Jayden Daniels' health is critical to any possibility of a bounceback season for the Commanders. Stephanie Scarbrough / AP PhotoAug. 28, 2026 12:00 pm EDT Updated “The Athletic Football Show” is previewing all 32 teams ahead of the 2026 NFL season. Below are select quotes from the show’s preview of the Washington Commanders. The quotes are edited for clarity. You can watch the whole preview on YouTube and in the embedded video below, or listen to the full NFC East preview wherever you get your podcasts.Dave Helman on what about the Commanders most excites him: Two years is an eternity in the NFL, but a healthy Jayden Daniels has proven he can make chicken salad out of chicken s— before. And he did it in 2024 without Laremy Tunsil, so the fact that Tunsil’s out for the year, it definitely sucks. But Jayden’s made do with less before. And I’m hoping he can stay healthy long enough to do it again. It’s an older duo than you would prefer, but Terry McLaurin and Stefon Diggs — if Diggs looks remotely like the guy from last year — I could talk myself into that.Robert Mays on what he’s watching the first month of the season: I’m curious what David Blough is going to get from this offense that Kliff Kingsbury couldn’t. If you look at the numbers, Kliff was middle of the pack last year with Jayden missing a huge chunk of the season. And they were really good in ’24. Kliff Kingsbury did a really good job as the offensive coordinator for the Commanders. The argument is: Can we be harder to play against?