The Dan Quinn era has begun for the Commanders.
Defensive tackle Daron Payne spoke briefly with the media Wednesday. When asked a football question, he responded, “Right now, we are just trying to do our best to get to know each other. We are just trying to learn our coaches, our players. That’s the big emphasis right now.”
Indeed, it was only the second day since the Commanders began their offseason team workouts. Payne talked about how, this time, there are a lot of new faces, new players, and new coaches.
When asked about learning some of the new schemes, Payne quickly shut that down, saying, “No, we haven’t gotten that far yet. We have just been training and, like I said, trying to get to know each other. But we will probably pick that up soon.”
The former Alabama defensive tackle was asked about the free agency period and all the signings by the Commanders. “Man, we got a bunch of change. Like right now I share a locker next to Bobby Wagner. That’s a real big name for us. It’s going to be fun. We got some good edge guys that can get after the quarterback. I am excited to see what the coaches can bring for us, like the schemes.”
Payne volunteered there is a new excitement for him personally going into this year. He likened it to when he was a freshman and excited to begin his college journey at Alabama. I got it again when I was a rookie coming here. So, it feels like the same type of energy.”
Payne insisted he is open to whatever the new coaches bring in the scheme, saying, “I am open to anything; I just love playing D line.”