3 storylines to watch as the Commanders travel to Detroit for second preseason game

This is it for the Commanders’ starters. Play now, or wait until the season opener against Philadelphia on Sept. 13.

And, for Washington’s second preseason game at Detroit, head coach Dan Quinn plans on cashing in on the last opportunity to see his starters.

Well, most of them.

“A good amount of starters will get some playing time,” he said. “A lot of the guys who sat out for [the first preseason game against] Miami will get an opportunity to get some work in for this week, all obviously different amounts.”

The question is, does that include quarterback Jayden Daniels?

Daniels has played just two games since October. Washington doesn’t want to get him hurt, but he’s also in a new system and playing with a new set of pass catchers.

Quinn said the jury is out on whether Daniels will give it a go. Daniels will almost certainly sit out Washington’s final preseason game against Baltimore next week.

“Once I know the health of everybody else around, then I’ll have a better sense for it,” Quinn said.

With that in mind, here are three other storylines to watch when the Commanders play the Lions at noon on Saturday.

Alternating safeties

Last week, it was Quan Martin’s time to make an impression. He broke on a ball from Miami quarterback Quinn Ewers for an early interception. It was the type of play that reminded everyone why he was a second-round pick just a few years ago.

But this week it might be another safety’s turn to put something on tape. Quinn said he wants to rotate the safeties so players get a longer evaluation.

It was Martin last week, but it could be Jeremy Reaves this week.

“We wanted to give them some extended time. It may switch a little bit in the next game,” Quinn said. “We’re fortunate at that position that we’re deep. So it may not be the same next week in terms of how we’d go. We held [Reaves] and Nick [Cross], and then next week they’ll be playing. How does that change? What does that look like? So it’s by design. But it’s a good problem.”

Martin is fighting for his spot in a safety room with guys like Will Harris and Reaves. How they play in the preseason could carry weight in the final evaluation.

A third quarterback

Before the injury to Marcus Mariota, it was almost a lock that Washington would carry just two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. But, with Daniels’ backup now looking shaky, would it be prudent to carry three, just in case?

That isn’t clear. But seventh-round pick Athan Kaliakmanis is trying to make his case to be on the team. He had a strong first outing in the second half against Miami, moving the ball and throwing for 87 yards. Another good showing might make the third quarterback conversation a bit louder in D.C.

An extended time or a drive?

How much time the starters play is also up in the air. If Daniels suits up, for example, is it worth it if he plays only a series? Or will he need 20 snaps to let him get in a rhythm?

Quinn said he isn’t concerned with the amount of snaps when playing starters. He wants them to feel the routine of preparing for a game.

“It’s very difficult to weigh the plus and minuses on this amount of reps or that amount of reps. There’s not a zero-sum part of what we do,” he said. “I think that you try to customize it as much as you can. From a new system, new team to go against calls, the routine of the game, of getting ready, of all that tackling, breaking tackles, all of those.”

He added that the formula looks different for each position and each player. Daniels may not be asked to play as much as another starter, if that is the decision.

“You try to customize it as much as you can to make sure, ‘Hey, this is going to be beneficial to help this player play their very best moving forward,’” he said. “And you try to just do that as often as you can with good sound decisions.”