The start of a new NFL season brings a certain kind of excitement. A new season against a division rival? Well, that brings the thrill of a whole other kind.
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After resting most of their starters in Week 18 and dropping their regular-season finale to the Commanders, the Eagles are ready to run it back against Washington on Sunday (4:25 p.m., Fox29).
However, the feeling is mutual. Here’s what the Commanders are saying ahead of their Week 1 start.
First-time coordinators
The Commanders have two new systems in place with new play-callers on both sides of the ball. Daronte Jones, the defensive coordinator in his first season in Washington, will go against a new offensive system for the Eagles in Sean Mannion’s NFL debut as a play-caller. On the other side, David Blough, the Commanders’ first-year offensive coordinator, has the challenge of facing a well-established Vic Fangio defense.
Blough is in his third year with the Commanders after spending time as an assistant quarterback coach for two years. He’ll enter his first season as the organization’s offensive coordinator. However, his few years with Washington have given him a good look at Fangio’s defense and how it operates, a familiarity Blough is hoping will help come Sunday.
“They’re so sound as a defense, how they attack you, where they try to stress you as an offense, and they got a lot of really good players who have been there for a long time,” Blough said about the Eagles defense Thursday. “We’ve seen matchups with some of our familiar players. We’ve seen things that Jayden [Daniels] does well. We’ve seen ways that they’ve tried to attack us. So, all of those data points for us kind of go into how we build the plan to get after him this week.”
Stopping Saquon
For Jones and the Commanders’ defense, a whole new problem is apparent. While there is less data to solve Mannion’s new offensive scheme, one thing is clear: in each of his four games against the Commanders as the Eagles’ primary running back, Saquon Barkley has rushed for over 115 yards and has scored at least one touchdown.
Whether Jones hasn’t yet figured out how to stop Barkley, or he’s keeping his cards close to the chest, he offered a vague answer on his solution to the running back.
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“Saquon is special,” Jones said. “It’s not a one-man job. It’s a team effort and even with that, I mean, his explosiveness, his playmaking ability, he’s very dynamic, and they’ve done a great job of using him in that way and finding different spaces to get him touches. And so, you take your hat off to the organization [for] how they utilize their personnel over there.”
‘A hard-fought game’
After a sophomore season riddled with injury, quarterback Jayden Daniels said he is ready to do “whatever it takes to win a football game” on Sunday.
During his rookie season, Daniels faced the Eagles three times, passing for 449 yards, rushing for 99 yards, and scoring six touchdowns and throwing three interceptions. His most recent game against Philly came at the end of his first season with a 55-23 loss to the Eagles in the NFC Championship at Lincoln Financial Field.
Head coach Dan Quinn said the fire in Daniels to get back out there has been burning since the end of last season, and while working through a new system and changes, Daniels has been “more accurate than he’s ever been,” getting bigger and stronger.
LIVE: HC Dan Quinn speaks to the media after the final practice of the week https://t.co/uqwCssFWn5
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 11, 2026
“It’s an exciting time just in general; football is back,” Daniels said. “I know [the Eagles are] not worried about who they play, who’s on the schedule. They’re just worried about executing, being the best version of themselves. And us too. So, go out there and just try to execute at a high level. Like I said, they got really good players over there. We got good players over here too, and this is going to be a hard-fought game.”
The regular season is almost here! All the preseason talk has been about Jalen Hurts and new offensive coordinator Sean Mannion. But there’s somebody else who will have a big say in how high the Eagles fly. The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane explains why this year, in the absence of traded star A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith has to take the next step, while also taking charge of the Eagles’ wide receivers group. Plus, Jeff dips into the mailbag for listener questions about Jalen Hurts and some key roster spots. Listen here.
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