Josh Harris and Sam Howell star on the Commanders’ first day of camp
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Wearing a white polo and khaki pants, Josh Harris sauntered down the hill toward the Washington Commanders’ practice fields with a row of defensive backs trailing him and a wall of cameras awaiting him. Wp Get the full experience. Choose your plan ArrowRight The only thing missing was entrance music. For 90 minutes Wednesday morning, the new Commanders owner took in his first day of training camp from the sideline while chatting with limited partner Mitchell Rales and former Washington quarterback Joe Theismann. When the workout concluded, Commanders Coach Ron Rivera introduced Harris to players, eliciting applause in the team huddle at midfield.
Josh Harris has arrived pic.twitter.com/qjpP1JU2h1 — Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) July 26, 2023
Harris was a star of the Commanders’ first day of camp — the impetus for a new era and renewed optimism in Washington. The other headliner was the team’s 22-year-old quarterback, Sam Howell, who played one game as a rookie and has been tabbed the likely starter for this season. He is now in the throes of the biggest tryout of his life.
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“I know some people might think it’s crazy just because of how the [2022] draft went and I hardly played at all last year,” said Howell, a fifth-round pick. “... But it doesn’t really change anything for me. I know the type of player that I can be in this league, and I feel like I’ve worked very hard and put myself in a position to go out there and succeed, so I really could [not] care less what other people say.”
Although the team has billed training camp as a competition between Howell and veteran Jacoby Brissett, the job is Howell’s — barring injury or an undeniable discrepancy in talent. Rivera has said he wants to ensure Howell isn’t just given the top spot, but rather that he earns it.
When organized team activities and minicamp ended in June, Rivera said Howell had performed as expected. The key going forward, Rivera said, was for Howell to show consistency and continued development in the offense, specifically with his footwork, command of the huddle, grasp of the offense and ability to quickly learn from mistakes.
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“That tells you he is growing and he’s getting it,” Rivera said Tuesday.
Washington’s first workout may end up being its lightest of camp; players wore shorts, and the session was held to 90 minutes. Rivera said the plan is to increase practices to two hours in the coming days, as temperatures are projected to peak in the high 90s. Early next week, the team is slated to have its first padded workout.
A full picture of Howell’s feel for the offense may not form until then, when Washington will implement its full run game. But his improved comfort from the spring, when he was in the early stages of learning offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy’s playbook, was noticeable Wednesday. Bieniemy’s West Coast offense is a timing-based system that requires the quarterback to sync his dropbacks with the receivers’ routes. Perfecting it requires time and reps, two things Howell tried to squeeze in more this offseason.
“At this point I have total command of the offense,” he said. “... I studied a lot this summer, trying to get really comfortable with the system … and just time my feet into the concepts that we’re running. I feel like I’ve made a lot of progress in that area.”
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Howell and Brissett coordinated a short trip earlier this month to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., with some of their receivers, running backs and tight ends. Receiver Terry McLaurin estimated roughly 13 or 14 players took part in the informal throwing sessions.
“[Howell and Brissett] have been working hand-in-hand,” McLaurin said earlier this month. “Jacoby brings a veteran presence, so he kind of knows what the offseason looks like, trying to make things come together.”
Howell also spent ample time this offseason with his quarterback coach, Anthony Boone, working to reinforce many of the techniques he learned in the spring and keep up with the playbook. Although Howell’s game time was limited to his Week 18 start last season, he was able to lay a foundation, he said. Ken Zampese, who was the Commanders’ quarterbacks coach last year and is now a senior offensive adviser, worked with Howell before and after practices on his footwork. Though former offensive coordinator Scott Turner’s scheme was wholly different from Bieniemy’s, it did require Howell to nail the timing of his footwork and the windows of his throws.
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Bieniemy’s offense comes with a new set of challenges, including wordy play-calls, but it does incorporate more of the run-pass options (RPOs) Howell ran often in college at North Carolina.
“I’m very confident in my RPO game, and … I love that type of stuff, and I think you can really make defenses wrong in the run game when you have the RPO ability,” Howell said.
I saw @minakimes put up a Howell clip and there is really good foundational aspects to his game that stand out on game tape@Commanders @HogsHaven @john_keim pic.twitter.com/Hdl2mR7pPw — Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) July 6, 2023
Perhaps the biggest growth in Howell’s play is in his head. During the offseason, he’d often walk through the plays in his call, or pretend to call them in a huddle so the terminology became a second language.
“When [Bieniemy] calls a play, I’m not even thinking about it,” he said. “I know exactly what it is. I know exactly what my job is. I’m just way more confident and comfortable, and I can help guys kind of get lined up, and if someone ever has a question about anything, I can answer it.”
The truest test of Howell’s mettle will play out over the next few weeks in camp, which is already showing signs of change. Twelve camp practices will be open to fans, and the team has planned for thousands to attend daily. For the first time in decades, the team installed bleachers along the sideline and another set behind the sideline to accommodate fans and players’ and coaches’ families. There is also a “VIP” tent for team alumni and owners, among others. Many are expected to attend Thursday.
Harris was scheduled to talk to players during their team meeting Wednesday and to hold additional meetings with coaches and executives over the coming weeks.
“Yeah, it is a bit of an audition,” Rivera said. “But at the same time, I can’t worry so much about that as much as getting this football team ready to play.”
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Source: The Washington Post
