Johnny Newton's pec surgery adds to a Commanders injury list that keeps getting longer
The Commanders' third-year defensive tackle went under the knife Wednesday in New York, and now Washington heads into its second preseason game against Detroit short-handed on both sides of the ball.
In brief
Johnny Newton's pec surgery adds to a Commanders injury list that keeps getting longer
The Washington Commanders were already playing short before training camp even ended. Then Friday's preseason opener against Miami turned ugly in a way that had nothing to do with the scoreboard.
It is a gut-punch. Plain and simple. The 2024 second-round pick was considered by some a possible breakout candidate in new defensive coordinator Daronte Jones' system. Over 33 career games, Newton posted 82 tackles, 7 sacks - five of them last year - two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. That production does not just walk out the door and get replaced.
Newton had been slated as an important part of the interior rotation alongside Javon Kinlaw, Tim Settle, Daron Payne, Charles Omenihu and Shy Tuttle. His absence could open a door for recent signing Byron Cowart or second-year lineman Ricky Barber, but neither carries anywhere close to Newton's upside going into a season where Washington's defense desperately needs every healthy body it can find.
White adds to the headache, though the prognosis is better
Newton's surgery was not the only bad news Quinn fielded Thursday morning. Running back Rachaad White has missed the past few days with an undisclosed injury - NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reported that White tweaked his hamstring during the joint practice with the Dolphins. The internet briefly ran wild with a theory that White had hurt himself during an ALS Ice Bucket Challenge video the Commanders posted August 17. The Athletic's Nicki Jhabvala quickly shot that down, reporting that White's hamstring injury came from the Dolphins joint sessions, not any off-field moment.
The better news: White's injury is not considered serious or long term, per Garafolo. White was back at practice Thursday, according to Jhabvala, in full pads and catching balls from the jugs machine. Still, White won't play in Saturday's preseason game against the Lions. So long as White can return to team drills before the end of the preseason or during Week 1 preparation, he should be ready to handle a change-of-pace role in the September 13 season opener in Philadelphia.
The bigger picture: this team has been ravaged before a snap counts
Adding White to the list brings Washington's total to 15 players currently dealing with injuries or already sitting on the PUP or IR as Saturday's second preseason game against Detroit approaches. Fifteen. And none of that even touches the biggest blow of camp.
Left tackle Laremy Tunsil is expected to miss most of the 2026 season with a torn triceps - the five-time Pro Bowler suffered the injury in practice on August 8. Just five months ago, Washington made Tunsil the first $30-million-per-year offensive lineman, signing a two-year, $60.2 million extension that reset the left-tackle market. The recovery time for such an injury is typically at least four months, and as long as six or seven.
Brandon Coleman will replace Tunsil at left tackle. Coleman has 18 left-tackle starts to his credit but had been competing with Chris Paul to be the starting left guard in 2026. The math is not complicated. The guy Quinn wanted at guard is now protecting Jayden Daniels' blindside against NFC East defenses that finished a combined 44-24 last season.
Context matters here. The Commanders are trying to improve on an injury-riddled 5-12 record from 2025. Daniels himself missed 10 games last year due to three injuries - a sprained left knee, a strained right hamstring, and a dislocated left elbow that cost him the final weeks of the season. Protecting the quarterback was the offseason's stated top priority. Signing Tunsil to a reset deal. Adding Stefon Diggs. Hiring a new offensive coordinator in David Blough and a defensive coordinator in Daronte Jones. All of it pointed toward a rebuild of the franchise's competitiveness.
Now the team heads to Detroit on Saturday, August 22 with a hollowed-out defensive line, a starting running back on the mend, and its franchise left tackle watching from a hospital recovery room.
Quinn addressed reporters Thursday morning and confirmed that Newton underwent successful surgery on his torn pectoral and is expected to miss significant time, while also noting that center Nick Allegretti had a minor setback and that cornerback Trey Amos is trending upward. Quinn has made a career of keeping rooms together through adversity. He did it in Atlanta, he did it in his first year here. But this roster is being stress-tested before Labor Day.
White is expected to give the Commanders a 1-2 punch at running back with Jacory Croskey-Merritt when he returns. The Commanders also have Kaytron Allen, Jerome Ford and Jeremy McNichols competing for backfield snaps. The depth is real enough. But depth at running back does not offset losing your best interior pass rusher and your best pass blocker in the same two-week window before regular-season play begins.
Newton turns 24 on August 31. His third NFL season will almost certainly begin from a training room rather than a sideline.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
