What did Commanders coach Dan Quinn, Washington players say after crazy loss to Dallas Cowboys?

After the Washington Commanders lost 34-26 to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, coach Dan Quinn and the Commanders players met with the media. Here’s everything they had to say.

Head Coach Dan Quinn

Opening Statement:

“Alright, we can get rolling. What I told the team after the game was that this is the most challenged we’ve been in our time together. And I reminded them, it’s not enough to learn the lessons, but we have to apply them. Love the fight that we have, fight games, close games, but we’ve gotta apply them, learn the lesson of finishing the ball, whatever that might apply to. We’ve got to make sure we do that. And so, I remind them it’s never about one play. And so, that execution falls on all of us players and coaches, and I firmly believe that. And so, we’ll get to it tomorrow. We’ll look at the tape and get right to the truth of it all. So, all that said, let’s get rocking with you guys.”

On an injury update on RB Austin Ekeler: “[General Manager] Adam [Peters] and I just had a chance to visit with him now, so he’ll do more tests tonight but it was a concussion.”

On his thoughts on all three phases today: “My view, I thought what a wild special teams moment of block punts, kicks, kickoff returns, blocked field goals, just a number of things going to that spot. I thought defensively, team played well in third down into that spot to go. So, I was pleased to see some of that, but just not enough plays for us on third downs offensively to really win it. So, unusual game for sure but that’s the division and wild games battling for it, but more than anything that’s what I shared with them about applying those lessons we learned.”

On K Austin Seibert’s performance and on the kick return unit: “Yeah, for sure. I can hit you on all of them. And I want to look at them all to see, make sure, usually on a kick it’s usually the operation too. Everything to make sure, snap, hold, kick all of that to go. I know on one of the extra points, looked like it hit the ground. I didn’t have the same broadcast view that you guys did, but that’s what I saw. And so, he is working through that. We’ve had that come up before, so that’s the balance of getting underneath and going so you don’t have low kicks. As far as the one at the end, honestly, I thought like it’s going to be a good kick, you got him pinned down. Any time you can get it to bounce you think you’re in good shape, but [Dallas Cowboys WR] KaVontae [Turpin] made a couple good moves and got an explosive one to go. But I loved our attitude when we’d have to score what that would be to go get us into this fight, get a four-minute stop. I don’t know how long the last few minutes looked, but it seemed like there was a season of teachable moments that would go on. And so, I love what we stand for, for the finish and I’m wanting those lessons to be applied earlier in the ball game.”

On the start the team had today compared to early in the season: “Yeah, I want to make sure like this confidence is rolling whoever we’re playing. And I don’t want it to go up and down and up and down. So again, I look back at the tape and the best part of this is you get to go dig in and go forward again, man. But from a performance side, is there plenty to clean up on? You bet. And you don’t want to miss an opportunity and when you got a home game and going forward in the division, you want to take advantage of those. And when you miss them, it stings.”

On any worry that the team played down to their competition today: “No, I really thought playing a division team backed in the corner, they’re going to come out and fight too. This is a group that’s got a lot of pride about them as well. So, I didn’t think that was going to be the case heading in.”

On why the offense is struggling compared to early in the year: “Sometimes I feel there’s, when you make a mistake, is that one that’s technique or over trying? And sometimes that can be a thing, to make sure just make the plays that come to you. And that’s part of execution too. I want to make sure we just stay into that pocket of doing that. Any player or coach can, I’m going to make the perfect call or the perfect run or the, whatever that looks like. And more often, the best ones executed, and we’ll continue to work hard at that. But as we’re going through, that’s something we’re going to dig into. I think we had talked, about it last week or the week before about self-scouting and that, and we stay pretty consistent with that throughout. I don’t necessarily feel it’s that as much as, let’s make sure this execution is right. And I was very pleased that we had practice this past week where we got more shots at it, more things to go. And I look forward to that being the case again because that’s really how you do get better. And I love the energy that the guys had and although it didn’t carry over into the game for the execution, the preparation was right.”

On if he considered going for the 2-point conversion after WR Terry McLaurin’s touchdown reception: “No. I thought if after we score, we’d go for one. And the reason behind that, I thought, ‘Let’s get back into it, but we don’t have to decide it on this play’. And so that was where I thought, ‘Let’s go’ and then, hey get one stop, we’ll get it, and then at the coin toss, let’s go through the whole process again and reset it.’ So, I thought in that way that was the right call on that as obviously, you’re not factoring in the other part of things. But that was my thought going into it. The previous one, if we had scored, we had to kick a field goal. I wanted to kick the field goal prior to the two minute so we could use that, have the other timeout. When you’re down two scores, you’re kind of a little more strategic to get a kick in prior to a certain time. So that’s what we had told [QB] Jayden [Daniels] and the offense, ‘Let’s get it in before this time’. And so, it gave us a chance to come back to it, get the stop to go and then the big one to Terry. But I was thinking one the whole time. Sorry, long-winded answer to your question.”

On why they decided to kick the field goal instead of trying to convert on the early 4th-and-2: “We just talked about our line to kick and [K] Austin [Seibert] had a good week at it, went to go. So, once it’s at the space, that’s the line to get to and we didn’t feel like we had to overtry or go further for it. It had nothing to do with anything other than, ‘Hey, we’re at the spot, let’s go get some points and move it from there’.”

On the decision to do a dirty kick instead of kicking through the end zone: “It’s harder to kick it out than you think. And so, I thought it was really honestly from the kicking standpoint executed well. If you have to stop your feet and get one to go, that’s the challenge. If you can get it to hit the ground, that’s what you’re trying to do into that spot, but that’s the difference.”

On how offensive play calling changes when RB Brian Robinson Jr. is suddenly unavailable: “Yeah, it just got tighter as it goes. When you’re getting an ankle sprain, you can go through it and then once you know that hits, you don’t have the same power to use it. So, it definitely changes because [RB] Jeremy [McNichols] and [RB] Austin [Ekeler] are also pretty significant factors on the special team side, so a little bit of shuffling to go. And that’s part of it, man, of digging it through and finding your way and stepping into it, so that’s not unusual. [T] Andrew Wylie was also out with a concussion. So get into this space to the next player into that spot. You’ve seen us at practice. We put a bunch of guys in and roll them through so when their moment is called, they’re ready for it. We’d hate to have a guy go into a situation they weren’t prepared for.”

On how concerned he is about injuries and the diminishing offensive production: “Yeah, I wouldn’t say concerned in the level I would use. Maybe your word, but not mine. I wanna make sure that everything that we’re doing, we want to go attack it and injuries are not like – we all have that. I mean, every team does. So that’s part of the gig and I like that we have a good deep crew to go hit it. But execution is really where we’re at and what we’re gonna dig on hard and that’s what we’ll focus on heading into this week.”

On the weirdness of the end of the game: “Yeah, there’s been a lot of weird already. I love it. And that’s what I’m wanting, that belief to go because we’ve been in these being battle tested as a first-year group more than most. And you want to be able, that’s kind of why I said what I said at the beginning. It’s not just learning them and being in these end of game winning time moments. It’s about winning them. And we’ve won some, but I wanna make sure every time we go, this is the edge, this is where to go, this is the time to go capture it. And I love that we’re never outta the fight, but I do want to make sure it doesn’t have to go to that space. And that part is one that we’re gonna work hard on to get right.”

On the poor pass rush defense: “Agreed.”

QB Jayden Daniels

On how difficult was to almost get all the way back into the game and still lose:

“I think anytime you lose a game or lose a game in that type of facet, it’s very difficult. It never comes down to just one play. There are plays throughout the game where little things add up to big things.”

On what Dallas did to make it difficult for the team today:

“We just haven’t been executing how we did prior. Poor execution, you know, throughout this game, we had short fields and stuff like that. We just didn’t capitalize on those opportunities.”

On the ebbs and flows of a football game like today and how that feels:

“I mean, I couldn’t even tell you my type of emotions, but you know, as I’m learning, man, you don’t ride the roller coaster. You stay even keeled throughout it all because it’s a long season. A lot of things can happen in a game in the NFL. So, man, I just try to stay even keeled and control the things you can control.”

On balancing taking shots and taking what the defense has given you as quarterback:

“I think you got to find the balance. But obviously, those guys watch film too, so they know that we take shots, and when the opportunity presents itself to take them. Early in the game, they did a good job of turning back and running and try to take those away and minimize those explosive plays. So, it’s a fine balance, you know, that we’re figuring out.”

On seeing differences in how teams defend you and your recent offensive effort:

“I think teams and coordinators are going to see what other teams have success against us and try to figure out how they could incorporate that into their scheme. I mean, you kind of see stuff on third downs. We’ve been in third and longer a lot, you know, these past couple games. So, that’s kind of where you get into the exotic pressures and stuff like that. You know, we’ve just gotta be better on first and second downs and stay ahead of the chains.”

On how these last three games have been like:

“I mean, it’s been crazy, but, I mean, it’s my first year at the NFL, so anything can happen any given Sunday. You know, you got to put in the work throughout the week, prepare throughout the week, you know, to go out there and have the right to go out there and perform on Sundays.”

On if he can tell what the biggest difference is for the offense from early in the season to today:

“I can’t right now, because I haven’t watched the film. I just know we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities of scoring touchdowns when those opportunities present themselves.”

On the run game and how much issues trickle down to the offense:

“When you run the ball it’s big, and not just us, but for any team. You’ve got to be able to run the ball, keep the defense honest. No, I don’t have a definitive answer for you on that one. We got to execute the plays that are called in. And you know, we didn’t do a good job of doing that.”

On if you feel like teams are playing you just a little bit differently:

“Like I said earlier, some defensive coordinators look at, man, what teams have success against them, and how can they incorporate that into their scheme? So, you start to see a little bit of trends. And, you know, you kind of watch film, but you got to be able to adjust on the fly, and I think we’re able to adjust on the fly, but we didn’t do it early enough. Me seeing it, the receiver seeing it, everybody seeing it all on one accord.”

On the tempo and how not being able run as much affects the offense:

“I think you could get into that. And, you know, it kind of gets us in the mode of, ‘hey, let’s go, let’s go.’ You can’t really give the defensive coordinators time to call up, dial up their exotic pressures, or stuff like that. Looks to try to get it there the best guy, one on one. So, I think that it works into anybody’s favor to get tempo. You kind of go out there and you get a base call because they have to get a call in fast and go out there and just play football.”

On what you say about today’s game:

“Anything can happen, whenever. The Washington Commanders are gonna always fight to the end.”

QB Jayden Daniels

On how difficult was to almost get all the way back into the game and still lose:

“I think anytime you lose a game or lose a game in that type of facet, it’s very difficult. It never comes down to just one play. There are plays throughout the game where little things add up to big things.”

On what Dallas did to make it difficult for the team today:

“We just haven’t been executing how we did prior. Poor execution, you know, throughout this game, we had short fields and stuff like that. We just didn’t capitalize on those opportunities.”

On the ebbs and flows of a football game like today and how that feels:

“I mean, I couldn’t even tell you my type of emotions, but you know, as I’m learning, man, you don’t ride the roller coaster. You stay even keeled throughout it all because it’s a long season. A lot of things can happen in a game in the NFL. So, man, I just try to stay even keeled and control the things you can control.”

On balancing taking shots and taking what the defense has given you as quarterback:

“I think you got to find the balance. But obviously, those guys watch film too, so they know that we take shots, and when the opportunity presents itself to take them. Early in the game, they did a good job of turning back and running and try to take those away and minimize those explosive plays. So, it’s a fine balance, you know, that we’re figuring out.”

On seeing differences in how teams defend you and your recent offensive effort:

“I think teams and coordinators are going to see what other teams have success against us and try to figure out how they could incorporate that into their scheme. I mean, you kind of see stuff on third downs. We’ve been in third and longer a lot, you know, these past couple games. So, that’s kind of where you get into the exotic pressures and stuff like that. You know, we’ve just gotta be better on first and second downs and stay ahead of the chains.”

On how these last three games have been like:

“I mean, it’s been crazy, but, I mean, it’s my first year at the NFL, so anything can happen any given Sunday. You know, you got to put in the work throughout the week, prepare throughout the week, you know, to go out there and have the right to go out there and perform on Sundays.”

On if he can tell what the biggest difference is for the offense from early in the season to today:“I can’t right now, because I haven’t watched the film. I just know we didn’t capitalize on our opportunities of scoring touchdowns when those opportunities present themselves.”

On the run game and how much issues trickle down to the offense:

“When you run the ball it’s big, and not just us, but for any team. You’ve got to be able to run the ball, keep the defense honest. No, I don’t have a definitive answer for you on that one. We got to execute the plays that are called in. And you know, we didn’t do a good job of doing that.”

On if you feel like teams are playing you just a little bit differently:

“Like I said earlier, some defensive coordinators look at, man, what teams have success against them, and how can they incorporate that into their scheme? So, you start to see a little bit of trends. And, you know, you kind of watch film, but you got to be able to adjust on the fly, and I think we’re able to adjust on the fly, but we didn’t do it early enough. Me seeing it, the receiver seeing it, everybody seeing it all on one accord.”

On the tempo and how not being able run as much affects the offense:

“I think you could get into that. And, you know, it kind of gets us in the mode of, ‘hey, let’s go, let’s go.’ You can’t really give the defensive coordinators time to call up, dial up their exotic pressures, or stuff like that. Looks to try to get it there the best guy, one on one. So, I think that it works into anybody’s favor to get tempo. You kind of go out there and you get a base call because they have to get a call in fast and go out there and just play football.”

On what you say about today’s game:

“Anything can happen, whenever. The Washington Commanders are gonna always fight to the end.”

WR Terry McLaurin

On how he feels about the loss: “We just didn’t play our best. We didn’t play complimentary football. When you’re playing division games it’s going to come down to the four quarters. We knew that going into the game. We didn’t underestimate them at all but it’s just unfortunate when you can’t help each other on offense, helping out on the defense. They were doing a great job and we just really couldn’t get it going. We have to find a way to start faster and stay in the drives. That’s everybody, our whole coaching staff and offensive players going out there and figuring out ways that we can stay on the field and help the defense and vice versa all of us. In spurs often defense and specialty played a role in helping us get momentum and then at some point we all didn’t do our best. We have to get back to the drawing board. Any time you lose it’s tough but especially in your division, back-to-back. We have to keep our heads held high and get back to work.”

On whether he thought they would go into overtime after his touchdown: “You never know honestly. You never know what can happen until the clock hits zero so in my mind I got the ball and I just tried to score and give us a chance. It doesn’t come down to one play. It doesn’t come down to one kick. We had our opportunities to take control of the game and we didn’t. We practice those situations all the time. We don’t like to be in those situations to try to get it all at once. To put ourselves in better situations we have to have a better first quarter, second quarter, out of half, things of that nature. When I scored I thought we might have a chance but at the end of the day it doesn’t come down to one other play.”

On how they will improve the offense: “For me, I think I just want to continue to try to control what I can, making sure that we have the right attitude and the right approach as we come into practice and the games. Try to make a play when the ball comes to me and just controlling that aspect of my job. I try to provide a spark when I can and as a team, we just have to– as an offense we have to find a better job of staying on the field. That was a strength of ours in the first half of the season and it’s not right now. We have to figure out how to get that back to being a strength of our offense because when we’re tempo, when we’re staying on the field, it allows us to keep the playbook open and continue to put pressure on the defense. Just being second and manageable third and manageable, I think we can do a better job at that but as far as I’m concerned we’ll continue try to come in with a good attitude and try to be a leader, and continue to rally the guys that are around me. Nobody’s hanging their head but at the same time this one definitely sucks.”

On how they can keep from spiraling: “I don’t want to look too far to Sunday, because Sunday’s going to take care of itself next week but we have to get some things fixed in the film room. We’re already looking forward to looking at the film and just having to tell the truth Monday like DQ [Head Coach Dan Quinn] says we all have to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out what we can do better. Offensively we have to help the defense out and figure out ways to stay on the field. I think they did a great job defensively keeping plays in front of them. We have to do a good job of taking what they’re giving us and continue to put solid drives together and not put as much pressure on the other side of the ball or put pressure on ourselves. Now we have to get it all. I think going forward that is something that we’re going to try to improve on and look forward to looking at the film tomorrow.”

K Austin Seibert

On the low snap for the extra point kick: “It didn’t make a difference at all. It’s on me.”

On how he felt coming back: “I felt fine. That’s why I made the decision to play and here we are.”

On whether he felt something wrong when he kicked: “No, just no. Just didn’t play well.”

On the outside kick: “I should’ve hit it a little more left. Hit it right to the guy. That’s what you get when that happens so that falls on me too.”

On his strategy for the kick return: “Hit a dirty ball. Make them feel it.”