Commanders coach Dan Quinn, who remains employed on Monday, met with reporters for his press conference one day after the most recent game. And the most recent game, a 27-27 tie with the Giants, ended with the worst example of clock management in recent years, if not ever.
Quinn began with an opening statement that addressed the woolly mammoth in the mudroom.
“Well, I spoke with the team and with the coaches today, and honestly just like furious about our execution in the crucial moments of the game,” Quinn told reporters. “We work really hard on these, and it didn’t look like that yesterday. And [I’m] pissed about it.
“So I’ll take you through overtime. We wanted to use some clock after getting into field goal range. There has been four kicks that had been missed in the game. So burning some time is the smart call, as you kick near the end of the game.
“About 56 seconds, we handed off to Rachaad White, and it took entirely too long from there on to execute our strategy, from subbing to clock awareness to clocking [the] ball. And when I told the team, and with the coach— like, it was a breakdown. It can’t happen. And our time today as a team was spent on the how and the why and make sure that it never does again. So, yesterday’s ending was the biggest example, but we’ve got a lot of shit to clean up on from yesterday’s game, and trust me, everyone in this building started with me feels that urgency.”
During the question-and-answer phase of the press conference, Quinn was asked whether he has spoken to ownership and whether he’s concerned about his job.
“I do know how the league goes,” 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 that’s a normal process for us. And, trust me, no one is pleased with this outcome and where we’re at. The part that we do have, those hard conversations, we’re honest about where we’re at and what we need to fix and what we need to work on. And so I like having that communication with him.”
Implicit in that response is that Quinn has spoken to Harris, that Harris wasn’t pleased (as he shouldn’t have been), and that Harris did not and won’t be firing him, at least for now.
As to the surreal tick-ticking of the clock at the play that began with 55 seconds on the clock and that resulted in the next play beginning with 12 seconds left, Quinn was specifically concerned about the time required to make substitutions and get the play that was called by offensive coordinator David Blough started.
“If you execute it quickly,” Quinn said, “then you can get back on the ball and clock it. So the execution of subbing and the slowness of that to go is entirely too long. Hindsight, don’t sub, we can get back on the ball with the same group, and do the same outcome. But it wasn’t anything unorthodox or unusual, our execution as an entire group in that [55] seconds down to when we weren’t able to get it clocked. That’s not the play selection, but yet the execution of all of it.”
He’s correct, but he continues to speak about the situation as if he wasn’t standing on the sideline. He was there. He was in position to override whatever was happening. To hit the kill switch on the artificial, I mean, super intelligence. By all appearances, Quinn did nothing other than act as a passive observer.
He later was asked whether the moment will define the season for the Commander.
“I don’t catastrophize things, but I do want to make sure that I don’t minimize things, either,” Quinn said. “And there are plenty of things for us to improve upon in this game, and not just, you know, the last play. And so, I want to make sure I’m always emphasizing that to the team, about what we’re capable of, what we need to work on, but by no small margin . . . it was the execution, man. And that’s what I want us as players and coaches to absolutely drill down, nail it, because you have this bad taste in your mouth . . . and you want it, like, in our team meeting today, we laid out the plan of how to go play our best at San Francisco. So I do want to make sure I’m expressing what we’re teaching, but at the same time, you know, also point to what we need to get done.”
What would Quinn say to the fans that have lost confidence in him as the head coach?
“I’m just as pissed, too,” Quinn said. “Like, this is a really hard loss, man. And I have a lot of faith in who we are as an organization, ownership, coaching, players, so I’m very much looking forward to get 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. Who are led by Kyle Shanahan. Who was Quinn’s offensive coordinator during the 28-3 debacle in Super Bowl LI, which happened in large part due to another example of Quinn not being able to properly manage the game clock in real time.
Another loss, especially a blowout, could end up being Quinn’s final act as head coach of the Commanders — especially with the Commanders’ bye coming in Week 7.