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NFL Insider Mike Garofalo joins G&D to break down what he saw coming out of Commanders OTAs and minicamp, and how the team looks going into 2026.
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00:00Let's talk minicamp and some football.
00:02The Commanders have been hard at work.
00:04Mike Garofalo of NFL Network joins us now.
00:06He has been out in Ashburn.
00:08Did some great interviews.
00:09Saw his one-on-one with Terry McLaurin.
00:11He's been getting good access and having some conversations that were enlightening.
00:14Mike, do I introduce you as NFL Network's Mike Garofalo or ESPN's,
00:18or what do I do exactly?
00:20Yes.
00:21Okay.
00:21Yep.
00:22That's what we thought, yeah.
00:24My producer said to me today, he's like,
00:26yeah, I saw this interview you got to watch on ESPN.
00:28Man, it was Garofalo and McLaurin.
00:30And I'm like, you mean NFL Network?
00:31No, that's not right.
00:31It's just a weird thing for me to get used to.
00:35Honestly, it all gets sent in.
00:36It's in the can.
00:38It can be aired anywhere.
00:40I know it was on the Insiders, our show on NFL Network last night.
00:45But it's possible it did make air on ESPN.
00:47So I don't know that he was wrong.
00:48I don't know.
00:49I think he's right.
00:50I think it did.
00:51It's funny.
00:52He doesn't even know.
00:53He's like, you guys do what you want.
00:54They just tell you where to show up.
00:54I'll do the interviews.
00:55You guys put them where you want.
00:57Let's start with that, though.
00:59I thought that was a pretty insightful conversation.
01:02One of the things McLaurin talked about that I'm fired up about is Blau and the fact that
01:06they're going to actually try to marry some run and pass and play action here a little
01:10bit.
01:11What was your takeaway from players like McLaurin and how they're feeling about Blau in this
01:15offense?
01:18Yeah, I hate to put this on them, but Ben Johnson-esque because of his connection to
01:27Ben.
01:27And everybody's got their own spin on things.
01:29It's kind of like the answer I've been giving everybody in Philadelphia with regard to Sean
01:34Mannion being the new OC.
01:36It's like, yeah, he's an acorn off the Shanahan tree, but don't expect it to be a carbon copy
01:41of what you see.
01:42I mean, everybody's got their own ways of doing things.
01:44It's kind of like the old West Coast offense years ago, and then whether it was Andy Reid
01:49or some of these other guys who were running it, everybody's got their own variation.
01:52So, again, I don't want to put that on them, but I think you'll see some things that are
01:58similar.
01:59You'll see some concepts that are similar, some philosophies.
02:03And really, for as much as we think of Ben Johnson as some of the things that he does
02:09creatively and especially deep with the Lions a couple of years ago, trick play-wise,
02:14the idea of running the football, running it effectively, and running it smartly is a big
02:19part of that.
02:20And I think that's absolutely what we're going to see from this commander's offense.
02:23So, regarding McLaurin, impossible to tell now, Mike, because we're in June and no one
02:26knows anything.
02:27We're just, everyone's, you know, 32 cities are optimistic.
02:29But McLaurin's last year, from, you know, months ago, all the way through the end, whether
02:34it was injury plague, whether it was a contract thing, nothing went according to plan.
02:38And kind of people, I want to say, I want to say have moved on, but there's a degree
02:42of, yeah, are we sure Terry McLaurin is still that dude?
02:45Just kind of where are you out on that?
02:46And where was he on that?
02:48Yeah, I feel like last year, and I mean, and that was the thing that I asked him and
02:54talked to him about was, you know, what a difference a year makes.
02:56This time last year, you're standing on business and you're trying to get things done.
03:00And honestly, I thought it could have been done a lot quicker.
03:03And maybe if it had, things had been a little bit different, but the tone of things is not
03:08the way that he goes about his business last year.
03:11So when he started on that note and really continued it through training camp, deep into
03:16training camp, and it still wasn't done and it finally gets done, I thought that, you
03:19know, that carried things with him into the season, whether it was, you know, mental or
03:24physically didn't get the work in that he needed to get in because he was attending to
03:30business matters and not really practicing.
03:32So I think that that was the biggest thing, number one, but also mentally, emotionally,
03:36he's certainly a different dude.
03:37The other part of it is, and he mentioned this to me and others had mentioned it to me
03:41as well, about how vocal he's been, how much he's been talking, whether it's behind the
03:47scenes or on the field.
03:48It's hard to do that.
03:50This is more me saying this than him, but I'm confident in this information and my take
03:55and my read on it, I should say.
03:56Anyway, it's hard to say those things to the team when you're dealing with your individual
04:02stuff and it's not allowing you to be out there.
04:05So now we're being where he is, having the contract stuff behind him.
04:09Yeah, I would, I would expect that this will be a, a, whether it's a renaissance or a bounce
04:14back year, whatever you want to call it, I'd expect to see a better Terry McLaurin this
04:17season.
04:17Yeah, he had gone for a thousand plus in every year since his rookie season prior to
04:22the injury riddled 25 campaign.
04:24Mike Garofalo of NFL Network joins us now on GND.
04:28You mentioned two particular players that you'd heard a lot about while in Ashburn and
04:33they're two guys that we've highlighted on the show that have a chance in some show me
04:37years to maybe break out for this team.
04:39Rashad White on offense and Caleb on chase on, on defense.
04:43But just go into that if you would, and why there's so much interest revolving around those
04:48guys.
04:50I always loved Rashad White in Tampa Bay.
04:52I mean, I, you know, I understand Bucky Irving and, and, and, and the skill set that he had.
04:58And even Sean Tucker was getting some run last year for them.
05:01And I know that they moved toward Kenneth Gainwell now, but I, I would always tell, I would tell
05:07his agent, like I would be pumping him up to his own agent all the time.
05:10I know his agent, Sonny Shaw, very well.
05:12And I'd say, Sonny, he's the best back.
05:14I like, he can do a little bit of everything.
05:16He can run inside.
05:16He can run outside.
05:17He can catch the ball out of the backfield.
05:19And that's what you're going to have to do in this offense.
05:21And I think that he's going to get the chance to do that for sure.
05:24Like he'd, he'd be one of my, I don't do fantasy sleepers.
05:28I play fantasy football, but I don't professionally do, you know, that, Hey, here, but I'll give
05:33it to you.
05:33Like he'd, he'd be one of my sleepers this, this upcoming season, especially because nobody really
05:38knows for sure how the split is going to be.
05:40And there might be some weeks where maybe it's a little bit less him and some of the
05:43other guys, Bill or whatnot.
05:46But I, I, I think he's going to get a chance to shine right now.
05:49And I talked to him briefly yesterday as he was leaving.
05:52I really thought that, you know, he's in a good, he's in a good frame of mind too, as
05:56well.
05:56And the other guy is chase on, yeah, chase on his career arc, not his style of play,
06:02but his career arc sort of reminds me of Hassan Reddick, a guy that was drafted highly in
06:06the first round.
06:08Maybe, you know, things didn't work out exactly well and wasn't used in the right way or whatnot,
06:12but then all of a sudden was, and then it's like, okay, well, here's a one year deal to
06:17prove you can do it again.
06:18And then when you do it again, now you can get the big multi-year deal.
06:22So it's still, he got a nice payday, but now it's like, here comes the big payday if
06:26you can do it again.
06:27So, uh, you, you know, they're, they're loving the fact that he's going to be motivated in
06:31that regard.
06:32And, uh, you know, I did ask a couple of folks there and say, well, how do you know, it's
06:35not a flash in the pan or how are you confident?
06:37Uh, and they said, look, we really don't know until he gets in here, but the spring that he
06:41had and, uh, the mentality he had, the way that he's approached things leads them to
06:45believe that.
06:45Yeah.
06:46It's just a guy that took a while to get, don't, don't forget.
06:48I mean, he's young.
06:49He was 20 when he came into the league.
06:50Uh, sometimes it takes a little bit longer for a guy that's a little bit younger.
06:54So it could be that he is finally hitting his stride.
06:56Uh, and that could be a, a, a real big boom for them with regard to a free agent signing.
07:02Mike Garofalo on GND.
07:04Did you get a sense at all while you were there that Dan Quinn has an urgency about getting
07:10this thing fixed?
07:11And I'm just curious on the outside, like nationally, we talked to so many of our local reporters
07:16here, what you would think the pressure on him to get this right should be this year.
07:22They went to the NFC title game in year one last year was kind of a fiasco where they went
07:26from 12 wins to five wins.
07:28Now you're in year three as a program and it feels like the, the seat is, is heating up
07:32under him a little bit.
07:35Yeah, I think it's fair.
07:36Um, and, and, and not, you know, it's, it's the way the NFL goes and, uh, you know, there
07:41are other guys who are going to be on the hot seat where you might say, well, it's a little
07:44soon for them too as well, but no, that, that, that's how the, that's how it goes.
07:48And you sort of get that sense for when you're replacing both coordinators, it's like, well,
07:53well, that's it.
07:54Like there's nobody else really to look at if things don't go well other than the head coach.
07:59So, um, yeah, I, I think that's fair.
08:01I think, uh, he's certainly going to have to, uh, put the, put, put more wins in the
08:05win column this year to, to avoid that fate and, and to really do it with two inexperienced
08:11coordinators.
08:11Like usually at that point, it's like, I got to get somebody in.
08:14I know I can trust.
08:15And somebody that's been through the ringer before in this case, uh, you know, he went
08:19out on a limb and it may pay off.
08:20I mean, I've heard plenty of good things about David Blau, not just in recent days, but, uh,
08:25leading up to the point in which he was hired as offensive coordinator, but you just don't
08:28know until he gets under that headset and starts to make some of these calls.
08:32Uh, so yeah, I, it's urgency.
08:34I feel like he always operates with a sense of urgency.
08:37And I think the, one of the things that he does, and that's why I thought his approach
08:40to mini camp was really smart is okay.
08:43What, what went wrong last year?
08:45And what does this team right now?
08:46Well, what went wrong is once we started to poke holes in our roster with guys getting
08:51injured and needing to lean on other guys, those guys didn't necessarily respond the
08:55way that we had to.
08:55So let's use this mini camp as an opportunity to put those guys in the spotlight, allow ourselves
09:00as coaches to evaluate them and say, this guy's not ready.
09:03He needs more work, or maybe if we need to bring in somebody else, cause we can't lean
09:07on them.
09:07Let's get a look at that.
09:08And that's what he tried to do for these last couple of days of mini camp.
09:11Um, so once they get into training camp, they know that they've got that wealth of information
09:15to rely upon already.
09:16Speaking of injuries, Mike, uh, Jayden Daniels started and finished four games last year.
09:21Just again, it's just a disaster of epic proportion.
09:24And what I haven't really heard, well, what I have heard is just, yeah, what a fluky, weird
09:29thing.
09:30And it's like, there's nothing fluky and weird about it.
09:31The guy that's among the most hit players in the sport, both in the pocket part of the
09:35quarterback position.
09:36And then also as a runner being injured sometimes with a very slight frame is not crazy to me.
09:40I would love to hear more about here is how we're going to keep him safe.
09:45Here's, here's what is being emphasized.
09:47And I know they're not going to give away all their plans and strategies, but I'd love
09:50that to be a paradigm.
09:51Just what was your, you know, your conversations and what are they thinking about that?
09:55Is it just whoops, a random occurrence and we'll just go back to the way it was or what?
09:58No, no.
09:59And I think that that's a by-product of, uh, the offense and what they're trying to do as
10:04far as running the football, cause that's how you, that's how you keep them healthy.
10:06I mean, you keep the defense focused on, uh, what are they doing to attack us, uh, with
10:12their running back and you can boot off of that.
10:14You can do other things off of that and you've got an effective running game.
10:17You got the defense on its heels in the first place.
10:19So I think that's in addition to being a scheme that they feel good about to put points on
10:24the board.
10:24I really truly do feel like they think it's a good scheme to help him, uh, and to keep
10:29him healthy.
10:29So I think that's the biggest thing for him cause he's going to take hits.
10:31I mean, every quarterback, you can't avoid it.
10:34At some point they do get sacked.
10:35Uh, you want him to be smart when he's out in space, obviously.
10:38And that's something that they'll continue to work on.
10:40I mean, you know, that's something with, uh, I've talked about a plenty with Jackson
10:43Dart with the giants.
10:44Like, yeah, they're having those conversations with them, but, and, and last year, Brian
10:48Dable was the coach.
10:49He was having those conversations with Josh Allen for four or five years until Allen started
10:53to really get, and Allen's still having trouble.
10:54Okay.
10:55So it's, it's going to be a combination of if this offense clicks, that'll help him.
10:59And also him needing to be smart when he's, uh, when he's potentially vulnerable.
11:03Mike Garofalo of NFL network.
11:06We'll let you out on this.
11:07I saw you had posted a video earlier today of part of your interview with McLaurin and
11:11you were joking that there were some shades of Joe Buck and Josh Harris.
11:14There was this weird moment where you're kind of fist is out and then Terry kind of fist
11:18bumps you.
11:19I just wanted you to know, I hope you don't lose sleep over this.
11:22You did nothing wrong there.
11:24See it.
11:24Joe.
11:24No, no, no, no.
11:25I know.
11:25Yeah.
11:25But it's, it's, it's like you're making these and neither, I guess neither did Buck.
11:30I, I, I would disagree a little bit.
11:32Like Joe Buck did this thing.
11:34His hand wasn't in, it was out, but not all the way out.
11:37Yeah.
11:37His hand was too close to the owner.
11:39I think.
11:40Uh, it's interesting that he invaded his space.
11:43You're saying, well, um, I, I got to review the tape a little bit more closely, but I
11:47guess, you know, I, I gave, I gave him the, uh, you know, Bill Clinton used to do the,
11:53the, the remote push with his fist when he was talking.
11:55So I sort of gave him that where the fist was up in the general vicinity of a guy, uh,
12:01given a fist bump while also sort of giving him a compliment, like, Hey, you took care
12:04of your business last year.
12:05So he gave me the bump.
12:06Now, the one thing my producer did mention to me, cause he thought the Harris thing was
12:09one of the funniest things he'd ever seen.
12:11It's so good.
12:11It's perfect.
12:12It's just a human being.
12:13Yeah.
12:14Yeah.
12:14So he, he, he's like, at least you acknowledged it.
12:17Like you were like, Oh yeah, sure.
12:18Yeah.
12:18We'll give you a fist bump.
12:19Yeah.
12:19Perfect.
12:19You know, so it's, but I, I, you know, I tell you, it was a lighthearted moment.
12:24I, I love Terry.
12:25It was great.
12:26And, uh, I just felt like myself.
12:27I was like, Oh man.
12:28Yeah.
12:28Oh, geez.
12:29All right.
12:29Well, let's meet.
12:30Hopefully we can edit that out.
12:31And they didn't, they just roll with it.
12:33I love it.
12:33You know, let's go.
12:34Fantastic.
12:35I liked it.
12:36No, we had, uh, I don't remember the specifics, but Josh, his wife was on shortly thereafter.
12:40And we asked her about it.
12:42And she said they were like wearing him out at home.
12:44His kids for like days after that, like awkwardly half extending a hand.
12:48You're going to shake it.
12:49Are you not all time?
12:51Kind of hilarious, awkward live television moment in the booth.
12:56It was a, it was a preseason game.
12:58So like we needed it too.
12:59That was the best part.
13:00Yep.
13:00It is the most memorable thing about that commander's Ravens game.
13:04Thank you, buddy.
13:04Good catching up.
13:06You got it, boys.
13:06Take care.
13:07All right.
13:07There's Mike Garofalo.
13:08One of the best in the biz at covering the national football league.
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