Laremy Tunsil Torn Triceps: Commanders Set for Surgery, Brandon Coleman Takes Over at Left Tackle

The Washington Commanders’ 2026 season took a hit before it even started. Left tackle Laremy Tunsil tore his triceps during a one-on-one pass-rush drill at training camp Saturday, and head coach Dan Quinn confirmed Monday that the five-time Pro Bowler will need surgery. Nobody in Ashburn is putting a number on the recovery time yet.

Tunsil went down during a rep against edge rusher Odafe Oweh, immediately grabbing his right arm and heading for the medical tent. He never came back out. According to ESPN, the injury will likely require surgery and could keep him out for a significant chunk of the regular season — recovery from this type of tear typically runs four to seven months.

Quinn didn’t sugarcoat it Monday. “It’s always tough to talk about a player missing time, especially a great player like LT,” he told reporters. The Commanders posted on X that the team still doesn’t have a firm timeline and won’t until after Tunsil is out of surgery.

What Comes Next: Timeline Still Unknown

Quinn said the club will know more once the procedure is done. That’s the honest answer right now — nobody outside the operating room can say whether Tunsil plays a single snap in 2026. ESPN’s Adam Schefter framed it in blunt terms, writing that Tunsil could miss significant time, “if not the season.” Other outlets have gone further; CBS Sports reported he’s expected to miss most of the year.

None of that is official. Washington hasn’t placed Tunsil on injured reserve as of this writing, and the club is waiting on the surgery itself before committing to a number. Treat any specific week-count as a media estimate, not a team announcement, until Quinn or the Commanders say otherwise.

Commanders HC Dan Quinn confirmed this morning that LT Laremy Tunsil will undergo surgery on his torn tricep. There will be a better sense on Tunsil’s injury timeline after the surgery is completed, but he is expected to miss significant time, if not the season.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 10, 2026

The timing stings. Washington signed Tunsil to a two-year extension this offseason worth $61.5 million in total guarantees, making him the league’s first offensive lineman to average $30 million a season. He’d started 14 of 17 games in his first year with the franchise after arriving in a trade from Houston.

Brandon Coleman Steps Back Into the Starting Job

Quinn’s fix is one he’s used before: slide Brandon Coleman out to left tackle. NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo reported the move, and it tracks with what Washington has already been doing in camp.

Coleman, a 2024 third-round pick out of TCU, had actually been working at left guard all camp, locked in a battle with veteran Chris Paul for that job. This shift ends that competition for now and pushes him back to the position where he started as a rookie. He made 12 starts at left tackle in 2024, then filled in there again late last season when Tunsil was banged up, starting the final three games of 2025 with Tunsil sidelined.

Brandon Coleman to take over at left tackle with the starters for the #Commanders, as @john_keim has mentioned. https://t.co/H4nQStHfCW

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) August 10, 2026

Filling in for Tunsil isn’t new territory for him. Coleman also stepped into the lineup last October after Tunsil left a Week 8 game against the Kansas City Chiefs with a hamstring injury. Washington lost that game 28-7, but Coleman held up well enough that quarterback Marcus Mariota praised him afterward, saying he “came in and played well” against a tough Chiefs front.

Coleman talked about staying ready for exactly this kind of moment in comments to Sports Illustrated’s David Harrison last season. “It’s just also about polishing skills, you know what I mean?” he said. “Obviously, I’ve been playing a lot of guard, so just making sure my tackle skills are up to date, just because you never know what happens. So just making sure I’m ready for anything.”

That preparation is why the Commanders feel comfortable making the move again. Per ESPN, Washington isn’t planning to search outside the building for outside tackle help right now — Coleman is the answer, full stop.

Why This Move Makes Sense — And Where It Gets Complicated

Coleman’s track record at tackle is the reason Quinn isn’t hesitating. He allowed zero sacks and only 11 total pressures across 390 snaps last season while bouncing between guard and tackle duties, according to Pro Football Focus grading cited by Yahoo Sports. That’s a small sample, but it’s a clean one.

The bigger ripple is at left guard. Pulling Coleman out of that competition likely hands the job to Chris Paul, who started 15 games there last season after taking over for Coleman early in 2025. Washington could still shuffle other bodies into that mix during the rest of camp, but Paul is the obvious beneficiary for now.

None of this happens in a vacuum for a team still shaking off a rough 2025. Washington went 5-12 a year after reaching the NFC Championship Game, undone in large part by an avalanche of injuries — quarterback Jayden Daniels missed 10 games with three separate injuries, running back Austin Ekeler tore his Achilles in Week 2, and the defense lost Dorance Armstrong Jr. and Marshon Lattimore to torn ACLs. Another significant absence up front, this time protecting Daniels’ blind side, is not what this roster needed heading into the season.