Everything Dan Quinn Said After Commanders’ Loss to Cowboys

The Washington Commanders left Dallas with more than just another divisional loss after Jayden Daniels suffered a dislocated left elbow. Head coach Dan Quinn addressed Daniels’ injury, Marcus Mariota, Washington’s defensive struggles and more after the game. The full video and transcript are below.

Opening statement

“Let's give you — why don't we start with what we know and start from there. So, with Jayden, he did injure his left elbow. It was a dislocation. X-ray showed no fracture. He'll travel back home with the team. More imaging tomorrow. Once I know an update that we can move forward with, I'll give you that. But I want to give you what I know. Man, are we bummed for him. I thought he was really playing his ass off. And we will rally so hard around Marcus until Jayden's back. And that's what we talked about as a team. Other injury-wise, Sam Cosmi will be in the concussion protocol, Kinlaw injured a shoulder, and Coleman injured a finger. I'll give you updates on that. I thought just turnover margin being minus-one, I thought that was going to be an important piece of this game. And then I thought Dallas had the advantage on third down. I thought that was one of the real things, knowing, man, you can't extend drives with two premium receivers. But tonight's story is about Jayden, how bummed we are for him, and we will rally, like I said, really hard around Marcus. I thought he played well in that space. I thought we had a good chance at one to Dami for the score and another chance down later to Terry. But glad to open it up.”

With Jayden first, what was it like in that moment to see him go down again, knowing what he had done to get back after last year?

“Yeah, I was just hurting for him, man. I know what he's gone through to go. He was in good spirits tonight. Just knowing that we wanted to all play so well for him in that space. And so to see him in that spot, it stunk for the guys. And I thought Marcus did a really good job coming back in. Then we were starting on offense, could we get going right off the bat? But it was tough.”

You obviously had a decision to make to go for it there. Just walk through that decision and why you wanted to.

“Yeah, I thought, looking back on it, at the one-yard line, we need touchdowns, John. And so I don't regret the call. Obviously, anytime someone's injured, you play the what-if game. I don't think this is one of those times for me. I hate that it happened. I didn't see it. You guys may have that. I still haven't seen it yet. But I wasn't hesitant about going into that spot. I thought, man, we're going to be aggressive into this game against their offense. So I don't regret that, John. Obviously the outcome sucks, but it wasn't a what-if or I wish I had done something differently.”

Everybody — you've got 60 guys looking at you when something like this happens. How do you keep from going, “This happened again. I can't believe it”?

“I think you want to stand in that space, man. It's your posture, your attitude of how you're going to go and say, ‘Acknowledge it sucks.’ And that was the first thing I did, man. Like, we are hurting for him and this sucks, and let's battle our ass off for him. Because I didn't see him at the half. Obviously, they were working on his elbow, so I went out to the field, but I didn't see him until postgame. But it was hard. It was quiet and emotional in that space, knowing how much he's put in, Dave. But at the end, I wanted to bring everybody up tight and talk to them. ‘Hey, this does suck, but this is what we're going to go do. This is how we're going to go play.’ And like I said, Marcus, I was not surprised to see him play well.”

Marcus said a number of players spoke up in the locker room at halftime. What was the general message from everybody as you guys dealt with it?

“Yeah, I think the leadership in the group, number one, is strong. We'd all like to be led by some of these guys. Talking about Revo and Tress and Jay and Terry and others. But just knowing how hard they're going to fight for one another, I love that. I love that about our team. I love the men that make up our locker room. But it was tough to start it, and then you kind of said, ‘Okay, acknowledge that this is what happened. It sucks. How are we going to move forward and go fight for it?’”

Dan, what in your three years with Marcus have you learned about how he handles the situation he was thrown into today, how he handles a week-to-week change in job, supporting Jayden and all of it?

“Yeah, I don't know if I learned anything today, Barry. I knew what we'd see because I know the man. I know the competitor. I know the support that he has and also how hard he works on the other side of things. So, going into it, I just reminded him, ‘Hey man, I'm going to give you the same thing you told Jayden: be him. I'm telling you to do the same. Go make your plays, do your thing.’ So that was the message for him. But the team, the locker room, the staff, we've got great trust in him. And we're fortunate that he is here. It's difficult circumstances, but like I said, we will rally around Marcus. There's no doubt about it.”

Coach, over the last three years of your tenure in the division, it seems like this opponent has been a tough one for you all. What is it about the Dallas Cowboys that is so tough for you within the division?

“I think it starts certainly with Dak. He's playing at an incredible level, and when he can have some play passes where he has time, he's going to make you do it. And so the weapons they have outside — that's the space we've got to make sure we don't get to. He had some scrambles, he had a couple third-down conversions. But I thought when he's really rolling, he's one of the best. And so we've got to disrupt him and the big premiums they have outside as well. So that was disheartening to see, but we'll get another chance to go battle for them. Knowing it was going to be two tough stretches down the road to start. We're pumped to get back home next week. Feels like we haven't been home for the longest. And so, like I said, that's where we are today.”

Dan, when you see him go down and grab his left elbow, what's going through your mind at that point as you see him being tended to by the trainers?

“Yeah, honestly, seeing it, knowing what the injury was — I didn't know it at the time. He was down, and you guys may have a better vantage point than I do by the time I get out there. Just knowing that he's hurting, man. At that point, it's more empathetic to say, ‘Man, I know how much this guy's put in. He's going through it right now.’ And it was important for me to get some time with him after the game. I didn't get to see him at the half or any of that. So getting a chance to spend a minute afterwards and seeing him and Marcus together, just knowing how hard we're going to fight for them. I wanted to express that to the team.”

You obviously had a lot of injuries you guys had to deal with last year. How do you make sure it doesn't repeat that, and what lessons did you learn from that as you carry forward?

“Yeah, and I think we started that all the way back in the spring, John, if you remember, of like, where are we at into the depth? And so it kind of hit us early a little bit with LT first. That was the first one to say, ‘Okay, this is the adjustment. This is where we'll go with Brandon and this will be another space into that spot.’ But knowing that we gave those guys more reps, more turns, knowing I hate that it happens, but we also know that it does. And I think those are the scars you want to learn from, John, to make sure at any position: who's next? Where are we at? How does that look? And so it just happens to be at quarterback, and it was earlier at left tackle, but that doesn't mean we're not thinking that way at all the spots. So we just want to be ready when those spaces come, and that's how I look at it.”

You mentioned that Jayden was in pretty good spirits afterwards. Is that relief because there's no fracture? How would you describe it?

“I probably haven't gone too far down the road yet. I was just, man, it was good to see him. Honestly, that's where I was first. And just knowing him, that he didn't have a fracture, that's what I heard post. I didn't even know that when I spoke to him. I just kind of got that information before I came in here. So it's not something we discussed. But I wanted him to know how hard we're going to fight for him, and he was playing his ass off.”

You guys have a lot of confidence in Marcus and his ability to step in, but for the defense, how does this raise the pressure on them? Today they gave up 37 points. How much pressure is there on them now to raise their level?

“It doesn't add to it, for sure. But there's an awareness for it when you miss the mark of what you want to do and how you want to do it. Yeah, that bothers you. But as far as the defense in total, I think they're more concerned, ‘Okay, why didn't we hit the marks that we said we wanted to hit?’ And I have a lot of belief in the guys and what they can do. And so we will not — certainly we don't like where we are, but we are not staying in this space. And so that was kind of my message to them. I love how they work. I like the spot that they'll get to to get it right. And I'm certain that we'll do that. Doesn't feel any better today knowing that, but we'll continue to work and find the right balance with the right packages and people to get that done.”

The energy in the locker room seems similar to where it was last season after the game when Jayden first had that injury. Did anything change in your approach to how you address the team after an injury like that over the past 10 months?

“Yeah, I would say I would almost disagree with you, but I was around the team when it happened, so that would be something different. In that space, they're definitely hurting for him. But what I wanted to get across is we will rally so hard around Marcus until Jayden is back. And so that's what's required and that's what we'll do. And I expect our posture and attitude to reflect that, too, knowing that defensively you'll battle your ass off, but you don't want to say, ‘Take on more and do that.’ Man, do your thing at a really high level. Once you start reaching for different topics, man, you can get out of whack. So we've got plenty to play better at defensively without adding any extra to it.”

Are you confident Jayden will be back, or is it just optimism and hope?

“I would say, yeah, optimism, I guess. We haven't discussed anything later. It's just kind of how I see things. So, I haven't had any reason to think otherwise.”

The Commanders now wait for more information on Daniels while preparing to rally around Mariota and correct the issues that surfaced in Dallas.

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