The Commanders spent a lot of time talking about the blunders that cost them a chance to beat the Giants in overtime in Week 6, but the time has now come for them to turn the page to Monday night’s game against the 49ers.
Head coach Dan Quinn said at a Thursday press conference that the failure to stop the clock in time to try a game-winning field goal was “my responsibility, point blank, period” and that the steps that led to that failure have been “dissected, discussed, corrected” over the last few days. While Quinn has taken accountability for how things played out, quarterback Jayden Daniels’s role in not recognizing that the team was going to run out of time has also been in the crosshairs.
Quinn was asked if he’s confident that Daniels is ready to move forward to the next game after such a high-profile error.
“He’s such a mentally tough person that he’s very stoic a lot of times,” Quinn said. “It’s honest conversations about where you’re at, how things are. The longer you get to know somebody, you know some of the signs and tells. For him, he’s somebody that definitely is back. Even through tough weeks, he is a really resilient guy.”
Quinn noted that improvement is not something you can just pay “lip service” to and that the proof will come on the field. A trip to play an undefeated 49ers team isn’t the easiest way to demonstrate that, but it’s the hand Quinn and Daniels have been dealt this week.