Washington Commanders Notebook: Defense Gets After Dolphins and Daniels Throws 2 INTs

MIAMI – The Washington Commanders and Miami Dolphins conducted their joint practice ahead of their upcoming preseason game on Saturday night, and it was quite eventful for both sides.

On a down note, the Commanders lost undrafted free agent linebacker Bo Bauer to what appeared to be a leg injury and he had to be carted off the field but was seen later walking under his own power. We’ll keep an eye out for news on that, and hope for the best for Bauer, but it did not look good initially.

Washington also saw rookie quarterback throw two interceptions in team drills, his second and third of the training camp/preseason period, in what is a much less important note, yet important enough to provide context on – so that’s where we’ll start our notebook.

READ MORE: Commanders Coach Dan Quinn ‘Had a Blast’ Implementing One of his Biggest Changes

Daniels completed 11 of his 16 pass attempts on Thursday for a 69 percent completion rate and threw two interceptions while being ‘sacked’ twice. It’s important to note that after what would have been sacks the plays continued with Daniels throwing passes on each rep, but for reporting purposes we don’t track those since the plays should have either ended with a sack or the quarterback running for yards to escape pressure.

However, the context behind the interceptions matters here as one was a pass caught by tight end Cole Turner and subsequently released when he was hit by a Dolphins defender. The ball popped up into the air and another Miami defender easily came up with the takeaway.

The second pass intercepted came on the last throw of the day for Daniels which is going to leave a bad taste in his mouth heading into the game. Receiver Terry McLaurin was running an out route against cornerback and former Washington teammate Kendall Fuller, but slipped in his break resulting in his falling to the ground.

Since it’s important to be on time on those routes Daniels had already thrown the ball and with McLaurin on the ground, Fuller brought in an easy interception to end the late-game scenario and the practice.

The Commanders defense didn’t get any takeaways unfortunately, but they did wreak havoc in the Dolphins backfield.

Specifically, Washington defensive tackles Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen along with defensive end Dorance Armstrong Jr. were consistent presences around the Miami quarterbacks. Even former Dolphins cornerback Noah Igbinoghene got in on the action.

It was a good day for the defensive front and not a terrible one for the secondary who gave up one explosive play to receiver Tyreek Hill, but it was a much better outing than what we saw last week against the New York Jets.

The Play of the Day for the Commanders came early in the first team set – a red zone scenario. Daniels threw five touchdown passes during the period, but the best may have been his toss to receiver Jamison Crowder in the near right corner of the end zone.

Crowder ran a typical fade route but stopped short and turned to catch the throw while the Dolphins defender’s momentum took him deeper into the end zone with nothing to do but struggle with the knowledge he’d just gotten beaten by a rookie and a receiver most outsiders think of as nothing more than an aging punt returner. Take that, stereotypes.

READ MORE: Commanders Coach Dan Quinn ‘Had a Blast’ Implementing One of his Biggest Changes