The Washington Commanders announced 33 players would not dress out against the Baltimore Ravens in Saturday's final preseason game.

Although left guard Brandon Coleman was not slated to play, he talked his way onto the field.

"They left it up to me the whole week," Coleman said following the game in the locker room. "I was feeling good kind of building up to today, so then I just pulled the trigger on it. D.Q. [head coach Dan Quinn] and B.J. [offensive line coach Bobby Johnson] were pretty cool about it and just left it all up to my hands. As long as I feel good, there's always communication being set for me and where I'm at."

The Commanders' 30-3 loss to the Ravens marks Coleman's first time ever getting snaps in the preseason. He missed last year's preseason in its entirety nursing a shoulder injury, and he was sidelined again for the first two games of the Commanders' preseason with a lower leg injury.

With the additions of veteran left tackle Laremy Tunsil and rookie right tackle Josh Conerly Jr., it was important to Coleman that he got as many snaps as possible as he switches positions from left tackle to left guard. The second-year offensive lineman's self-awareness and ability to advocate for extra reps when needed is something head coach Dan Quinn admires.

"I think it really speaks to the readiness and the mindset to say, 'Hey, I know the regular season is coming and I need this work,'" Quinn said. "That takes a lot of self-awareness because the easy narrative is probably to say, 'Back off,' and not go, so for him to advocate it's strong enough, it's ready, that's why we did the pregame to see how he felt. We'll always make the right decisions for the players."

Although Coleman has previous experience playing both positions during his collegiate football career at TCU, he still felt extra reps would sharpen his abilities before Washington's Sept. 7 season opener hosting a divisional opponent in the New York Giants.

"I feel like it was huge for me," Coleman said of preseason game action. "Like I saw last year, they were playing, obviously dealing with an injury, and I saw it, too -- everybody saw it -- those first couple of weeks were rough for me. It's like you go from not doing anything to just getting thrown in the fire, especially your rookie year. So, that's why I really wanted to push to get in, just because it knocks the rust off. You kind of get those game-speed reps, especially with a new position. Like I said, I feel great, and it just builds confidence going into Week 1."

Additional preseason game-speed reps helped Coleman's confidence in his abilities coming off injury, as well as some weaknesses in his game. The biggest thing for Coleman during his two-week ramp up period is building upon his skills and strength each week with a strong focus on improving his physical health.

"It's going to be a building block of strength next week, and then we have that build up for Week 1 so, get better every day, and when Week 1 comes, be ready," Coleman said.