ASHBURN, Va. — The Washington Commanders are headed to Miami for a preseason game against the Dolphins in less than three days.
Once again, the burgundy and gold will take part in a joint practice with their preseason opponent prior to the game. The team will practice with the Dolphins at their facility on Thursday.
One of the Commanders headed down to Florida is veteran defensive tackle Jonathan Allen, who was not very happy with the arc of the Commanders franchise last year. Things appear to have changed as Allen sat down for a one-on-one with WUSA9's Chick Hernandez.
"I was very impressed when I met Mr. Peters for the first time," said Allen when asked why he decided to stay with the Commanders. "That was very interesting and then whenever I first talked to Coach Quinn and Coach Witt, I just knew that was something I wanted to be a part of, right?"
The seven-year veteran has seen the rise and fall of the Commanders fandom over the years. Drafted in 2017, by the Dan Snyder regime, he elected to remain in Washington, encouraged by the direction of the new owners and staff.
"I mean, I've been here for going on eight years," he said. "I've seen definitely the downside of it. But man, I love this organization and I love this community. [I've] been here so long man, it'd be a shame if I didn't get to see it, you know, return to its former glory."
Allen says the difference is night and day now, compared to his first four years in the league.
"When your body feels good and you're 22 years old, you don't think about taking care of it, you know," said Allen. "So it's not until you wake up and you're still sore and you're still tired and you're still hurting and you're not recovering like you used to, that you realize, like, 'Man, I really got to take care of my body.'"
Part of taking care of his body includes a chef that he swears he can't go without.
"Best food ever," he said as Chick asked to come over. "Healthy, clean, it's almost a requirement for me now."
Allen says playing professional football is a dream you have to fight for and that there are a lot of bad and hard days so it's important to remember why you love it.
"You can't get consumed by the dark days, because there's gonna be a lot of them, no matter who you are," he said. "So you just gotta love the grind."