The Daily Slop – 12 August 2026
Editor’s note: Each day, Hogs Haven compiles a collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East, the NFL and sports in general, with a sprinkling of other stuff. Enjoy!
Commanders links
Articles
The Athletic (paywall)
Commanders’ Terry McLaurin feels free after enduring ‘hardest year’ of his life
“This last year was the hardest year of my life — from the contract and getting hurt, and you know, I’ve been going through some stuff off the field, just personally,” McLaurin revealed Friday. “It’s been extremely challenging.”
“I’ve been somebody
who’s kind of struggled with worry, struggled with anxiety, sometimes not feeling good enough. So when you go through contract stuff, when you go through injury, it can kind of make you feel insecure at times.”
“[Now], I just feel like I’m in a great space. … I wouldn’t trade anything because it’s built me into the person I am right now, and I just feel like I’m playing with a type of freedom that I haven’t had. So I’m just looking forward to spilling that out for my team this year.”
Two owners, four head coaches, four offensive coordinators, four wide receivers coaches, an astounding 15 starting quarterbacks, and yet, McLaurin always delivered. He recorded five straight 1,000-yard seasons from 2020 to 2024, and during his second Pro Bowl season (2024), racked up a career-high 13 touchdown catches.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
ESPN
Brandon Coleman says he wishes he had trained like this in the past
Coleman missed time in his rookie training camp because of a shoulder injury. From Weeks 9 to 17 as a rookie, he played every snap but missed 18 in the regular-season finale.
“There’s injuries that I’ve had in the past during training camp,” Coleman said, “that fully could have been prevented if I would’ve just sacrificed a little more time in rehab and working on certain things.”
To help, Coleman said he has taken more care to use preventative maintenance on his body — from how he stretches to how he eats, to his daily recovery sessions after workouts. He hired a nutritionist. He worked out with Dominic Studzinski, a former Ole Miss strength and conditioning coach who has trained Tunsil for more than a decade. “Just taking care of myself a lot better,” Coleman said. “There are priorities I didn’t do the first couple years that I just have to reflect on and kind of be accountable on. I changed that last year, but then even more this year.”
That included spending several weeks training with Tunsil in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, this summer.
“I dragged my wife out there to the middle of nowhere,” Coleman said. “What she understood is just really seeing how one of the greatest tackles ever does it. How do I need to live to give myself a chance to be like that guy?”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Sports Illustrated
The Good and Not So Good From Commanders’ Tenth Training Camp Practice
Several veterans received maintenance days, which shifted reps to younger players and roster-battle candidates ahead of Wednesday’s joint session with Miami. On the day: Joshua Josephs continued forcing his way into the conversation, Antonio Williams produced multiple touchdowns, and Washington’s backup tight ends made several plays.
Josephs beat Brandon Coleman with a rip move quickly enough that the play might have been a sack in live football. Later in the day, Josephs was able to disrupt things again with another would-be sack, this time on Marcus Mariota. It will be interesting to watch Josephs line up against the Dolphins tackles Wednesday to get a good sense of what we are working with there. His quickness and motor are impressive.
Cager grabbed two touchdowns from Mariota, including a seam route on the first play of the two-minute period that left him open for an uncontested score. Yankoff continued to receive a healthy number of targets and added to a camp in which his athleticism and receiving ability have consistently stood out. The two have been forcing the Commanders to decide whether they want a fourth tight end and then who it should be, all at the same time.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Riggo’s Rag
Javon Kinlaw set to be unleashed in new-look Commanders defense
Kinlaw’s already loving how the plan is unfolding at training camp. He explained the variety to reporters after a recent practice.
“I’m getting to play everywhere. The shade, the two wide, the three, the four, the five, the six. I’m playing it all, man. I’m loving how I’m getting to just give guys different looks and be all over the place, man. And I think it’s going to play to my strengths well, man. You know, give a lot of guys fits.”
This is an intriguing, multi-faceted role for Kinlaw. One that only shows how much the Commanders still believe in his so far largely untapped talents.
The new approach to deploying big No. 99 is also the latest example of how first-year play-caller Jones is willing to find creative ways to get underperforming senior personnel more involved.
This isn’t the first time the Commanders have planned to move Kinlaw from the interior to the edge. Jones’ predecessor, Joe Whitt Jr., wanted to do the same, but there’s a little extra nuance to this year’s attempts to unleash the South Carolina product.
First, the system Jones is likely to call, the type he learned from Brian Flores with the Minnesota Vikings, is more elaborate. He’ll use moving pieces to disguise coverage and pressure in ways Whitt rarely did.
That’s good news for Kinlaw, who could find himself facing more one-on-one matchups against offensive linemen on the lookout for blitzing linebackers and defensive backs. Few individual blockers are going to want to stand up to the 6-foot-5, 319-pound player on the edge.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Commanders.com
Joint practice with Dolphins believed to be first-ever on Ashburn grounds
[N]o, this isn’t one of those cutesy “firsts” where there was a joint practice held here when the facility had a different name. The records show (and team personnel close to the matter say) that tomorrow will be the first time an official NFL joint practice will be held on the Ashburn grounds.
A lot of logistics need to be hammered out to successfully host a joint practice for an NFL organization – everything from perhaps the more straightforward hotel accommodation details to how a team will move to and from the practice fields to temporary on-site work spaces for traveling support staff. Most facilities weren’t designed to host two full NFL teams, so communication and planning are key. Visiting teams take site visits to the hosting organization’s facility months in advance, and regular meetings are held to discuss each team’s role (i.e. equipment, football video, athletic training) and how everything should be executed. All of this means teams are likely to host just one joint practice per preseason.
This first for the Commanders was supposed to take place last year. Washington was slated to host Baltimore ahead of the teams’ final preseason game. Both teams decided to call it off, however, citing logistical challenges and added player strain.
A lot of the heavy lifting on creating the joint practice hosting plan was done in 2025, so in some ways there was a “rinse and repeat” mentality when the Dolphins were put on the schedule for this year’s home joint practice. The extra golf carts have been rented. The areas designated for all the Miami staff members coming up have been prepared. Now, it’s about execution.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Photos
Commanders.com
PHOTOS | Back to work for Week 3 of camp
After taking a day off, the Washington Commanders were on the field in full pads to prepare for their first preseason game of the month. Check out the best photos from Monday morning.
Podcasts & videos
Frankie Luvu Joins The Show, Diggs in D.C. & Miami Joint Practice Preview | Get Loud | Commanders
ROSTER TEST: Commanders Luke McCaffrey, Antonio Williams, Colson Yankoff Capitalize on Day 10
Training Camp Day 10: Preparing for Commanders’ first joint practice with the Dolphins
Commanders 1v1: Sonny Styles talks football and faith
NFC East links
NFL league links
Articles
Front Office Sports
CBS Sports President: ‘No Timetable’ for Romo’s Return
CBS Sports is still “assessing” the Tony Romo situation, with no timetable set for his return.
That was the word from CBS Sports president and CEO David Berson at the network’s annual talent press conference previewing the new NFL season. CBS put Romo on indefinite leave after his OWI arrest in his home state of Wisconsin in July. The 46-year-old Romo is due in court on Sept. 21.
J.J. Watt, CBS’s No. 2 game analyst, will replace Romo on the No. 1 team with play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson. Meanwhile, CBS announced on Tuesday that Ross Tucker will serve as the game analyst alongside play-by-play announcer Ian Eagle on its No. 2 team while Watt fills in for Romo.
Berson said at the press conference, “There’s no timetable or final decision at this time. Since it continues to evolve, and we’re on the eve of the season, I felt it was very important that our team, the many, many people who work on the NFL on CBS, have certainty and direction so we can definitively plan.”
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
Discussion topics
SB Nation
Vikings Fans Split on Coaching Hot Seat
49% believe that O’Connell’s employment status is going to be in trouble if the Vikings miss the playoffs for a second consecutive season in 2026.
Heading into this year, the consensus among the Really Smart Football People™ seems to be that the Vikings are the fourth team in a four-team NFC North race.
That was the case last year as well, and the Vikings wound up in third place courtesy of tiebreakers and on the outside looking in when it came to the playoff picture. They loaded up on defense in the 2026 NFL Draft, and everything on that side of the ball appears to be solid once again, but the quarterback situation is still in flux.
If the Vikings can get things figured out at the game’s most important position, then there’s no reason that they shouldn’t be able to find themselves fighting for a playoff spot all the way to the end of the season, at the very least. If they can’t? Well, then, O’Connell is probably going to have to spend some time updating his LinkedIn profile, at the very least, particularly given the fact that the Vikings now have a new General Manager in place.
To read more of this article, CLICK HERE
