The Washington Commanders open the 2026 preseason with a home game against the Miami Dolphins. They will be hosting a joint practice with their first opponent of the preseason, something Dan Quinn has done the last two seasons.
That information was first reported by Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic on Thursday evening.
Washington had joint practices with the Jets in 2024, Quinn’s first season, and a practice with the AFC Champion New England Patriots last year. They were also supposed to have a joint practice with the Baltimore Ravens in 2025, but that was called off due to scheduling conflicts.
The Commanders are hosting the Dolphins for their first preseason game on Aug. 16th at 7 p.m. ET. This will be the NFL’s first look at a Miami team that has undergone major changes to their roster and coaching staff. Head coach Mike McDaniel was fired and starting quarterback Tua Tagovailoa and receiver Tyreek Hill were released. They hired a new general manager (Jon-Eric Sullivan), head coach (Jeff Hafley) and signed QB Malik Willis in free agency.
The Commanders have also made some big changes to their coaching staff and roster. Washington promoted assistant QB coach David Blough to offensive coordinator, replacing Kliff Kingsbury. Daronte Jones was hired from Brian Flores’s Vikings coaching staff to replace Joe Whitt Jr as defensive coordinator. Commanders GM Adam Peters also invested heavily in fixing a defense that was embarrassing to watch for stretches of last season. Jayden Daniels will also be back and healthy after dealing with multiple injuries last season.
This is the first game of the preseason, so expect a lot of vanilla offense and not a lot of starters playing significant snaps. We’ll get reports from joint practices from reporters covering both teams. Training camp will be wrapped up and this will be a nice little preview for the season.
Preseason
Week 1 – vs Miami Dolphins (Sunday, August 16, 7 p.m. ET, CBS)
Week 2 – @ Detroit Lions (Date/Time TBD; CBS)
Week 3 – vs Baltimore Ravens (Friday, August 28, 7 p.m., CBS)