Commanders Reacts Survey: Washington’s QB future and joint practices with the Baltimore Ravens

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NFL. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Washington Commanders fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in regular email surveys.

We have two topics for you in today’s Reacts survey.

Preseason joint practice

In case you missed the announcement earlier this week, the Washington Commanders will participate in joint practices with the Baltimore Ravens during training camp on Aug. 15-16 (Tuesday-Wednesday). These practices will take place at the Under Armour Performance Center in Owings Mills and lead up to the teams’ second preseason game on Monday, Aug. 21, at FedEx Field.

Earlier this offseason, head coach Ron Rivera was asked if he would be aiming to set up joint practices this year, and he indicated that he was interested in doing so. “I go back to some of the experiences I had in my previous stint, we actually did it three times and two of those three times we came out and we had really good years,” Rivera said. The Ravens are an obvious choice for joint practice, since the proximity of the two facilities means that neither team really has to ‘travel’.

Joint practices have become more and more popular among NFL teams. Aside from the competition, they also offer coaches more control through situational drills, and with starters playing only a limited numbers of snaps in preseason games, it gives them a chance to get quality reps in a situation where injury is more avoidable.

The Redskins hosted the Patriots for joint practices in 2014, and Bill Belichick seemed quite happy with the arrangement.

“As a head coach of an NFL team, you don’t really get many opportunities to see what other people are doing,” Belichick said. “So in the NFL, this is like one of the few opportunities that we have to work with another staff, another team. You can always pick up something. There’s a lot of outstanding coaches on (the Redskins).”

The downside is that putting players from two different teams on the field together often leads to anger, frustration and fights, which sometimes costs both teams valuable practice time. In 2015, for example, when the Texans spent a week at the Redskins training camp in Richmond, VA, tensions mounted and multiple fights and brawls broke out on the final day of joint practice.

One difficulty that Washington had in arranging joint practices in recent years was the contract with the city of Richmond, which required the team to hold its full training camp there, which is why both the Patriots and Texans were guests during the joint practice sessions. With that contract now having run its course, the team is able to be more flexible. But another reason for the long lull in joint practices may have been the memories of that embarrassing Saturday against the Texans.

With only two days of practice between the Commanders and Ravens, it may be easier to maintain good order. Let’s hope so.

Today’s first survey question asks you about whether or not the joint practice with the Ravens is a good idea.

The Commanders QB position

I doubt whether any Commanders fan who would be reading Hogs Haven in May needs any background on the quarterback situation. Today’s second question offers a few predictions about the team’s QB situation and asks you to pick the one that is closest to your view. Obviously, the nature of that kind of question does not allow for any real nuance.

Comments and Results

That’s what the comments section is for. Feel free to add all the nuance you like to both of your answers by explaining your thoughts in that comments section.

Results will be published in a few days, and I rely heavily on your comments when publishing the survey results.

POLL QUESTIONS