The preparations are nearing an end for Washington Commanders coordinators David Blough and Daronte Jones, who will make their play-calling debuts for the squad’s offense and defense, respectively, during Sunday’s season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles.
The opening day jitters are undeniable, according to players and coaches.
“If you ain’t a little nervous, you don’t care,” rookie receiver Antonio Williams said.
But years of planning — and steadily growing opportunities — have the new coordinators set to hit the ground running.
“We’ll all be ready to compete,” Blough said. “I think you can trust your instincts when they’re founded in hard work, and our whole group has done that. That’s kind of the mantra for us: we’re going to go cut it loose and let it all out there.”
They won’t have time to ease into the roles. They’ll be showered with boos in the unfriendly confines of Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, with the added weight of a divisional matchup bearing down on them.
It’s nothing they haven’t seen before. Blough was Washington’s assistant quarterbacks coach during the 2024 and 2025 campaigns. He helped former offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury with game plans, noting firsthand the headaches caused by Vic Fangio, Philadelphia’s well-respected defensive play-caller.
“They’re so sound as a defense. You know how they attack you, where they try to stress you as an offense,” Blough said. “We’ve seen matchups with some of our familiar players. We’ve seen things that [quarterback Jayden Daniels] does well. We’ve seen ways they try to attack us. All of those data points for us go into how we build the plan to get after them this week.”
But, as boxer Mike Tyson famously said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Philadelphia’s defensive line has a pair of heavyweights ready to throw haymakers.
Jalen Carter and Jordan Davis have blossomed into one of the league’s stoutest defensive tackle duos over the last three seasons.
“They both bring a different element with physicality and stuffing the run and rushing the passer,” Washington’s rookie play-caller said. “We’ll have to be on our A-game and have a good plan for a handle on both of those guys.”
The defense faces a different challenge. While Fangio and Philadelphia defenders are well-established, the offense is something of a mystery.
Eagles offensive coordinator Sean Mannion, like Blough, is a first-year play-caller only a few years removed from his own career as a backup quarterback. There’s no tape on what Mannion’s system will look like — teams intentionally shrink their playbooks during preseason exhibitions — but Jones has a few ideas.
“Sean and I, we have history together,” Jones said with a smile on Thursday. “We were in Minnesota on two different stints with two different head coaches. I know Sean will have [quarterback Jalen Hurts] playing at a high level.”
Whether the Eagles’ playbook resembles Mannion’s preferences or Hurts’ remains to be seen. The former journeyman spent his two seasons as an NFL assistant with head coach Mike LaFleur and the Green Bay Packers.
LaFleur — who comes from the revered Shanahan coaching tree — favored under-center formations with pre-snap motion and wide-zone runs. That’s a far cry from the shotgun attack with a focus on deep passes outside the hash marks that have defined Hurts’ early career, regardless of coordinator.
Jones estimated that the Eagles’ offense, at least in Week 1, would look more familiar than foreign.
“There’s always going to be some similarities,” he said. “If you have a veteran offense, like they do have, and you bring a lot of guys back, there’s always: how much will change, how much is going to be out of [Hurts’] comfort zone. There’s going to be some similarities, some crossover.”
Either way, the Commanders will look to limit running back Saquon Barkley. The 2024 Offensive Player of the Year has run for 1,222 yards and 13 touchdowns in 12 career games against the Commanders.
“It’s always tough when you’re going against Saquon and that line,” defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw said. “Bunch of big, burly mugs.”
But Washington’s defense is a completely new unit, both in personnel and in philosophy. Jones had never worked with Commanders coach Dan Quinn before this season. The Maryland native is bringing a system inspired by Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, featuring disguises and exotic blitzes to keep opposing offenses guessing.
His defensive linemen are ready to terrorize Hurts and the Eagles. Edge rusher K’Lavon Chaisson described the aggression as “playing offense on defense.” His teammates agreed.
“We’re always attacking, just trying to keep them on their heels and create as many big plays as we can,” defensive tackle Daron Payne said.
“It’s a lot going on, a lot for guys to see and try to block everything,” Kinlaw said. “It’s going to be a lot of one-on-ones, I’m hoping. I just can’t wait to see how it stacks up.”
Sunday’s opener kicks off at 4:25 p.m. in Philadelphia.
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