Ron Rivera

The Washington Post

For The Washington Post

Washington Commanders Rookie Camp

NFL Draft Football

Commanders draft tracker

NCAA Football- Michigan at Maryland

2024 NFL Draft - Round 1

Staff

NFL-Philadelphia Eagles at Washington Commanders 

Philadelphia Eagles defeat of the Washington Commanders 

staff

Mock Draft Football

NFL Combine Football

North Carolina Pro Day Football

Respond to prefers-color-scheme dark in app web views

Follow section front redirects in Spectrum

Enable NLP source in PCS for load testing

Switch off the News Alerts Survey Widget when we have enough responses

Poll to determine if new LUF updates are available

Allows the winning A/B test variant to be turned on without Spectrum deployment

Show infinite scrolling sections in Assembler MultiView

Show option for NLP article summaries in Action Bar

Show NLP summaries collection recirc on article pages

A general feature flag for Recipe Features that aren't yet released

Feature flag for media team features that aren't yet released

Use new Orca video player for preroll plugin in Spectrum

Show the snow tracker (instead of the heat tracker) on Spectrum

Kyle Finnegan’s rare hiccup helps Phillies to a 4-3 win in 10 innings

Joey Gallo returns, but Nats endure another quiet offensive night

Walter Johnson’s jersey from 1920 showdown with Babe Ruth sold at auction

The other side of Punta Cana: A crackdown on Haitians

Top White House aide to meet Netanyahu, who is under political pressure

Live updates: Rescuers struggle to find helicopter carrying Iranian president

Carolyn Hax: Friends say to break other plans to avoid offending new man

Ask Amy: Should my husband get a say in what I do with my inheritance?

Ask Amy: Can’t a single woman eat alone without interruption?

Would you eat this weird sandwich? Barry Enderwick would. 

She finished chemo then got a medical degree: ‘The dream is real now’

Puppy abandoned with heart-rending note is adopted, named Minerva

How Jim Jordan tried to connect the dots on Biden’s $8 million book deal

Biden’s false claim that inflation was 9 percent when he took office

Did Obamacare ‘massively’ increase the cost of health care?

Blue Origin to fly again as space tourism struggles to get off the ground

Why this company’s biggest fans turned against it

These ISIS news anchors are AI fakes. Their propaganda is real.

‘Never Trump?’ ‘Never Biden’ voters might loom larger.

Lawyer preparation suggests Trump won’t testify in New York trial

The problem with diversity statements — and what to do about them

Russia shows resilience. There is more to do for Ukraine.

Trump promises tax cuts and fewer rules. CEOs shouldn’t fall for it.

The world’s coolest hotels want to tell you a story

6 Airbnb red flags to spot before you make a booking mistake

Flying budget airlines might not be as cheap as it seems

In photos: The 149th running of the Preakness Stakes

Book Tour: At home with Amor Towles

Gov. Doug Burgum speaks in support of Trump

Trump trial live updates: Michael Cohen testifies, closing arguments set for next week

Simon Bruty

The Washington Commanders will have to wait to see how Jer’Zhan Newton fits into their defense.

The NFL draft’s 36th pick, who goes by “Johnny,” will soon have surgery on his left foot to correct the same issue he just recovered from in his right foot, Coach Dan Quinn said Saturday before the second day of rookie minicamp.

Newton had surgery in January to repair a partial Jones fracture — a break of the fifth metatarsal, the bone that connects the pinkie toe to the base of the foot — in his right foot. He suffered the injury during his final season at Illinois; after surgery, he missed much of the pre-draft process, save for pro day in April.

“The foot that he had the procedure done is actually doing really well,” Quinn said. “He has an issue with the other foot, so he’ll get a procedure done in the next week and then get back started and get going with the process again. ... In some ways, when you have to get a procedure done, it’s better to do it early [so] that this didn’t happen at the end of August or September and it sets you back.”

It’s unclear when Newton suffered the left foot injury and when the Commanders became aware of it. Newton told reporters April 26 that he was “fully healed” and “fully ready to go” after recovering from the right foot injury. Quinn said Saturday that the left foot injury was discovered when Newton had a checkup on his right foot, but he didn’t say when that took place.

“When you check both, that’s where it came back,” Quinn said. “By no means is this on him or ... the team in a bad way. Honestly, just an unfortunate act. We’ll get him right.”

Quinn declined to offer a timeline for Newton’s recovery or his return to the field, reiterating only that the team has high hopes for him. Newton observed the final two days of rookie minicamp from the sideline with a walking boot on his left leg.

“We’ll get right into him getting the procedure and getting started,” Quinn said. “Knowing him, this is one tough customer, so it’ll be likely ‘slow down’ [rather] than ‘hurry up.’ ”

The Commanders selected Newton near the top of the second round but said they had a first-round grade on him and even questioned whether they needed to move up to get him.

“We could not believe he was still there,” General Manager Adam Peters said last month. “We were a little nervous that he wasn’t going to make it to us at 36. We looked at moving up to get him — very surprising. ... We think he’s an advanced player who can come in and play right away. Really a three-down player who you can play on the run downs, play on pass downs, skilled, hands and feet are tied together. He arrives violently when he gets to the ball, and he plays just like we want him to play. So just thrilled to get Johnny.”

Paul Sancya

The pick prompted questions because the Commanders have two veteran stars — Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne — with hefty contracts at defensive tackle and they drafted Phidarian Mathis in the second round in 2022. But Allen’s contract has an out after this season (the remaining dead money on his contract is more palatable), and Mathis has played just 11 games in two seasons.

Newton was the Big Ten’s defensive player of the year and was voted first-team all-conference in 2023. He led the Fighting Illini in sacks (7.5) and was a team captain. Despite being undersized at 6-foot-2 and 295 pounds, Newton was regarded by many analysts as the second-best defensive tackle in this year’s class.

When Washington will get a glimpse of that player is uncertain. On Tuesday, the Commanders begin organized team activities, which last until early June.

In a sense, every Washington player is starting over because the team has a new front office and a new coaching staff. But Braeden Daniels’s status is especially uncertain because he had no experience with the previous regime, either. Drafted in the fourth round in 2023 out of Utah, he spent his entire rookie season on injured reserve with a shoulder injury and did not participate in rookie minicamp this year. (Teams can allow up to five non-rookies to take part, but drafted players rarely do.)

“I think I’ll have a better assessment once we get into some practices,” Quinn said when asked about his expectations for Daniels. “And quite honestly, for the big guys, training camp is really where this matters. So wide receivers and DBs and passing game, perimeter in specific, can make significant gains during this time of the year. But for the big guys, it is really about the conditioning, the techniques and the skills for it.”

Added Quinn: “This is a bright guy, so learning the offense, he’s on it, and quite honestly, it’s new for everybody. So none of these rookies are going to be that far behind, and we’re just going to take it step by step. We’re not going to miss one part of his development.”

Count Quinn among the coaches in favor of <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/03/27/nfl-new-kickoff-breakdown/" target=_blank>the NFL’s new “hybrid” kickoff</a>. It was approved by team owners in March at the annual league meeting with the hope that the altered play will be more impactful and less dangerous.

“I’m excited about it because, if you can find an edge in it, then you can create more field positions, some bigger plays to go,” Quinn said. “Obviously the return is a big piece of it, but also [with] all the space blocks ... you’ve got to be very athletic when you’re in space to block somebody. So the better return teams, they’ll have good returners, but they’ll also have some guys making single blocks, and it’s one of the hardest jobs to do with all this space.”

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, BA in journalism

Nicki Jhabvala joined The Washington Post in July 2020 after spending six years covering the Denver Broncos, first for the Denver Post (2014-2018) and later the Athletic (2018-2020). She has also been an editor and producer for the New York Times, Sports on Earth and Sports Illustrated.

Nicki Jhabvala

washpost

Commanders’ Johnny Newton to have second foot surgery

the-washington-post

name

prism://prism.query/two-sites,/sports/redskins,/sports/washington-nfl&limit=20

Washington Commanders

Washington Post coverage of the Washington Commanders NFL team.

prism://prism.query/site-articles-only,/sports&limit=20

Sports

The Washington Post Sports section provides sports news, video, scores, analysis and updates about high school, college, and pro sports teams, including the Capitals, Nationals, Washington Football Team, United and Wizards. Post Sports also offers blogs and discussions about the latest sports news.