What coach Dan Quinn said after the Commanders beat the Dallas Cowboys in regular-season finale

After the Washington Commanders beat the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday at AT&T Stadium, Commanders coach Dan Quinn met with the media. Here’s everything that he had to say.

On the last four games.

“I thought, number one, the last four games have just been absolutely wild. It really has been. Came right down to the end at New Orleans, at home against Philadelphia and Atlanta, and then back on the road here in Dallas. I thought it took a lot of resilience and a lot of toughness. The guys trained hard for those what we call ‘winning-time moments.’ But you do have to go execute in those spots, so tonight to see those moments, shout-out to Terry [McLaurin], who set a franchise record for touchdown receptions. We’ve been playing football for a long time around here and that’s a big deal. So, all that said, let’s get rocking with you guys.”

On the importance of playing these types of games.

“We’ve talked about this a little bit, as you’re building a program, you’d hope you’d be in some really tight games because that kind of hardness, it didn’t always go our way. I want to make sure I’m clear on that, but to be battle-ready as a first year group, this has been a lot of end-of-the-game moments. And we knew we’d have to fight for some, and that was no different going into today. They haven’t all gone our way, but in that space on the sideline, you could feel these players know we’re literally never out of the fight. Frustration? Yes. Pointing fingers? Hell no. And so I love that about our group. They know we’re not out of it, and in those moments, even when we’re behind, even as bad as it felt in the first half, it was a three-point game. We gave up a lot of yards defensively, but I thought them stepping up in the red zone was some big opportunities. I love that we’re in these close fights. We have trained for it a lot. I told them just because we can, does not mean we need to. But I’ll take the fight and what it stands for.”

On halftime plans and adjustments at quarterback.

“It wasn’t a plan going in. We thought we were going to go all the way, but he had some mild soreness in his leg. I just kind of made the decision, honestly, to say, ‘Hey, let’s go with Marcus.’ It felt like it was going to be a game. They were really playing upfield. We’re going to have to use the quarterback’s legs more. And so, it was just really my decision to say, ‘Hey, let’s go this route.’ But it wasn’t a predetermined one. I just thought that was the way to go going into the

second half.”

On the team’s recent wild games.

“I’m with you there. I couldn’t get the words out either. This is wild. They’re so much fun because of what they stand for. But go ahead, I don’t want to cut you off.”

On what winning the way the team has in the end says about them.

“I think at some point, the guys put the agendas to the side and just knew, ‘hey man, we’ve got to go fight for it.’ It hasn’t always gone our way. Obviously, we knew this. There were some games that came down to it, and in fact, the last time was November 24, lose to Dallas at home. That was a difficult one. Missed opportunities and moments. They returned a

kick. When he came back to go, then we onside kick and they returned it. So, going into I guess about Week 10, we won three-straight, and then we walked into three-straight losses, and that was hard. Nobody wants that. But as opposed to seeing what would happen, let’s see where it goes, it was just the opposite, then. It was, uh, ‘Let’s get back onto the practice field, let’s get back into the meeting rooms, and see if we can absolutely go fight for it.’ Bobby Wagner was at the very front of that. I remember him, ‘Hey, can I talk to the team?’ It was prior to us playing Tennessee, and no one wants to lose three in a row. It’s hard, but I do think there was a moment there that took place. Showed the resilience, and coming off the bye, being that it was late, maybe there was some energy that got created through that. It’s difficult to go that long, first-year players. But as we’re building it, I do love what we stand for as a group. We’ve got plenty to work on. I can’t even begin to tell you how much but we do know we’re not out of the fight.”

On if he sees anything tangible from what was learned in the three losses that he’s now seeing play out. “Yes, I think, honestly, I have. And here’s what I’ve learned: I thought early on, we were kind of riding the wave of emotion. When it was going high, man, we were like a tidal wave, riding high. When it was low, we could feel that it was heavy on us. I said, “Man, there are going to be these times.” And so could we level those out? Not to be emotionless — that’s not what I’m saying — but I knew they were going to be there and just stay in it, stay in it, stay in it. And then New Orleans was a step in the right direction, Philadelphia, a step. Atlanta, a step. So, yes, I have seen the guys level out some to know when it goes good or when it doesn’t, you go to the next space. It took going through that, I think, to get to that spot, where we weren’t riding the roller coaster. As the season goes and the calendar turns, the roller coasters get bigger. I did not want us to ride those emotions where the high highs are fun, but the low lows you couldn’t get yourself out of. So I think we did make some gains in that space, and we’re closer to the mark when it gets harder, you know what’s going to happen.”

On how gratifying it is to see what happened today with Marcus, taking the work he puts in behind the scenes into account.

“He’s such a cool teammate. It was fun to be able to celebrate him today because of the work that he does behind the scenes, the unseen work. It takes a lot to be ready like that. So if you stay after on a Friday, you’d see him going through two-minute [drills]. You’d see other people putting the work in with him. So, today, to have that happen and him deliver at the end, that was a big deal. From moving closer, then you go into field goal range and then the big play happens. And then you clock it, and we had, I think it was six seconds at the end. There’s a specific time that we want to go into that spot, and can you throw one? Otherwise, we would have had to kick it and go into overtime. So, to know that he’s always ready for the moment, practiced it a lot, it’s a big deal.”

On when he made the decision to put Marcus in.

“I did coming out of the half. Jaden just had some mild soreness in his leg. It was just — I thought we were going to need legs in this game. They were playing upfield, Dallas was, so I thought this is going to be a game where the quarterback is going to have to use their legs some, and that was accurate.”

On if he completely ignored the other games going on today (after saying this week he would chase the seeding). “I didn’t ask anybody, and no one gave me information on it. I just found out that Tampa was behind and came back. I think Green Bay and Chicago, I didn’t see it. We knew last night, I told the team, Week 18, it’s going to be somewhere. It’s going to be slugging it out with somebody. Could we gain some momentum today? Have a running start, so to speak, into the postseason? And we wanted to take that as far as we had to to go do that. Winning matters, and it may not seem like that on a sheet or otherwise, but no, I didn’t check. Whereas the thing is we’re developing our program, we’re going to be about competing and competition, then we’ve got to stand for that too.”

On if he saw enough and was happy with Austin’s return and what he thought of the run game. “I was. Maybe it didn’t show up on the stat sheet, but I was. I think there’s some gain that still took place then, and the importance of him coming back now as opposed to next week, that was something important, and I was glad that he was able to demonstrate that. There are still emotions with it, so to be able to play and do that, there’s some gains to be made there. I hoped we would have had some more in the run game, but I’ll give them credit, too, in terms of the plan going in.”

On if the run game is a concern going into the playoffs.

“I wouldn’t say concern, but I would say emphasis, and so it’s important to me to make sure we have balance to where we can do that. Just keep saying with it and we go from there.”