ASHBURN, Va. — Washington Commanders training camp kicks off Wednesday in Ashburn, Virginia. Head Coach Dan Quinn and General Manager Adam Peters addressed the media, and spoke about what fans can expect, and how they plan to begin writing the new chapter for the franchise — one that has been a whole offseason in the making.
Peters was hired nearly 200 days before training camp. Nineteen days after he was hired, he named Dan Quinn the Commanders' new head coach. For Quinn, it's his second time leading a team as a head coach. So what has he learned?
"Probably like a player when the game slows down... coaching does as well," Quinn said.
For Peters, as the team prepares for a new season, the stress level is constant.
"You're always thinking about ways to improve the team and what you can do better," he said.
Rookies have been at the Ashburn training facility for about a week, learning and doing drills. But now their true education begins when camp gets underway Wednesday morning.
"This camp will be challenging, it'll be demanding, and it's also gonna be fun as hell. This is where we start writing the chapter of what this 2024 Commanders team will be about," Quinn said. "So, having fun and working really hard, those two things should be synonymous. So, being here alongside [General Manager] Adam [Peters], hell yeah. Let's get it rolling.”
On Wednesday, Quinn said the first day of camp will focus on play in the red zone. He said it was import to start there on day one.
"Things happen much more quickly [in the red zone]... seeing that type of communication early, we thought that would be a good way to go... It's such an important part of what we do, we didn't want to wait," Quinn said.
He also talked about what he's looking for from rookies and younger players as camp gets going.
"It has to be about effort first," Quinn said. "At the top of the pile, it better be effort because if I don't see the speed, does he not know, or can he not go? You can correct a mistake, but you can't correct someone not going."
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