Commanders Camp — Aug 31: Tunsil Out With a Torn Triceps

Eight days ago we listed Laremy Tunsil as a player held out of the Detroit game and moved on. That framing did not survive the week. Tunsil has a torn triceps that required surgery and will take months to heal — ESPN reported the injury, per Commanders Wire — and the response came fast. Washington signed veteran tackle D.J. Humphries to a one-year deal Tuesday, a move Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported with the reasoning attached: with Tunsil out, Humphries and his 101 career starts help. The team made it official Wednesday, describing his 2021 Pro Bowl season in Arizona and his time with the Rams last year. The bigger domino was internal: Brandon Coleman, who spent camp competing at left guard, moved out to left tackle, per Commanders Wire. So the blind-side plan for Jayden Daniels is now a converted guard at tackle with a swing veteran signed five days before cutdown behind him, and Washington opens at Philadelphia on September 13.

Sunday's ledger, per Zach Selby at the team's site: 34 players released to reach the 53-man limit, cornerback Trey Amos and running back Jeremy McNichols placed on injured reserve, and defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. moved to the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list. The cut names include Van Jefferson — his release reported by Adam Schefter of ESPN, and framed by Dean Jones at Riggo's Rag as a numbers-crunch casualty in a receiver room that kept Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs, rookie Antonio Williams, Jaylin Lane and Treylon Burks — along with defensive tackles Maurice Hurst II and Shy Tuttle, cornerback Fabian Moreau, and linebacker Ale Kaho, whose six-tackle night against Detroit and four more tackles in the finale didn't buy a roster spot. Boogie Basham, signed the previous Tuesday, was released with the rest — cut-week mechanics. On Amos: Dan Quinn had been asked about him on August 25 and deferred, saying he'd have a better answer the following week, per the Commanders On SI transcript. The answer arrived as a transaction.

The quarterback call our last episode said Sunday would force got made, and it went to the rookie. Sam Hartman was released, per Selby, and seventh-round pick Athan Kaliakmanis made the 53 as the depth behind Daniels and Marcus Mariota. The case had been building in the open: Commanders On SI wrote a week ago that Kaliakmanis had been outplaying Hartman for the job since Mariota sprained the medial collateral ligament in his knee — 11 of 14 for 162 yards without a sack in Detroit, against the two sacks he had taken in Miami the week before. Mariota was expected back for the start of the regular season when Quinn last addressed it, and nothing in this week's reporting changed that — which still means a rookie is one snap from the huddle until the veteran's knee proves ready.

The finale gets the brief treatment it earned. Baltimore 41, Washington 3 on Friday night at M&T Bank Stadium — the Commanders were outgained 456 to 177, went 1 of 12 on third down, and managed one first down in the entire first half, per Quentin Corpuel at the Ravens' site. Context first: Washington had declared 41 players out, including Daniels, Mariota, McLaurin, Diggs, Rachaad White, Daron Payne and Tunsil, per the team's announcement, so this was the bottom of the roster playing for jobs. Quinn didn't soften it — "I was definitely not pleased with what we saw tonight, for sure" — while standing by the six weeks before it: "I honestly thought these guys have thrown a really good camp," per the transcript at Commanders On SI. The performances that read differently now that the 53 is known, per Philip Hughes: safety Tyler Owens tied for the first-half team lead with five tackles including a goal-line stop, edge Javontae Jean-Baptiste generated pressure, and Luke McCaffrey's 17-yard catch was the half's only first down — all three made the team.

Now the middle of the line and the back end, which is where cut week points next. Wednesday's joint practice in Baltimore previewed the problem: the Ravens' front got to Daniels repeatedly with center Nick Allegretti unavailable and Sam Cosmi out with an illness, per Hughes' recap — Mike Sainristil's two-minute interception of Lamar Jackson and an Antonio Williams touchdown against Kyle Hamilton and Nate Wiggins were the counterpunches. Our last episode's watch item asked whether Allegretti would take center snaps in that practice; per the recap, he didn't practice at all. He made the roster anyway, and the team's senior writer had already put the concern in print: Selby wrote Thursday that the center position still needs figuring out, that Julian Good-Jones had been forced into duty with Allegretti hurt, and that Washington will look at its options once cuts occur, with roughly 32 centers hitting the market. Good-Jones was among Sunday's releases. After the cuts, Selby flagged the other thin spot himself: Washington holds the No. 7 waiver priority, between Cleveland and New Orleans, and cornerback — only three on the active roster after the Amos move — is the depth position to watch. Back in July we previewed Washington as the rare bounce the market had already paid for — two flags pointing up, a price that assumed them, and the real variance living in two first-time coordinators and one healthy franchise quarterback. Camp mostly cooperated: Daniels stayed healthy and, per his coach, threw an excellent camp, and the defense spent August taking the ball away for Daronte Jones — six takeaways in two preseason games by Selby's count in our last episode. Cut week moved the variance somewhere the July preview never priced: the offensive line. The left tackle is expected to be out for months, his replacement is a converted guard, and the center position is, in the team site's own description, still to be figured out. The bounce case still runs through Daniels; the question now is who keeps him upright.

What to watch next: where the 34 cut names land once waivers clear Monday afternoon, per Commanders Wire's explainer, and the practice squads form behind them — with the No. 7 priority and the team site pointing at center and cornerback, that's the next episode's job. Beyond that: whether Mariota's knee is ready enough to make the rookie-backup arrangement temporary, and whether the rebuilt left side is ready for the opener at Philadelphia. We'll check back once the claims and the practice squads are in.

_Data via nflverse._