Jayden Daniels Camp Update — August 31: The blind side rebuilt in six days
2026 NFL Season · Monday, Aug 31
Daniels's last preseason work was Wednesday's joint practice in Baltimore, where the Ravens' front pressured him into checkdowns and he called it not the best day they could have had. Around him, the blind side was rebuilt inside six days — Tunsil out most of the season, Humphries signed, center unsettled — and cut day left seventh-round rookie Athan Kaliakmanis as the quarterback depth behind Daniels and the injured Marcus Mariota.
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Jayden Daniels got one last preseason test at Wednesday's joint practice in Baltimore, and it was the hardest look of his August. With center Nick Allegretti unavailable and Sam Cosmi out with an illness, the Ravens' front consistently pressured him, per Philip Hughes at Commanders On SI — pressure arriving before routes could develop, forcing him off deeper concepts and into checkdowns several times. He put one clean answer on tape, a touchdown to rookie Antonio Williams in the final two-minute period against an all-out blitz, and afterward he graded the day himself: "it wasn't the best day we could have had," per the transcript published by Commanders On SI.
The reason that session matters is that the wall in front of him was rebuilt inside six days. Laremy Tunsil's torn triceps is expected to cost him most of the season, per Commanders Wire; Brandon Coleman moved from the left-guard competition out to left tackle; D.J. Humphries, with a hundred one career starts, was signed, per NFL Network's Ian Rapoport; and center is unresolved — Zach Selby wrote on the team site three days before cuts that Washington would look at its options once rosters shrank, and Julian Good-Jones, the man who had been pressed into center duty, was released Sunday, per Selby.
Cut day also resolved the room behind Daniels. Sam Hartman was released and seventh-round rookie Athan Kaliakmanis made the 53 as the backup depth behind Daniels and the injured Marcus Mariota, per Selby at the team site — the beat's case being that Kaliakmanis had outplayed Hartman since Mariota's MCL sprain, going 11 of 14 for a hundred 62 yards against Detroit with no sacks, per Commanders On SI. Daniels sat Friday's 41 to three finale with 40 other players, per the team's announcement; Dan Quinn's postgame remarks, in the transcript published by Commanders On SI, paired displeasure with the night with a defense of the camp that preceded it.
Last week's questions are both answered: he played the joint practice, and he did not play the finale — so his preseason closes at three snaps in Detroit +1 long Wednesday under pressure. Back in June our preview argued the down year was a dislocated elbow rather than a changed player, and nothing in camp pushed back — the elbow produced not a single report, which is the goal, while the arrangement behind him is now a rookie one snap away until Mariota's knee proves ready. We'll check in again as Week One approaches.
_Data via nflverse._
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