Washington Commanders Training Camp: Key rookie takes a big step in his return from surgery

Washington Commanders training camp started off with a huge boost thanks to the news of Jer'Zhan "Johnny" Newton's passed physical, which cleared him to participate in camp. Newton had offseason surgery on both feet, with the most recent being the one he's coming back from.

It's been a slow ramp-up toward full participation and by design. Commanders head coach Dan Quinn and co. have said since Day 1 that there is no plan to rush the big guy back onto the field and that's totally logical. Rushing him back could easily cause a setback and no one wants to entertain that possibility.

It's been nothing but progress since July 24, as well. In fact, Newton took a big step toward getting back on the full-time track Tuesday when he was cleared to practice in team drills for the first time during Commanders training camp.

"You will see Johnny will work into some practice periods today, into the team period," Quinn told reporters before practice. "That's the next part of his ramp up as we're going to go through. So we're really excited to get him start working back into the team aspect of it. You're gonna be excited to see him. He's a really good player."

People have waited all offseason to see Newton on the field alongside either Jonathan Allen or Daron Payne. Hell, based off his versatility and the way Quinn/Joe Whitt Jr. want to run the defense, we could even see Newton on the field alongside both of them, depending on down, distance, and overall situation (both in practice and down the road in a game). Now, they'll finally get the first taste on the second day of padded practice.

This development is leaving less and less doubt that Newton will be unavailable for the first preseason game against the New York Jets on August 10. It also basically guarantees he'll be ready for Week 1 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, barring no setbacks, of course.