Can the disaster at the end of Sunday’s Washington Commanders game cause players to lose confidence in the coaching staff, or in head coach Dan Quinn in particular?
Quinn was asked that question early in his Monday press conference. Notice that it implies that all of the blame is so much on the coaches that the players just simply could lose respect for the coaches. It entirely misses that quarterback Jayden Daniels was also given two options on the final play, failed to do either, and the clock ran out.
No, I’m not saying Quinn is blameless, but the oversimplification from many who can't muster the courage to blame Daniels for his part is amazing. Some fans have even said on social media that the Commanders wouldn't even have had a chance without Jayden Daniels, so you can't blame Daniels. Of course you can. Daniels made great plays earlier in the game. He made a horrendous play here. Why be simplistic? Both can be true—both are true.
Meanwhile, Quinn responded, “No, I don’t, and at the team meeting today, those are the examples that I know. I know how tough our team is. So, I got that across. The resilience, the toughness, they’re able to handle adversity.”
Reading between the lines, the players might know what transpired. Might they know the blame isn’t solely on Quinn but also on Daniels? Listening to Quinn, that might be the case, because he next said, “We’ve got to get our execution nailed down. We have to be the team that we can be, and we’re capable of being. And that was the message that was loud and clear today.”
The Commanders, now 1-3-1, head to San Francisco to meet the 49ers next Monday. Surprisingly, the Commanders are only a 7.5-point underdog as of Monday. It will be interesting to see how much that spread moves up this week.
For Quinn, it could be a difficult season, and if it is, Sunday’s loss/tie could be the determining factor for the Josh Harris ownership group in whether they want to bring back Dan Quinn and his staff for the 2027 season.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Is Commanders coach Dan Quinn concerned that players will lose respect for him?