One of the key elements throughout early offseason workouts was the intensity. The Washington Commanders were going to keep standards high from the moment they got into the building, eager to wipe the stain of last season's failure off their faces for good.
And based on the first practice of training camp, the same trend has continued.
Lynnell Willingham of Westwood One Sports was in attendance, and he instantly noticed the intensity, duration, and a desire to set the tone for what's to come. Even though it comes as no surprise, it's still reassuring to fans expecting their team to make strides.
"If you go back and look at the tempo of the first practice last year to today, it's a night-and-day difference. They went about an hour and a half. Last year's opening practice famously only went for about 45 minutes. Clearly a different sense of urgency in the organization going into a pivotal Year 3 for Dan Quinn, Adam Peters, and Jayden Daniels."
Commanders immediately ramped up the intensity fans have seen all offseason
Nobody likes losing. The Commanders got sick and tired of it last season, but there was nothing much they could do about it with confidence sapped and almost every cornerstone piece missing time due to injury.
That is not the case anymore.
The slate has been wiped clean. It started at OTAs and minicamp, with a high workload and no days off. This received a positive response, and for a team that got way too complacent after reaching the NFC Championship game in Year 1 under Quinn, it was desperately needed.
Washington ran a much softer program last year. Beat reporters noticed early on, sensing something was amiss. They received criticism for their observations, but they were right. And after learning a harsh lesson, Quinn is not going to let the same mistake happen again.
Everyone was stung by last year's rude awakening. Fortunately, faith in Quinn never wavered. Not by the locker room, not by the higher-ups, and not by the large majority of fans.
When he increased the demands this offseason, the players responded accordingly. They are all pulling in the same direction, doing whatever is required to turn the tide. It's not perfect yet, but the Commanders now have a sense of collective purpose that got lost in 2025.
This will be a hard camp. It will be grueling. Nothing will be given, and everything will be earned. This will separate the strong from the weak, but it will make everyone better.
It's a drastic shift in approach, and it doesn't always guarantee success. But after a campaign that started with dreams of lifting the Super Bowl and ended with just five wins, fans were demanding nothing less.
And Quinn has delivered.
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