Practice notes | Ekeler excited to be ‘back in the brotherhood’ with Commanders

Austin Ekeler isn’t oblivious to his situation. He knows that at 31 years old, and coming off an Achilles injury, he’s not in the prime of his career anymore. He joked that he’s now “grandpa” in the Washington Commanders’ running back room, with two of the three other players at the position being drafted in the last two offseasons.

But Ekeler believes he still has some juice left, and he wants to use it to help the Commanders offense.

“The opportunity to be on the 53[-man roster] was something I couldn’t pass up,” Ekeler said following the Commanders’ first practice in London this week. “Get right back into the game is what I was looking for.”

Ekeler, originally part of general manager Adam Peters’ first free agency class in 2024, was a key part of the Commanders’ success that season. The Commanders liked several parts of Ekeler’s dynamic skill set — he accounted for 733 total yards and four touchdowns that year — but his veteran leadership for the young players on the roster was viewed just as highly. The plan was for him to remain part of the offense last season, which is why Washington re-signed him in the offseason, but an Achilles injury in Week 2 sidelined him for the remainder of the year.

It took about a year for Ekeler to recover and get to a point where he felt like his old self on the field. That last part took time. There were times when he contemplated whether it was feasible, and even as early as four months ago, he wasn’t satisfied with his progress. It wasn’t until two months ago that he started to feel that “I have the pop back,” which led to him reaching out to teams for a workout. Not only were the Commanders interested, but they wanted to get him on the field as soon as possible.

“Being back in the brotherhood where I’ve been around the coaches and I know what to expect over here was really something that was gonna be a more seamless opportunity for me to start playing sooner,” Ekeler said.