Official Game Thread - Preseason Week 2 - Bengals @ Commanders

[Primus Porcus]

Cincinnati Bengals @ Washington Commanders

VS

When: Monday, August 18th, 2025
Where: Northwest Stadium, Landover, MD
How to Watch: ESPN / ESPN Deportes
Streaming on ESPN +_/ NFL + / NFL Game Pass
​

 

[SkinsFTW]

Too bad we don't get the Bengals Week 1 instead.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

I wonder how we are going to approach this game. Play starters? Not play starters? It will be interesting

 

[burgold]

I hope we play the starters at least a quarter.

 

[skinsmarydu]

I hope we play the starters at least a quarter.

I just hate pre-season. Players can be injured for games that don't count.
And we could potentially lose our "everything". Color me skeered. Wanna see 'em, don't want 'em hurt.

 

[Faithful Fan]

I’m a believer in the importance of routine, so I would play starters in preseason, I would not rest starters at the end of the regular season, etc.

But coaches are in a tough spot with the injury risk. You would be in a lot less trouble if your team is rusty than you would be if you lost a star player in a meaningless game.

 

[Boone]

You just countered your own first sentence with your second. I don't think you would - because your job would depend on your team performing to it's capabilities, and injuries in relatively meaningless preseason games can totally submarine that. As you stated. It's just too risky.

 

[MartinC]

Rhetorical question (because the answer is money via the broadcast deals) but given starters hardly play at all now what is the point of preseason? Teams can evaluate rookies and bubble players during joint practices and scrimmages - not sure what you really learn running your second/third string against another teams second/third string.

Not sure if there has been any announcement on which, if any, starters will play on Monday but I would be slightly surprised if Daniels sees any snaps in preseason. I’d like him to get a couple of series against the Bengals just to shake some rust off, but the risk of injury likely outweighs any advantage.

 

[burgold]

I suppose there might be some advantage of seeing the rookies and backups who never get much burn in a real game situation? We have experienced players who apparently are great during practice who are awful when it's game time and vice versa.

Maybe you do want to see how they perform when the lights are turned on?

 

[MartinC]

I suppose there might be some advantage of seeing the rookies and backups who never get much burn in a real game situation? We have experienced players who apparently are great during practice who are awful when it's game time and vice versa.

Maybe you do want to see how they perform when the lights are turned on?

Sure. But my point is you are finding out how they perform against 2’s and 3’s - not how they perform against starters. So while you do get ‘something’ beyond what they show in practice, I’m not sure it is much more than you already knew from grading them in practice and inter squad scrimmages.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

KDawg, I and a few others were having a little side conversation in the next day thread about how much the starters would play.

I don't think most starters are going to play, but probably a few more. I think Tunsil's status will dictate whether they even consider JD5to play. If he's out, they're not going to play JD5. That also might lead to a domino effect for others, both on the OL and elsewhere on offense.

I wouldn't be surprised if a few more defensive starters played a little bit.

I agree with Kdawg, I'd like to see Robinson, maybe a few others who aren't fighting for roster spots but maybe depth chart positioning play.

 

[KDawg]

KDawg, I and a few others were having a little side conversation in the next day thread about how much the starters would play.

I don't think most starters are going to play, but probably a few more. I think Tunsil's status will dictate whether they even consider JD5to play. If he's out, they're not going to play JD5. That also might lead to a domino effect for others, both on the OL and elsewhere on offense.

I wouldn't be surprised if a few more defensive starters played a little bit.

I agree with Kdawg, I'd like to see Robinson, maybe a few others who aren't fighting for roster spots but maybe depth chart positioning play.

some of the 30 that sat just aren’t good enough to be sitting out of preseason. Whereas guys like Daniels should only get enough reps to see some live fire before the season…

And guys like Tunsil and Wagner should see few to none.

But Robinson needs to be out there. Among others.

 

[bowhunter]

I'm old school, all but the least game should be getting your team in sync and working the backups in amongst the starters.

 

[Primus Porcus]

Looks like 5 is suiting up on Monday night

 

[Primus Porcus]

Current list of players who will not participate on Monday Night

 

[Conn]

Don’t love Daniels playing with only 2/5 of the starting OL but the Bengals D is the starting unit to do it against, if you need to get him some minutes 😂

 

[MartinC]

A lot of missing parts on the offense still.

Tunsil and Coleman need to get back, Noah Brown seems to be more serious than we might have thought and I’m assuming they are being careful with Mariota’s calf.

Can’t say I’m looking forward to 3 quarters of Josh Johnson and Sam Hartman playing with guys who will mainly not be on a roster come opening day.

 

[Die Hard]

Jordan Magee… is this guy for real? I’ve seen guys recover from 2 Achilles tears before this guy has ever left the locker room.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

Jordan Magee… is this guy for real? I’ve seen guys recover from 2 Achilles tears before this guy has ever left the locker room.

Yeah, it's a real pity. They seem to like him when he's healthy but he's never healthy.

Very unfortunate for him.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

A lot of missing parts on the offense still.

Tunsil and Coleman need to get back, Noah Brown seems to be more serious than we might have thought and I’m assuming they are being careful with Mariota’s calf.

Can’t say I’m looking forward to 3 quarters of Josh Johnson and Sam Hartman playing with guys who will mainly not be on a roster come opening day.

Somewhat concerning on the OL. I hope Tunsil is ok. I haven't heard that there is anything serious there. So my assumption is he's going to be fine. And Coleman is getting closer according to Quinn.

Wylie being the backup swing tackle is really good ... unless he actually has to play.