Commanders players who went through Washington ‘darkness’ savor the chance to take part in playoffs

ASHBURN, Va. (AP) — Tress Way does not like using the word “darkness” to describe the losing he has endured over the past decade as Washington’s longest-tenured player because of the fun he has had along the way.

The two-time Pro Bowl punter even got to take part in a couple of playoff games, something that can’t be said by many of the teammates around him in the locker room who made it through wholesale roster changes. For them, the Commanders’ wild-card game at Tampa Bay on Sunday night is the culmination of a breakthrough into the prime-time lights.

“We’ve been through the wringer, for sure,” offensive lineman Sam Cosmi said. “It’s nice to be on the other end of something special.”

A big part of that something special is rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who is set to make his NFL playoff debut in the same Buccaneers stadium where he played his first professional game four months ago. It also will be the first in the postseason for Cosmi, one of just 10 players drafted by Washington from 2021-23 who made it through the rough times.

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“Anything is possible when you have the right mindset and you’re treating the process right,” said running back Brian Robinson Jr., a second-round pick in 2022. “Everybody from the head down has been doing everything to just along that process of whatever it was going to take for us to turn this place around, and we did it.”

This is Washington’s first playoff game since the 2020 season under coach Ron Rivera, a loss to Tom Brady and the Bucs with no fans in the stands as Tampa Bay was on its way to winning the Super Bowl. It’s just the second over the past decade, the previous one coming in the 2015 season with Kirk Cousins quarterbacking and Jay Gruden in charge, a home defeat to Green Bay.

There is far more optimism this time around, thanks in large part to Daniels — nearly a lock to be AP Offensive Rookie of the year — and new coach Dan Quinn.

“It’s definitely been a different vibe — just the atmosphere, the culture is different,” said veteran receiver Jamison Crowder, who along with Way are the only players on the Commanders’ current roster who faced the Packers in January 2016. “A lot of that’s a credit to DQ and what he’s done to kind of restructure and revamp the energy in the building.”

The revamping made by Quinn and first-year general manager Adam Peters included keeping select building-block players who have been to the playoffs before: top receiver Terry McLaurin and defensive tackles Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne. That experience comes in handy.

“There’s a lot of hard work that goes into getting past the regular season,” Payne said Wednesday. “It just means a lot for all the hard work you’ve been putting in, grinding through training camp and finding a way to win during the season just to be in this position.”

And there’s an appreciation from those who have not been in this position, like wideout Dyami Brown, who was taken a round after Cosmi in 2021 and said the Commanders’ success “shows a lot of character and a lot of growth.”

“Whatever happened in the past was the past,” Brown said. “We’ve kind of just focused on what was the task at hand and what we needed to do and we bought into a culture that was brought to us.”

Culture and a game-changing QB. Washington goes to Tampa Bay as a 3-point underdog on BetMGM Sportsbook, but Daniels’ presence has players dreaming of something more than a one and done.

“He’s the guy that makes it go,” Crowder said. “With him back there, yeah, he definitely gives you that belief that you can make a run.”

NOTES: CB Marshon Lattimore, who missed the final two regular-season games after aggravating his hamstring injury, is trending toward playing. ... C Tyler Biadasz (ankle) also is expected to play, putting the Commanders their full offensive line in place.

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