August 27, 2026

NFC East beats: The Commanders' 'inoperable' O-line is surprising to no one

The Commanders seem to be having a bad time right now, while Cam Skattebo's act in New York might already be wearing thin.

By Nick Tricome
PhillyVoice Staff

Lon Horwedel/IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jayden Daniels taking a minute to worry about the use of his No. 5.

The Eagles wrapped up their training camp on Wednesday and have one more preseason game left against the Bengals on Friday night.

And all things considered, it was a pretty straightforward summer for the Birds.

Yeah, Sean Mannion's new offense is showing some growing pains and is going to need time; yeah, that links into Jalen Hurts discourse, because there's always Jalen Hurts discourse; and yeah, Makai Lemon missed most of camp with a hamstring injury, and Jonathan Greenard's return is a mystery right now, but the Eagles otherwise got through the summer healthy, and with encouraging signs that they're going to be a much stronger team.

But the NFC East is "supposed" to be tough this year, right? And the Eagles are opening with the Commanders Week 1.

How's Washington lookin–oh...

This is the worst I’ve ever seen the Commanders’ offense in years. Inoperable offensive line.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 26, 2026

The above observation was from The Athletic's Washington beat writer Nicki Jhabvala, as the Commanders were holding joint practices against the Ravens this week.

This far into the summer, when training camps are ending, "inoperable" is a devastating phrase to read about an offensive line, though it isn't entirely surprising if you look at the Commanders' roster construction for five seconds – see our own Jimmy Kempski's breakdown of why they'll be a dumpster fire this season.

But wait, it can get worse!

Here's Washington safety Jeremy Reaves' take on his team's joint practice with Baltimore, via Scott Abraham of 7News down in DC:

Jeremy Reaves never holds back. He gave his assessment of today's joint practice between the Ravens and the Commanders.

Reavo said, "how we started, that's how you win five games. We have to be way better." pic.twitter.com/emhIy74dVo
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) August 26, 2026

He does have a point. Five wins would be very disrespectful to Jayden Daniels, though.

Speaking of Washington's QB and that ridiculous cease-and-desist to LSU over his number, Daniels did get asked about it during his post-practice press conference on Wednesday.

He shut it down with "I posted a statement on Instagram."

At the end of his press conference today, Commanders QB Jayden Daniels was asked why he filed the cease and desist letter to LSU.

Jayden said, “Nah, I posted a statement on Instagram and I said all I needed to say. Appreciate y’all.” pic.twitter.com/gppkLjo9re
— Scott Abraham (@Scott7news) August 26, 2026

Yeah, that'll end the circus!

Or not, because no matter who's in charge, the Washington Commanders franchise never seems to fail to make the worst decisions.

Case in point: They're selling merchandise with the old name and logo again. You know, the racist one that people were fed up with, but that former owner Dan Snyder's old regime only moved on from once corporate sponsor pressure threatened the organization's pockets.

But Snyder's gone now, Josh Harris (also the Sixers owner) is in, and it's something the Commanders apparently "sort of have to do from time to time to protect the trademark," per WUSA 9 reporter Eric Flack.

NEW: Commanders selling merch with the retired Redskins name and logo — and team says the reason is trademark law.

“We are required to maintain the marks in commercial usage so that marks remain under franchise control.”

But position on returning to old name hasn’t changed. pic.twitter.com/c6ZyGENrbV
— Eric Flack (@EricFlackTV) August 25, 2026

Flack added that the Commanders stressed to him that they're not going back to the old name. But I don't know, look at their uniform change for this season and the PR line they've been trying to walk ever since Harris took ownership, and it seems like part of the organization still wants to – but is aware just enough to know that it can't.

Anyway, back to the field and that "inoperable" O-line: If anything has stood out about the Eagles through training camp, it's how strong their pass rush looks.

Jalen Carter looks healthy and like a full-on game-wrecker again, Jordan Davis seems to have fully found his footing as an effective nose tackle, Moro Ojomo and Jalyx Hunt look like they're ready for breakout years, and even Nolan Smith might catch a lot of people off guard after he fell under the radar with a slow start to camp.

The Eagles' pass rush might feast on the Commanders out of the gate, and Commanders fans might be coming to grips with the fact that this season isn't going to be the bounce-back to an NFC Championship appearance that they were hoping for. See Tailgate Ted, the Washington superfan who infamously took over the Convention Center Hard Rock before the Eagles dropped 55 on them to go to the Super Bowl:

Peters created this mess by letting Biadasz walk. Not bringing in a veteran backup center was, and still is, a huge miss. At this point, you’re basically hoping a somewhat serviceable center gets cut on Sunday and becomes available.

But honestly, finding a legitimate backup… https://t.co/B8iVfiXuXJ
— Tailgate Ted (@TailgateTed) August 26, 2026

See, again, all of Jimmy's reasons why the Commanders will be a dumpster fire HERE.

What a delusional mess of a football team.

A Giant pain

Relaying that to another delusional mess, the Giants sphere was carrying some hope that New York might actually be good following the hiring of John Harbaugh as head coach.

But so far, quarterback Jaxson Dart has already gotten leveled and sent to the blue medical tent before the season has even started, and now running back Cam Skattebo, the other half of the head-into-the-wall core that Giants fans latched on to last year (because there wasn't much else) started a fight in practice this week, or a "scuffle," depending on which New York reporter you ask.

Cam Skattebo started a fight in practice today. He slid down after a reception and came dangerously close to taking out a couple Giants DBs’ legs. The defense isn’t allowed to hit.

Jevon Holland and Greg Newsome did not appreciate it. Situation escalated between Skattebo and…
— Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) August 26, 2026

There was a scuffle initiated by Cam Skattebo with Greg Newsome, Jevon Holland. That was a long time coming. Skattebo has been talking trash to the secondary most of the summer #Giants
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) August 26, 2026

Here was Harbaugh's take on the Skattebo scuffle after:

"Well, I mean, Skat's great. He does bring a lot of energy. But he did get a 15-yard penalty at the end of practice. Did you notice that? That's not infectious. Well, it is infectious, actually. Infectious in a bad way, right? Like an infectious disease type of thing, you know? We don't want that. We want it to be directed in a positive way."

Dart and Skattebo, as they are now, play with no self-preservation, and based on how Skattebo has talked about his approach coming back from a broken leg last season, he doesn't seem interested in changing anything.

So the only thing Skattebo can be expected to direct is himself straight into a pile of defensive linemen, on the blind hope that he's somehow tougher than them. But after a year of tape and seeing his one trick, he's probably not going to win those battles much anymore – see Jimmy's 10 reasons why the Giants will also be a dumpster fire HERE.

Loose ends

A couple non-NFC East beats worth a mention...

• The Miami Dolphins have scored just 10 points through their first two preseason games, then apparently had a "disaster" of a practice on offense this week, per the Miami Herald's Omar Kelly.

Dolphins practice is over. The Dolphins offense was a disaster. They were so bad Malik Willis got the team together for a talk midway through. It didn’t help.
— Omar Kelly (@OmarKelly) August 25, 2026

Kevin Patullo, who was out as the Eagles' offensive coordinator after one brutally out-of-depth and uncreative season, is the Dolphins' passing game coordinator now.

Guess repeated four verts and quick curls aren't working down there either.

• The Pro Bowl is over. The NFL is keeping the honor of a selection, but the event itself, as a full All-Star game or a weirdly-paced flag football game, is done.

It's a shock in the sense that it's been an annual happening for so long and that the league has been continually pivoting to try and make it work.

But the reality is the Pro Bowl just hasn't meant much to anyone in forever.

That time Nick Foles won Pro Bowl MVP was pretty sick, though.