Commanders

Commanders HC Dan Quinn said C Nick Allegretti is one of the team’s smartest players, and he wasn’t too concerned about him missing camp.

“Nick is one of our smartest players, so that’s a position that you rely on,” Quinn said, via the team’s website. “He’s making calls, ‘Where am I setting things?’ So that’s a good piece. But yeah, I would say it’s not a part of that, why he had so many plays or decisiveness. But we’re excited he’s back to work today, I can tell you that.”

Commanders GM Adam Peters added that they’re taking it slow with DB Trey Amos and want him ready for the stretch of the season.

“We wanna take it slow with him, that’s why we put him on IR,” Peters said, via the team’s website. “And could he have come back right around, in a few weeks? Maybe, but with the advances in sport science and understanding what it will take for him to get ready to play from not having played since mid-season last year, we wanted to take that a little bit slower. So, we’re confident he’ll be ready when it’s time for him to come out.”

Cowboys

Cowboys DT Quinnen Williams commented during an interview that the team’s defensive mindset has undergone a complete overhaul under new DC Christian Parker.

“The growth, it’s like night and day,” Williams said, via the team’s official website. “Starting in OTAs, and starting the first week of training camp, getting a chance to go against one of the best offenses in battle every single day has helped us tremendously. The mindset coming from the coaches, top down to the players and to the leadership, has been drastically changed. It’s just fun, man. I just can’t wait to see the process and the results from all the hard work, but we’re not done yet.”

Cowboys

Cowboys LB Jaishawn Barham enters his rookie season after being a third-round pick in this year’s draft. Dallas HC Brian Schottenheimer has been impressed with Barham in their offseason program, saying he’s “very serious” about refining his craft. 

“He’s awesome,” Schottenheimer said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “And I think I’m getting to know Jaishawn on a much closer level. He’s very serious and (has) great intent. You talk about a guy that’s wired the right way. And don’t let his demeanor, the way he carries himself around you guys make you think for one second that he’s not all in for this football team. He is very serious at what he does and he wants to be great. But he’s getting more and more comfortable in this locker room around our players and around our coaches. I think he’s a terrific young man.”

Barham acknowledged that he still has a lot of work to do toward developing. 

“I still got a lot of work to put in,” Barham said. “I’m just trying to get better every day, trusting the coaches, trusting my teammates. All around I’m not perfect, so there’s a lot of stuff I can still work on.”

Schottenheimer reiterated that he likes Barham’s approach as a professional and views him as a versatile weapon. 

“From the time he’s gotten here, we’ve been really excited about the player, the person, the seriousness that he approaches meetings with and the ability to communicate,” Schottenheimer said. “The versatility is real and it kind of goes back to draft day. We did the work, we did the prep, he was there, Jerry made the call, and it was great.”