [13:51] you can it's not just for the players to put the stress it's for us as the staff as well and so [13:57] that's why in some of these competitions i i won't tell the players or the staff what is going to be [14:02] what's the scenario i want us to have to think quickly on our feet and so that's some examples of [14:07] that where the call it's come up and uh different looks different plays and so um that's one part [14:13] of it and then adam with rasul douglas just kind of curious what uh was it a deficiency in the room [14:18] or was it something rasul adds that that led to you guys bringing him in yeah i think um kind of goes [14:23] back to what we were saying before too we're always looking to add really good players and rasul's been [14:27] a really good player in this league for for a long time he's he's played at a high level he's started [14:31] a lot of games he started a lot of games recently and he always performs so um when you have an [14:37] opportunity to to add to that to that room you know it's not a deficiency in the room at all you [14:41] just want to make each room as strong as they can be so getting him in we're really excited about [14:46] that and so uh we just got a chance to meet him yesterday he's big and uh he's played a lot of good [14:51] ball so we're excited to have him guys good to see you again adam we'll start with you we're all [14:56] talking about wide receivers here but curious your take on chigakonkwo because he almost plays like a [15:00] wide receiver and how does he kind of fit into the conversation of do i add a receiver do i not add a [15:07] receiver knowing his skill set of he could be a receiver in a sense yeah that's a great observation [15:13] he's an outstanding receiver he's outstanding in the pass game he's great after the catch you know [15:18] and he's also a really good blocker a good competitive blocker he's not the biggest tight [15:22] end he's not john bates but really love the way he competes as a blocker and how he executes there too [15:27] so he's got a really good skill set but he does help us quite a bit in the pass game so he allows [15:32] you to be a little bit more multiple you know you can go more two tight end sets you can go one tight [15:36] end set it's like you almost have four receivers on the field so uh he provides a lot of versatility [15:41] and where he can line up and what he can do for us and how when he gets the ball in his hands then [15:46] he's pretty magical and dq leadership question for you obviously losing bobby wagner big voice in that [15:51] locker room you have terry mclaurin a great voice who are you looking for in terms of a leadership [15:56] perspective jayden you're number three how is he going to evolve the leader and then on defense who [16:01] you kind of leaning on to be that voice in that locker room yeah i'm excited to to find that out [16:05] and uh bobby's rare and uh in the most biggest sense you know that you can say that there's a number of [16:15] like really strong leaders you know some that are still emerging and i'm excited to see that [16:21] this offseason you felt same or still in every sense of the way you felt robertson and that you [16:27] know in this in his sense of like the way he wanted to compete um louvu has that to him in that same [16:33] space so as we're going into that spot reeves has always been somebody that i've looked at as a leader [16:39] more on teams but on the defensive side but there's a number of guys that i'm i'm looking to see take [16:45] that step and sometimes you need that spot to be available to do that and so where we all look to bobby [16:52] in that spot maybe now now is my time to go for it and dig in and so moments like this camp to lead [17:00] and find your space it's a new system so everybody's on the same page in terms of the knowledge of it [17:04] i'm excited to see that 100 i think adam referred to it earlier you felt his hunger from the beginning [17:13] of the offseason the way he went after it just his ability to understand this scheme that quickly [17:21] it's not easy you know for anybody to do and he often makes the difficult things look easy but [17:26] through the offseason program in the summer and getting into here he absolutely has that [17:33] hey dq this one's for you uh ask jaden uh you know in mini camp looking back to last season how [17:39] much does it motivate him the struggles that he went through he kind of said he's not talking about [17:43] last season so i'm just curious as coach going to the training camp day one you know this week [17:48] you know how do you go into this in terms of learning the lessons from last year but also [17:54] turning the page forward and making sure like everybody knows this is a new year yeah you're [17:58] right and trust me when i say we learned every lesson and took it every one that we could find [18:03] from last season uh we're ready to apply them but honestly it is about the now like it'd be crazy not [18:10] to say you wouldn't take that lesson and pull it forward and apply it but it is about to hear the now [18:15] i'm excited for you guys to feel the energy of the team uh their readiness um their swagger [18:22] so as we get started into this i'm excited for you guys to feel that super quick for ap uh the defense [18:27] as a whole um you know this whole group looks totally different from how it did last year how do [18:33] you feel about you know the whole unit you know from the front seven to the secondary and how they are [18:38] going to be able to gel together yeah i think the word excited because there's so many different things [18:44] we can do you know there's it's very multiple there's and and not only within the scheme but [18:48] within the players and how we get different players on the field in different roles and their strengths [18:53] and these different groups of these three three guys or these four guys and and trying to attack [18:58] you in different ways so um really excited with uh it's just it gives dorante a lot to to really play [19:04] with and then um just to kind of see the guys grow into their roles so i'm excited to see how that unfolds [19:09] probably just like you guys uh dq i know you're a guy who likes to come in with a plan for training camp [19:15] and pre-season and all that kind of stuff as you talk about wanting to get more competition and [19:19] running more unscripted portions of practice as much as that happens you guys are gonna the players [19:24] are gonna get to know each other they're gonna get familiar with each other so as you have new two [19:28] new coordinators and you're going into the joint practices and pre-season how much will i guess kind [19:32] of usage be different than maybe in years past based on the fact that there's a lot of new faces and [19:37] new concepts and new voices in the players heads and well for sure that you know like in the two joint [19:44] practices those are those are good opportunities where there's new looks new players new matchups [19:49] so adam and i we both like that and what that is and so this year we have miami that's going to come [19:54] here we're looking forward to them being here we'll also do the one uh at baltimore so those are [19:59] important evaluation days you know like we were talking about the selection of the team earlier and [20:03] the selection is ongoing and so moments of competition like that going against one another [20:08] other teams it all kind of is a big part of it but at the end of it i think it still comes down [20:15] to the execution the growth and see where these guys can take it but uh like as far as playing [20:21] more in the pre-season or not that's something that uh we haven't you know dug into at this point [20:26] this year there wouldn't be any more or less um you know from a philosophy standpoint uh for both [20:33] of you in terms of uh some of the guys who are on public namely trey amos can i know you don't have [20:38] to talk about the injuries but can you shed any light as to why he's still out because the timeline [20:42] seemed like maybe he should be back by now yeah i think with trey he's doing really well i think [20:47] the first thing i'll say is he's been outstanding in his rehab and and really you know taking all the [20:52] the things that the medical team has asked him to do and done them really really well um with him [20:58] just had a little soft tissue soreness in the off season so we wanted to just take it slow so he's [21:03] actually he's doing really well right now just had a report on him earlier he should be back soon as well [21:07] just wanted to be overly cautious there and and uh but he's doing he's doing great and he'll be back [21:12] pretty soon and then um adam for you as well you know it's fair to say when you when you came in [21:18] here in 2024 that the roster was not a great position you've now had three off seasons how [21:23] close do you feel you are to getting it i know it's always a work in progress but how close do you feel [21:27] you are to getting it where you want it to be um you know like you said it's always a work in progress [21:33] and it's it's always you always want to keep trying to find ways to make it better and [21:37] in in different avenues to do that so um what i can say is that really excited about this team [21:43] really excited about that the players we've added the players that that um have come in here and the [21:48] players that were here before us that are still here now that that have really all grown in their [21:53] own ways too so um this is you know every year i feel like you say you're really excited this year [21:59] i'm i'm as excited as i've ever been and really you know this there's a ton of great energy here um from [22:06] all aspects of the building to to really see how this is going to unfold and and i'm excited to [22:11] see it so i feel really good about it ben hi hi adam and coach uh coach this is for you uh as far as [22:19] learning uh the offense and the defense where do you see the players at with uh learning both on both [22:25] sides of the ball as they head into 2026 yeah it started into the off-season program from the learning [22:31] standpoint into the classroom the teaching and so could that be in the nfl today we're adding players [22:38] to it it has to be relatable it has to be learnable it also has to be from the teaching you know [22:43] standpoint something that they can give back to you so i thought they worked hard in that sense to [22:47] get the system in place and now over and over and over can we get those repetitions down usually you [22:55] start with a bigger volume and then you start pulling down about the things that you really want [23:00] to feature and so that'll take a few weeks for us to get into that david and durante we have like a [23:06] you know 11 or 12 day install schedule that we go through and you start paring down after that but [23:12] it'll it'll take a few weeks for us to put the whole package in again they've gone through it entirely [23:17] once and we'll go through the whole system again um now adding different people into it in the spring [23:22] maybe somebody's banged up didn't get enough or vice versa and so uh it is a big part of that process [23:29] and i'm excited to see where they can take it and and starting out tomorrow what we what would be the [23:35] major emphasis that you want to hit the ground running and the message to the team as they get [23:40] started yeah we had talked um right off the bat could we have like practice habits that could really [23:46] separate us and for us to really play well we know how important that is that's the attention to detail [23:51] uh the specifics at you know the skills to isolate for this play for this play and if we can get to [23:57] that space over and over again that's what we're looking to do but i think what you'll see tomorrow [24:02] is like fantastic energy from the group i think you're going to see real speed and we're going to [24:07] try to feature that in the best ways tomorrow and the following day are going to be a big red zone [24:11] emphasis and so that's part of our ramp up as we're going to go as opposed to the old days you just went [24:17] you know as fast and as hard as you can from day one and so it takes about a week to really get the [24:22] whole ramp up process underway so the first two days will be more red zone will dip down then go back [24:28] into the regular field so a lot of red zone emphasis tomorrow and um that's what will be the emphasis for [24:34] the team hey there um this one is for coach okay um there's been some conversation i guess maybe amongst us [24:41] about the green dot and who wears the green dot so what are some of those factors that go into [24:47] ultimately making the decision about who has that yep so first thing i would say it's on the field [24:54] who's going to play the most in the packages and uh you want to lead communication um it's from [25:01] durante you know you know his voice into the next person to get it out in practice we're able to [25:07] utilize a number of different people and at times you can change from period to period or day to day and so [25:12] that will also be part of the ongoing process i have full confidence in just about all these guys [25:18] because at some point or another we put that stress onto them to see where they're at [25:23] sunny's more than capable of doing that frankie as well it's been nice to see you know this version of [25:30] frankie with sunny and we were talking about wags earlier where it was so nice for frankie to see [25:36] bobby and now you see it in another way and he's got great practice habits but learning how that [25:44] command is that's part of playing the position uh we've done it at safety before in the past [25:49] but i anticipate it'll likely come from the linebacker group but um it'll even be in the preseason games [25:56] honestly to see you know who we feel best with but nothing that has to be decided anytime soon martensi [26:03] johnson would notice uh this can be for both of you what have you seen from nick allegretti to make [26:10] you comfortable rolling him out at center even though that's not a position he's played for most of [26:15] his career yeah i can start off with it um one like high level competitor and so we've played well with [26:23] nick in the lineup uh that'd be at guard but interior that's his space he's played center he's played guard [26:29] even though you may not have seen him in some of the games like every week he was you know [26:33] repping inside to go so um that was a big piece of it we got a lot of faith and confidence in him [26:38] it's another one of the positions that we do have competition that we're going for it but [26:45] if nick was playing on defense he'd be a green dot this is one of the smartest guys on our team now like [26:52] you talk about putting it under control that's part of playing center and he has that targeting who's [26:58] this where's the protection going uh so we've got a lot of confidence in him uh he is one hell of [27:04] a competitor and so he's one of those guys man you don't bet against that you know might be a new [27:10] but you don't do that with everybody but somebody for him you no doubt you do it yeah i'd probably [27:16] just echo what dq said and i think the biggest thing one he's played a lot he's played all the [27:22] positions inside so he's more than capable of all three of those um but what stands out to to me with [27:28] nick is just his leadership his his command his confidence um the way the guys gravitate and listen to [27:34] them and so that's a big part of it knowing knowing what to do knowing where to go knowing [27:38] where to direct the guys just the calling up in the huddle it's a big deal so um have a ton of [27:44] confidence in him have a ton of confidence in julian and matt too so it'll be a great competition but um [27:50] you know uh for nick just you know i think the world of them the whole whole team thinks the world [27:54] of them and so um we all have confidence in him he's as easy a trusted competitor as you can find like [28:00] you just you count on him and he's going to be in the right spot making the right call at the right [28:04] time even when it gets chaotic or i should say especially when it does like this look didn't [28:09] come up in the practice okay this is what we're going to do and you have to be in the fire some [28:13] do have that calm in the chaos it's a big deal thanks guys appreciate it thank you