The sun was out and so were the players Wednesday morning, as the Washington Commanders kicked off training camp ahead of the 2026 season. There was a lot of action in the roughly 90-minute session, so let's break down some of the highlights.

-- Dan Quinn promised a more competitive practice during his Tuesday press conference with general manager Adam Peters, and the team delivered as there was intensity and competition from both sides of the ball. It's common for media members to proclaim a "winner" between the offense and defense after each practice, and anyone who practices that ritual would have a difficult time doing so. Both sides of the ball had their moments, but one of the clearest examples came near the end of the day when receiver Jaden Bradley and cornerback Darius Rush fought for a ball in the corner of the end zone. Bradley came away with the ball, but Rush forced him out of bounds before he could maintain possession.

Quinn said that competitive practices don't always have to be overly physical, and even though the players were only in helmets and shorts, they could feel the difference in practice from last year.

"Most definitely," wide receiver Jaylin Lane said after practice. "We've got a great group on both sides of the ball. Everybody wants to get better, and the only way you can get better is by competing against each other and forcing each other to work on things."

-- But for at least the start of practice, the offense was having the better day. The Commanders kicked things off with a two-point conversion competition, and the offense scored twice in their first four plays. Marcus Mariota completed a pass to Treylon Burks, who made the leaping grab over a pair of defenders, and Athan Kaliakmanis connected with Antonio Williams for another score. In team drills, Jayden Daniels completed his first two passes to Terry McLaurin and Jacory Croskey-Merritt, who outran the defense on his way to the end zone.

-- There was plenty of attention on the Commanders' pass rush and all the investments they made to improve it this offseason, and there were some early returns on Wednesday. Charles Omenihu had a nice swipe move against Andrew Wylie, which forced Sam Hartman to hurry a throw to Chris Hilton Jr. that fell incomplete. Later in the day, Odafe Oweh and his 34.5-inch arms swatted away a pass from Daniels.

-- The Commanders' defense is a work in progress, but the unit is already showing progress, particularly in the secondary. They had good coverage in seven-on-seven drills and occasionally forced the coaches to call off the play because the quarterbacks were looking too long for options. It's a good sign for how the group is working together, particularly with so many new pieces getting used to each other's playing styles.

-- The battle for the No. 2 wide receiver spot will continue throughout camp, but there were a pair of early standouts. Burks was a frequent target by all the quarterbacks he worked with and had some impressive catches. His best of the day came near the end of practice, when Mariota lofted a pass in the corner of the end zone to the former first-round pick. Despite having solid coverage around him, Burks came down with the catch and celebrated with his teammates. However, the arguably better catch was made by Dyami Brown, who caught a pass on the same route from Daniels. Brown, who spent a year with the Jacksonville Jaguars before returning to Washington, is determined to make an impact this upcoming season. He was spotted after practice working with the defensive backs to try and improve his separation at the line of scrimmage. Brown has a good relationship with Daniels, so perhaps that bond will help give him an edge in the competition at wide receiver.

-- Amik Robertson is known for his willingness to match up against anyone, and his tenacity normally leads to positive plays for him. That was the case during seven-on-seven drills, when he batted away a pass intended for Chig Okonkwo.

-- For those wondering about returner options, here are the players who caught punts during special teams drills: Lane, Luke McCaffrey, Burks, Mike Sainristil, Rober Henry Jr., River Cracraft and Williams.

-- As Quinn discussed on Tuesday, there were multiple players working off to the side during Wednesday's practice. Deatrich Wise Jr. and Dorance Armstrong were among them, although that might not be the case for much longer.

"When you start on PUP, you have the opportunity as you're going to come back off it," Quinn said. "So, not ready to be into the full practice yet, but...you're gonna see them working and putting in a good space to go. So, it's not gonna be that you won't see them out getting ready. They've turned corners, they've hit this marker, then to the next marker, to the next marker. And so, Dorance is super close in that space."

-- Training camp is certainly different from Daniels' rookie season. Back then, there were veterans like Bobby Wagner, Austin Ekeler and Zach Ertz to help lead the team and establish the culture. Now, all three of those players are gone, and it's Daniels' turn to take a firmer hold on the team. It's a role that Daniels has embraced this offseason.

"It was interesting, one of the byproducts you've seen the quarterbacks having some [cameras] on the helmet," Quinn said. "I thought it was only gonna be just for the vision. What was as strong was their communication. And at the line and hearing Jayden correct, fix ... Like things you would not feel from 25 yards away on the sideline. And so that's probably the best example of the leadership of him directing it all, the corrections. So, like the trust in him is so high that he has his ability to think quickly and get it set up just right."