Commanders coach Dan Quinn, who remains on the job Monday, met with reporters for his news conference a day after the most recent game. And the most recent game, a 27-27 tie against the Giants, ended with the worst example of clock management in years, if ever.
Quinn began with an opening statement addressing the woolly mammoth in the locker room.
“Well, I talked with the team and with the coaches today, and honestly, I’m just furious with our execution in the crucial moments of the game,” Quinn told reporters. “We’re working really hard on this, and it didn’t look like this yesterday. And (I’m) upset about it.
“So I’ll explain overtime to you. We wanted to use some time after we got into the shooting zone. There were four shots on goal that were missed in the game, so it makes sense to waste time when you’re shooting towards the end of the game.
“About 56 seconds in, we handed off to Rachaad White, and from there it took us way too long to execute our strategy, from subbing to being aware of the clock to timing the ball. And when I told the team, and with coach, it was like it was a breakdown. This can’t happen. And our time today, as a team, was about how and why and us ensuring this never happens again. So yesterday’s ending was the biggest example, but we have a lot of shit to do. clean up after yesterday’s game and believe me, everyone in this building with me feels that urgency.
During the question and answer portion of the press conference, Quinn was asked if he had spoken about the property and if he was concerned about his job.
“I know how the league is,” Quinn said. “I’m well aware of that. (Owner) Josh (Harris) and I, we talk regularly before games, after games, after good games, after tough games, and it’s a normal process for us. And, believe me, no one is happy with this result and where we are. The part that we have, these difficult conversations, we are honest about where we are and what we need to fix and what we need to work on. And so I like having that communication with him.”
Implicit in this response is that Quinn spoke to Harris, that Harris was not happy (as he shouldn’t have been), and that Harris did not and will not fire him, at least for now.
As for the surreal ticking of the clock on the play that began with 55 seconds on the clock and culminated in the next play beginning with 12 seconds left, Quinn was particularly concerned about the time it took to make substitutions and get the play started that was called by offensive coordinator David Blough.
“If you execute it quickly,” Quinn said, “then you can get back to the ball and time it. So the execution of the substitution and the slowness of it is just too long. Looking back, don’t substitute, we can come back to the ball with the same group and get the same result. But it was nothing unusual or unusual, our execution as a whole group in those (55) seconds up until the point where we couldn’t timing it. It’s not playing the selection, but yet the execution of it all.
He’s right, but he continues to talk about the situation as if he’s not on the sidelines. He was there. He was able to ignore everything that was happening. To press the kill switch on artificial, I mean, super intelligence. Clearly, Quinn has done nothing other than act as a passive observer.
He was then asked if this moment would define Commander’s season.
“I’m not catastrophizing things, but I want to make sure I’m not minimizing things either,” Quinn said. “And there’s a lot of things that we can improve on in this game, not just, you know, in the last play. And so, I want to make sure that I’m always emphasizing that to the team, what we’re capable of, what we need to work on, but a lot of it… it was execution, man. want, for example, in our team meeting today, we laid out the plan on how to play our best in San Francisco so I want to make sure that I’m expressing what we’re teaching, but at the same time, you know, also stating what we need to do.
What would Quinn say to fans who have lost faith in him as a head coach?
“I’m just as angry, too,” Quinn said. “It’s a really tough loss, man. And I’m very confident in who we are as an organization, an owner, a coach, players, so I’m really looking forward to getting back on the field Monday night.”
Of course he is. The only way to put Sunday’s debacle behind him will be to beat the 49ers. Which are led by Kyle Shanahan. Who was Quinn’s offensive coordinator during the 28-3 debacle at Super Bowl LI, which occurred largely because of another example of Quinn unable to properly manage the game clock in real time.
Another loss, especially a blowout, could end up being Quinn’s final act as Commanders head coach – especially with the Commanders bye in Week 7.
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