“It’s been smooth, it’s a new team.”
“We’re just trying to get the feeling of everybody getting to know each other,” said Dorance Armstrong to the media Wednesday at the Commanders OTA workouts.
The defensive end made his way to Washington via free agency, opting to leave the Cowboys for their divisional rival, the Commanders.
For now, during this week’s OTAs, Armstrong continued the theme of becoming a team. “Knowing this is going to be a long season, so we got to be able to play as a unit and be one.”
Armstrong revealed Wednesday that he has not been following the rumors of the NFL Players Association looking to reduce the number of OTA workouts they can have during the earlier portion of the offseason. When asked about it, Armstrong was unaware of it and even said, “I don’t care.”
Armstrong likes Dan Quinn’s approach to defense. He pointed to “the play style. If you watch film from the previous team, it jumps off the tape how fast they play, how fast they move. You don’t see that across the league everywhere.”
Others have mentioned how the coaching staff is vocal, energetic, and intense. Armstrong echoed this Wednesday and added, “We got to go out there and want to do it ourselves, too. But as long as we have those guys to make us go out there and push us and motivate us, then it’ll be that.”
See 2022-23 Dorance Armstrong highlights
If the Commanders are going to get this team turned around from the miserable 4-13 finish of 2023, at least Armstrong is realistic about how that change might occur. “It takes a lot, you know. You got to be willing to sacrifice a lot of things. It’s a big grind, man. It’s not easy. It’s gonna take everybody.”
Indeed, it will take everybody. The Commanders will be underdogs in all four games against the Cowboys and Eagles. They have not beaten the New York Giants since the 2021 season.