November 24, 2025 • 20 mins
HC Dan Quinn speaks to the media.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good to see you guys. As we get back from
the buy, I know somebody will inevitably ask maybe a
question about what's ahead, and what I can tell you
is certainly no luxury to do that. Man, it's to me,
it's all about right now. And we talk a lot
about our culture and our standards, and those things weren't
fully built just last year and we began the building
(00:24):
process of that, and man, it's it's cool. We're right
in the thick of all that. So show me a
team with a strong standard and I can constantly say
they've been through some shit and that's kind of where
your standards get strengthened and tested and all those good things.
And that's exactly where we are. And as I told
the team, for all of us, man, like we can
(00:45):
dig and get more. That's game day and really every
day it's more speed, that's more focus and players and coaches, man,
we can for sure do that. It's doing the small
things at a world class level. And where we are,
nothing to me is too small, and so there's our
opportunity to elevate and individually as a team, that's our focus.
(01:07):
Where we're at and how we want to go after it.
So that's kind of what I started our you know,
returning from the buy messaging, and I wanted to share
that with you as we get started. And it was
cool to be back out on the practice field today
and get rolling again. We all needed that space and
now it's time to go again. So that said, I'll
open it up with you guys and we can get
(01:28):
rolling to start the week.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
John come, hey, Dan, I know you want to focus
on what's right now, but with jayde and Daniels reports
out going to be a returning to practice this week,
I'm just curious what you can tell about what he'll
be able to do this week.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, it has been good, He's uh, he will be
able to return to practice. We had our first session today,
but Johnny has not been cleared for contacts. He'll probably
be unlikely to play. But man, it's good to get
started and get the return to play going. So that's
a big deal for us.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And how important is it for you to see him
back out there playing again this year?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I think it's important as Jaden's getting going learning to
play like this position at the highest level competitively, also
doing it safely, and those are reps you know that
that you develop as well. It's a skill just like
throwing and processing and so all those things are are important.
But him included, it was awesome today. I had everyone
(02:24):
really back at practice, John, including three guys that were
in their twenty one day window and uh too early
to call a lot of the guys you know for
the game, but getting on the field and having the
guys here, John, that that was a big deal, Man,
to have that many. It's been a long time since
I've said that out loud. Of everybody's here and working,
that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Nicky was assuming that includes Terry McLaurin kind of what
is his trajectory where's he at?
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, it was it was good to see him. Man,
that smile lit up and uh so to get it
wasn't like a full speed hauling ass day, Nikki, But
that's kind of what we're hoping the progression for Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday looks like for he and some of
his teammates. But yeah, he's really worked hard and so
to see us take the next step, like, we'll see
where it takes us. But it was awesome to have
(03:14):
him out there today. I'm excited for him and for
all those guys.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
I mean, I'm sure the injuries have been frustrated, especially
for them, you know what, well, what have you seen
from them as they've mentally dealt with it? And then
what do you need to see from them to know
that they're they're ready for the final stretch here.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, for some of the guys, when you've been out
for a while, it definitely takes some resilience, Nikki, because
especially when there's like a different injury or re injury,
because that's the easy space to go down the dark
spot where it's why again or those things, and so
you want to check, you know, mentally where they're at
and make sure the things they now can control are
(03:52):
this part of the rehab and healing and getting better.
And so I knew they would come, but when you're
in the thick of it, sometimes it can be hard
to see, you know, just on the other side, you know,
of the street. But for those guys in specific, knowing
they're back doing what they love to do and back
on the field, it's a big step and it definitely
(04:12):
adds a lift. Tom Dan sorry, just to clarify, So
those three guys would be Terry Noah and Will Harris, correct, yep, uh, nope,
the three in the window or Noah, Will, Harris and Drake.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Right, okay?
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Cool?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And then kind of on a macro level, I'm sure
you took part of the buy to kind of look
back at how.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
The first whatever weeks the season went.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
When you look back kind of at yourself and your
own performance and messaging or certain decisions you made, What's
something that that you took away from from that review?
There's a lot, honestly, Tom when you go back through,
because you want to make sure you're digging in on
the right things and the right mindsets. And so I
want to find out, you you know, like where are
the mistakes And you want to answer, Okay, do you
(05:04):
know where they are? Are they fixable? Okay? And yes?
And those are you know answers to those. And then
here's the process that you have to go through to
do that, because like, as you know, like the difference
on those winning and losing comes down to these you know,
differences that you need to do. So I wanted to
dig back in hard. I asked a lot of collaboration
with the coaches as well in their opinion, So I
(05:26):
wasn't just going to make it my point of view,
I wanted to collaborate as strongly as I could Tom
to make sure that everybody had a voice in this
and also like how we plan on, you know, moving
forward with real resolve and making sure the practices, you know,
the standards that we want are really being that. You know.
That's why I discussed it with the team.
Speaker 6 (05:47):
Too, David Aldridge.
Speaker 7 (05:52):
Dan, you mentioned well, I just know it's about two
weeks into his window. I just wonder, like, you know,
what's is he able to do everything now? And how
does it look for him for Sunday and if not
Sunday the following week.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah, it looks good, Dave. And the reason being, like
you said, he was chomping at the bit even before
we started. He worked really hard to get himself back
to it, and then it was really about the movements,
the conditioning into those things. And so had the week
out in Spain as well of you know, full on
practice to go and then more conditioning, more movements this
(06:27):
past week and then so yeah, we're very optimistic heading
into this week for him and all that he's done
to get himself ready to go.
Speaker 7 (06:36):
Dan, it looked like, you know, against Miami, maybe there
was a little bit more zone than than normal, and
I just wonder if that's if that's correct or incorrect.
You can correct me either way. And what you saw
from your defense in that game that you can build
upon for the next six.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yeah, what I I would say there's there was a
little bit more on certain parts of the field day.
That's accurate in terms of the zone. Some of that's
game plan with the shifts and the motions as well,
you know, in terms of Miami. But down in the
low red zone, that's probably what I was most excited about, honestly,
with the team of just man like trying to impose
your will. I can think of the you know, played
(07:14):
by Ken Law and then the two linebackers Wagner and
Louvu on a pass fourth downstop. So down in the
low red zone, that's what I was most excited to see.
With the defense, the energy, the toughness to go just
battle for it, man, those were some cool things for me.
Still working to say, we got to create takeaways. That
(07:35):
has to be part of it. We thought we had
some chances too. We didn't nail that, but that's gonna
be a big part of it too. I'm not been
one the a to say, oh, they come in bunches
and those things like now you have to work at it.
You got to go get them, and they're not you know,
freebies that you can get. So that's what I'm looking
to dig into more. But I liked the attitude that
(07:55):
I saw from some of the guys for sure, JP.
Speaker 8 (08:01):
Hey, Dan, So with Harris you said you're really optimistic.
What's the optimism level with McLaurin for this Sunday.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I'll have a better answer for you, JP later, only
because I've seen Will a little bit longer. But I
would say this, man, I'm I'm excited about, you know,
the possibilities because of his speed and how he's moving
and so those are big steps JP. And so maybe
I saw Will already do it the full speed spots
at practice, come back and do it again, and so
(08:31):
that's the space that we need to see from Terry
and repeat it and repeat it. And so once I
see that, then I'll let the optimism, you know, grow stronger.
But let's take us through those two steps.
Speaker 8 (08:41):
First, thank you, and then I'm curious, obviously the season
hasn't gone the way you wanted, but with these last
six games, how important for you is is it to
try to get the team? I mean, you and Adam
built this team to be a playoff contender, right, Like,
how important is it for you to see that group perform.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
At that level?
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yeah, I want to see us not working to that.
I want that to be the standard as we move
forward this game, the next game, and on none of
the trajectory I'm saying, like, let's nail these standards that
we're looking for. The good news that I would say,
like JP, like, this is a cool group, man, and
so a lot of fight, a lot of attitude, and
(09:22):
there's been some opportunities for some new faces and some
new spots, and I don't take those lightly either. You know,
when guys wanting to demonstrate, you know, I can step up,
I can make this move, I can do the next thing,
whether they were here prior or new to the club.
And so I think I'm just excited, man, to get
rolling with some of the guys and hopefully have a
few on their way back as well. So it's a
(09:43):
big deal for us.
Speaker 9 (09:45):
Thank you, welcome Scott Hey Dan piggybacking off JP's question
that playoff standard, like, what will that look like to
you the final six games. So what do you want
to see, you know, actually on the field that makes
you believe, all right, we're going in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah. I wanted to see us eliminate some of these
things that have been tripping us up, Scott. So I'm
talking about turnover margins. I'm talking about, you know, eliminating
the false starts of the pre snap penalties when I
was kind of referring to earlier, like these little things
done at a world class level. It may not show
up on the stat sheet in that way, Scott, but
(10:21):
I'll know that, you know, I'll see the speed, I'll
see the intensity, I'll see the execution. Those are some
of the things that I'm looking forward to seeing us do.
And not except for this or except for that play,
but just consistently doing that spot together. That's what you know,
I'm aiming to see, and I want to see that,
you know, on the regular, not up for half down,
(10:42):
like literally this is how we get down and this
is what I'm looking for on the regular.
Speaker 9 (10:48):
You mentioned how important it is for Jaden to get
some reps to play again. How about from just the
evaluation standpoint of all the offensive pieces together playing with
Jaden because the reps unfortunately have been few and far
between this season. So going into the off season, how
important is it to have Jaden and everybody on the
field together just so you can get a really clean
(11:09):
and true evaluation going in the off season.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah, you want to really push one another, Scott, to
see where you can take it. You want to find
the things you want to improve upon, and that's really
what you know you're always looking for. Can I raise
it to hear? Can I raise it to hear? For
Jaden specifically, it's like obviously playing QB at the very highest,
most competitive level and also you know, doing it as
safe as you possibly can. And so there's a skill
(11:33):
that goes with that too, Scott, and that goes you know,
at quarterback and then raising our level at other spots.
So it's important man to put this mesh together. And
we've got a lot of things that we want to
work on. And so that's why I don't want to
go in six weeks. To me, it's four six weeks
that there's a big difference there in how we go
about it and what that looks like. And I'm looking
(11:56):
forward to doing that. This this group's one that I'm
fully expecting us to to level up.
Speaker 6 (12:01):
Thanks man, Howard, Dan, you said Jayden's unlikely to play
against Denver. Do you have in mind kind of a
calendar or an expectation for when you think you'll see
him on the field in a game. And was there
at any point any consideration at all to saying let's
(12:23):
shut him down?
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Yeah? The first part, Howard, I'll say, I didn't have
a long term space until you got more spots from
the doctors, meaning how's the healing coming? Where is that
going to go? The extension inflexion of the elbow, So
once we knew that was headed in the right direction,
then that you know, it would kind of take care
(12:45):
of itself when you know one week, two weeks, three weeks.
That part I don't know and I still don't have
all the answers on that. That's kind of how the
player heals and where he's at. And then as far
as not that's not something we really discussed internally. The
first part for us, honestly, Howard was like, how are
we gonna get the player better? And let's dig in
on that first, not knowing the exact timeframe. So that's
(13:08):
really where the focus was, you know, right away and
right off the bat we knew we had to buy
coming and then we'd have a chance to regroup and
huddle up and you know, kind of push from there.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
And now going into what would be your second game
calling the defense, how have you seen that change your
kind of day to day preparation as you get ready
to face a new team.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Yeah, it definitely has to change, Howard, And that's something
I've had some experience with. But you're You're exactly right.
And so who do I lean on in some other
spots and even change around some other roles on the staff.
We're fortunate with staff that we're able to do that.
But as opposed to just adding on, you know, how
could we maneuver some things around so we could utilize,
(13:58):
you know, kind of the best of all the thing.
So that's this past week honestly gave me some extra
time to do that. What did I like about the
previous week? Where did I feel, hey, this needs to
be shifted over? So it it gave me some spots, Howard,
I would say, going through the actual week to say
what this could help on Friday, this could help in game,
And so it gave me some spaces to go through there.
(14:21):
As far as the calling of it, I think that
felt familiar. It's chaos. I love that, Like that's where
I'd rather kind of thrive into that space. That's kind
of what like be it on defense is about, and
you know, solving this, changing that, and so I like
the challenge of doing that together. But I did have
to change some things around during the week to help
(14:44):
the team the best, and I'll continue to tweak that
as I need to, you know, during the week.
Speaker 6 (14:51):
Thank you to Sean.
Speaker 10 (14:56):
Hey Dan, I know what Jade and obviously you know
he's had a few injuries season and kind of with
you know, the state of the team right now, some
of questioned, you know, bringing them back you know maybe
the playoffs you know are along shut or not if
it's a smart move.
Speaker 8 (15:09):
I guess for you as a head.
Speaker 11 (15:10):
Coach when it comes to, you know, kind of reaffirming
the culture that you're building, how important is it to
the guys to, you know, continue to give them the
best shot to go out there and win even if
you know the odds are sort of stacked against you in.
Speaker 10 (15:20):
The big picture.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, that part of it. I get the questions. I
get all of that. You're just going to try to
do what's best man, you know, first best for the
player and then going into the team. And we'll certainly
do that, like we know what we're looking to do
and how we want to do it. But by no means,
h Tayshawn, are we careless? You know about that, And
so it's important not just for Jaden, but important for
(15:44):
our entire team. These are the standards and things we
want to go after, and so collectively we do think
of that. Our sport only has seventeen of these, and
that's different than some of the other sports where we
really want to dig in and these are your best,
the very best of bases to improve and get better.
And so anytime we can do that, we should certainly
(16:05):
try to do that. But I recognize the question, no doubt,
we got.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Time for two more. Let's go Candy and then Ben.
Speaker 5 (16:16):
Hey, coach, you've kind of touched on this a little
bit in some of your responses to others questions. But
you know, last year we talked a lot about in
earlier this year as well, a lot about the commander's
standard and what it means to be a Washington commander. Yep,
so now that you all have gone through and going
through some adversity here, Yes, what have you kind of
really seen as very important to that kind of framework
(16:40):
of what it means.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
To be a Washington commander.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, so much of it is mindset, Candy, Isn't it
about when you're going through the hard things to say, right,
how's this mindset going to be? And when I was
kind of referring to like the little things, it's not
like you're you want to heighten them, and it's not
a matter of letting them slip. It's a matter of
like the extra attention that it goes. And really there
doesn't have to be any thing that's too small to
go into that. The things that come to the top
(17:03):
of my mind for me are kind of the winning
time moments and the focus during there. That's a big
piece of this to make sure whether that's a fourth down,
a two minute, an end of the game, those ones
to where it goes from focus to the hyper focus
and you've got to practice it. And I like the
competition at practice. So having more guys back into the practice, Candy,
(17:25):
that that's a big deal for me because now that's
more competition, more spaces to go do that, and so
that's a big deal. But yeah, there's definitely as much
gets revealed in the difficult times, and you want to watch.
You want to you know, see how certain people are
reacting and knowing, okay, there's a person that's down for it.
You know, when the chips are down and they're like
(17:46):
absolutely going for it. You do learn a lot. It
sucks to go through it. There's no if sands or
butts about it. But what I'd said earlier, you show
me like a strong, confident team and there's an excellent
chance they went through through something challenging, something tough along
the way. I think that's teams, that's people, that's a
lot of things that go through it. But I want
(18:08):
that warrior mindset, looking for the competition, you know, at
every space, and knowing that somebody is ready to get down,
like every time we go thank you.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Go ahead, Ben, Hey Dan, if I heard you correctly
earlier and like you were saying that, you guys are
obviously focusing on winning this game and not worrying about
playing younger guys more than normal. Whatever you think you
need to do to win this game. You had the
opportunity in the last game to play Johnny k Newton
a bit more with Daran out, but he's still kind
of didn't play the majority of the snaps to Kim Law,
(18:40):
what do you kind of need to see from Johnny
understanding that Duran and and Devon are playing well, what
do you need to see more from him this year
or down the stretch to a bit more playing time,
but to feel comfortable or more confident with him going forward.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, I would say it's one of the strengths of
the defense is the DTS and Johnny's right in the
middle of that. I like Ben that he's been disruptive,
you know, as a pass rusher getting up field to go,
and so that to me was a big piece of it.
Sometimes the game plan works out that way, like you know,
you're playing more of a you know, five down front
or how do you want to go about it? But
(19:14):
there was nothing you know, regarding game planning more or less.
But I do love the quickness that he's playing with
and the disruption, and I think he's a guy that
can cause havoc and so that's what I want to see,
uh this week and every other you know, you know,
over the rest of the season. To him doing those
things together. We're good for one more if you want,
(19:36):
Charlie dealer's choice. Nope, nope only no repeats ahead, Ni
clarifying Charlie.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Yeah, you mentioned Howard that you changed some roles. Were
these like formal changes or is this referring to just
leaning more on Brian Johnson and Dave Gardy.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Or yes, informal and Nikki? Yeah, sorry, I should have
clarified that. Yeah, just I'm the staff. What can shift
in a game when I'm with the defense? How do
I go back in a meeting? You know who might
hit on one topic differently than I might have. So
they're small shifts, but ones that I needed too because
I knew for me to be at my best, these
few things could go to other people as well, so
(20:16):
I should have clarified that earlier. With that said, I
will see everybody else on Wednesday, all right, Thanks guys,
Good to see you guys. As we get back from
the buy, I know somebody will inevitably ask maybe a
question about what's ahead, and what I can tell you
is certainly no luxury to do that. Man, it's to me,
it's all about right now. And we talk a lot
about our culture and our standards, and those things weren't
fully built just last year and we began the building
(00:24):
process of that, and man, it's it's cool. We're right
in the thick of all that. So show me a
team with a strong standard and I can constantly say
they've been through some shit and that's kind of where
your standards get strengthened and tested and all those good things.
And that's exactly where we are. And as I told
the team, for all of us, man, like we can
(00:45):
dig and get more. That's game day and really every
day it's more speed, that's more focus and players and coaches, man,
we can for sure do that. It's doing the small
things at a world class level. And where we are,
nothing to me is too small, and so there's our
opportunity to elevate and individually as a team, that's our focus.
(01:07):
Where we're at and how we want to go after it.
So that's kind of what I started our you know,
returning from the buy messaging, and I wanted to share
that with you as we get started. And it was
cool to be back out on the practice field today
and get rolling again. We all needed that space and
now it's time to go again. So that said, I'll
open it up with you guys and we can get
(01:28):
rolling to start the week.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
John come, hey, Dan, I know you want to focus
on what's right now, but with jayde and Daniels reports
out going to be a returning to practice this week,
I'm just curious what you can tell about what he'll
be able to do this week.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
Yeah, it has been good, He's uh, he will be
able to return to practice. We had our first session today,
but Johnny has not been cleared for contacts. He'll probably
be unlikely to play. But man, it's good to get
started and get the return to play going. So that's
a big deal for us.
Speaker 2 (01:57):
And how important is it for you to see him
back out there playing again this year?
Speaker 1 (02:02):
I think it's important as Jaden's getting going learning to
play like this position at the highest level competitively, also
doing it safely, and those are reps you know that
that you develop as well. It's a skill just like
throwing and processing and so all those things are are important.
But him included, it was awesome today. I had everyone
(02:24):
really back at practice, John, including three guys that were
in their twenty one day window and uh too early
to call a lot of the guys you know for
the game, but getting on the field and having the
guys here, John, that that was a big deal, Man,
to have that many. It's been a long time since
I've said that out loud. Of everybody's here and working,
that's for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:46):
Nicky was assuming that includes Terry McLaurin kind of what
is his trajectory where's he at?
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Yeah, it was it was good to see him. Man,
that smile lit up and uh so to get it
wasn't like a full speed hauling ass day, Nikki, But
that's kind of what we're hoping the progression for Wednesday,
Thursday and Friday looks like for he and some of
his teammates. But yeah, he's really worked hard and so
to see us take the next step, like, we'll see
where it takes us. But it was awesome to have
(03:14):
him out there today. I'm excited for him and for
all those guys.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
I mean, I'm sure the injuries have been frustrated, especially
for them, you know what, well, what have you seen
from them as they've mentally dealt with it? And then
what do you need to see from them to know
that they're they're ready for the final stretch here.
Speaker 1 (03:32):
Yeah, for some of the guys, when you've been out
for a while, it definitely takes some resilience, Nikki, because
especially when there's like a different injury or re injury,
because that's the easy space to go down the dark
spot where it's why again or those things, and so
you want to check, you know, mentally where they're at
and make sure the things they now can control are
(03:52):
this part of the rehab and healing and getting better.
And so I knew they would come, but when you're
in the thick of it, sometimes it can be hard
to see, you know, just on the other side, you know,
of the street. But for those guys in specific, knowing
they're back doing what they love to do and back
on the field, it's a big step and it definitely
(04:12):
adds a lift. Tom Dan sorry, just to clarify, So
those three guys would be Terry Noah and Will Harris, correct, yep, uh, nope,
the three in the window or Noah, Will, Harris and Drake.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Right, okay?
Speaker 5 (04:35):
Cool?
Speaker 1 (04:36):
And then kind of on a macro level, I'm sure
you took part of the buy to kind of look
back at how.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
The first whatever weeks the season went.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
When you look back kind of at yourself and your
own performance and messaging or certain decisions you made, What's
something that that you took away from from that review?
There's a lot, honestly, Tom when you go back through,
because you want to make sure you're digging in on
the right things and the right mindsets. And so I
want to find out, you you know, like where are
the mistakes And you want to answer, Okay, do you
(05:04):
know where they are? Are they fixable? Okay? And yes?
And those are you know answers to those. And then
here's the process that you have to go through to
do that, because like, as you know, like the difference
on those winning and losing comes down to these you know,
differences that you need to do. So I wanted to
dig back in hard. I asked a lot of collaboration
with the coaches as well in their opinion, So I
(05:26):
wasn't just going to make it my point of view,
I wanted to collaborate as strongly as I could Tom
to make sure that everybody had a voice in this
and also like how we plan on, you know, moving
forward with real resolve and making sure the practices, you know,
the standards that we want are really being that. You know.
That's why I discussed it with the team.
Speaker 6 (05:47):
Too, David Aldridge.
Speaker 7 (05:52):
Dan, you mentioned well, I just know it's about two
weeks into his window. I just wonder, like, you know,
what's is he able to do everything now? And how
does it look for him for Sunday and if not
Sunday the following week.
Speaker 1 (06:06):
Yeah, it looks good, Dave. And the reason being, like
you said, he was chomping at the bit even before
we started. He worked really hard to get himself back
to it, and then it was really about the movements,
the conditioning into those things. And so had the week
out in Spain as well of you know, full on
practice to go and then more conditioning, more movements this
(06:27):
past week and then so yeah, we're very optimistic heading
into this week for him and all that he's done
to get himself ready to go.
Speaker 7 (06:36):
Dan, it looked like, you know, against Miami, maybe there
was a little bit more zone than than normal, and
I just wonder if that's if that's correct or incorrect.
You can correct me either way. And what you saw
from your defense in that game that you can build
upon for the next six.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yeah, what I I would say there's there was a
little bit more on certain parts of the field day.
That's accurate in terms of the zone. Some of that's
game plan with the shifts and the motions as well,
you know, in terms of Miami. But down in the
low red zone, that's probably what I was most excited about, honestly,
with the team of just man like trying to impose
your will. I can think of the you know, played
(07:14):
by Ken Law and then the two linebackers Wagner and
Louvu on a pass fourth downstop. So down in the
low red zone, that's what I was most excited to see.
With the defense, the energy, the toughness to go just
battle for it, man, those were some cool things for me.
Still working to say, we got to create takeaways. That
(07:35):
has to be part of it. We thought we had
some chances too. We didn't nail that, but that's gonna
be a big part of it too. I'm not been
one the a to say, oh, they come in bunches
and those things like now you have to work at it.
You got to go get them, and they're not you know,
freebies that you can get. So that's what I'm looking
to dig into more. But I liked the attitude that
(07:55):
I saw from some of the guys for sure, JP.
Speaker 8 (08:01):
Hey, Dan, So with Harris you said you're really optimistic.
What's the optimism level with McLaurin for this Sunday.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I'll have a better answer for you, JP later, only
because I've seen Will a little bit longer. But I
would say this, man, I'm I'm excited about, you know,
the possibilities because of his speed and how he's moving
and so those are big steps JP. And so maybe
I saw Will already do it the full speed spots
at practice, come back and do it again, and so
(08:31):
that's the space that we need to see from Terry
and repeat it and repeat it. And so once I
see that, then I'll let the optimism, you know, grow stronger.
But let's take us through those two steps.
Speaker 8 (08:41):
First, thank you, and then I'm curious, obviously the season
hasn't gone the way you wanted, but with these last
six games, how important for you is is it to
try to get the team? I mean, you and Adam
built this team to be a playoff contender, right, Like,
how important is it for you to see that group perform.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
At that level?
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Yeah, I want to see us not working to that.
I want that to be the standard as we move
forward this game, the next game, and on none of
the trajectory I'm saying, like, let's nail these standards that
we're looking for. The good news that I would say,
like JP, like, this is a cool group, man, and
so a lot of fight, a lot of attitude, and
(09:22):
there's been some opportunities for some new faces and some
new spots, and I don't take those lightly either. You know,
when guys wanting to demonstrate, you know, I can step up,
I can make this move, I can do the next thing,
whether they were here prior or new to the club.
And so I think I'm just excited, man, to get
rolling with some of the guys and hopefully have a
few on their way back as well. So it's a
(09:43):
big deal for us.
Speaker 9 (09:45):
Thank you, welcome Scott Hey Dan piggybacking off JP's question
that playoff standard, like, what will that look like to
you the final six games. So what do you want
to see, you know, actually on the field that makes
you believe, all right, we're going in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Yeah. I wanted to see us eliminate some of these
things that have been tripping us up, Scott. So I'm
talking about turnover margins. I'm talking about, you know, eliminating
the false starts of the pre snap penalties when I
was kind of referring to earlier, like these little things
done at a world class level. It may not show
up on the stat sheet in that way, Scott, but
(10:21):
I'll know that, you know, I'll see the speed, I'll
see the intensity, I'll see the execution. Those are some
of the things that I'm looking forward to seeing us do.
And not except for this or except for that play,
but just consistently doing that spot together. That's what you know,
I'm aiming to see, and I want to see that,
you know, on the regular, not up for half down,
(10:42):
like literally this is how we get down and this
is what I'm looking for on the regular.
Speaker 9 (10:48):
You mentioned how important it is for Jaden to get
some reps to play again. How about from just the
evaluation standpoint of all the offensive pieces together playing with
Jaden because the reps unfortunately have been few and far
between this season. So going into the off season, how
important is it to have Jaden and everybody on the
field together just so you can get a really clean
(11:09):
and true evaluation going in the off season.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah, you want to really push one another, Scott, to
see where you can take it. You want to find
the things you want to improve upon, and that's really
what you know you're always looking for. Can I raise
it to hear? Can I raise it to hear? For
Jaden specifically, it's like obviously playing QB at the very highest,
most competitive level and also you know, doing it as
safe as you possibly can. And so there's a skill
(11:33):
that goes with that too, Scott, and that goes you know,
at quarterback and then raising our level at other spots.
So it's important man to put this mesh together. And
we've got a lot of things that we want to
work on. And so that's why I don't want to
go in six weeks. To me, it's four six weeks
that there's a big difference there in how we go
about it and what that looks like. And I'm looking
(11:56):
forward to doing that. This this group's one that I'm
fully expecting us to to level up.
Speaker 6 (12:01):
Thanks man, Howard, Dan, you said Jayden's unlikely to play
against Denver. Do you have in mind kind of a
calendar or an expectation for when you think you'll see
him on the field in a game. And was there
at any point any consideration at all to saying let's
(12:23):
shut him down?
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Yeah? The first part, Howard, I'll say, I didn't have
a long term space until you got more spots from
the doctors, meaning how's the healing coming? Where is that
going to go? The extension inflexion of the elbow, So
once we knew that was headed in the right direction,
then that you know, it would kind of take care
(12:45):
of itself when you know one week, two weeks, three weeks.
That part I don't know and I still don't have
all the answers on that. That's kind of how the
player heals and where he's at. And then as far
as not that's not something we really discussed internally. The
first part for us, honestly, Howard was like, how are
we gonna get the player better? And let's dig in
on that first, not knowing the exact timeframe. So that's
(13:08):
really where the focus was, you know, right away and
right off the bat we knew we had to buy
coming and then we'd have a chance to regroup and
huddle up and you know, kind of push from there.
Speaker 6 (13:18):
And now going into what would be your second game
calling the defense, how have you seen that change your
kind of day to day preparation as you get ready
to face a new team.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Yeah, it definitely has to change, Howard, And that's something
I've had some experience with. But you're You're exactly right.
And so who do I lean on in some other
spots and even change around some other roles on the staff.
We're fortunate with staff that we're able to do that.
But as opposed to just adding on, you know, how
could we maneuver some things around so we could utilize,
(13:58):
you know, kind of the best of all the thing.
So that's this past week honestly gave me some extra
time to do that. What did I like about the
previous week? Where did I feel, hey, this needs to
be shifted over? So it it gave me some spots, Howard,
I would say, going through the actual week to say
what this could help on Friday, this could help in game,
And so it gave me some spaces to go through there.
(14:21):
As far as the calling of it, I think that
felt familiar. It's chaos. I love that, Like that's where
I'd rather kind of thrive into that space. That's kind
of what like be it on defense is about, and
you know, solving this, changing that, and so I like
the challenge of doing that together. But I did have
to change some things around during the week to help
(14:44):
the team the best, and I'll continue to tweak that
as I need to, you know, during the week.
Speaker 6 (14:51):
Thank you to Sean.
Speaker 10 (14:56):
Hey Dan, I know what Jade and obviously you know
he's had a few injuries season and kind of with
you know, the state of the team right now, some
of questioned, you know, bringing them back you know maybe
the playoffs you know are along shut or not if
it's a smart move.
Speaker 8 (15:09):
I guess for you as a head.
Speaker 11 (15:10):
Coach when it comes to, you know, kind of reaffirming
the culture that you're building, how important is it to
the guys to, you know, continue to give them the
best shot to go out there and win even if
you know the odds are sort of stacked against you in.
Speaker 10 (15:20):
The big picture.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, that part of it. I get the questions. I
get all of that. You're just going to try to
do what's best man, you know, first best for the
player and then going into the team. And we'll certainly
do that, like we know what we're looking to do
and how we want to do it. But by no means,
h Tayshawn, are we careless? You know about that, And
so it's important not just for Jaden, but important for
(15:44):
our entire team. These are the standards and things we
want to go after, and so collectively we do think
of that. Our sport only has seventeen of these, and
that's different than some of the other sports where we
really want to dig in and these are your best,
the very best of bases to improve and get better.
And so anytime we can do that, we should certainly
(16:05):
try to do that. But I recognize the question, no doubt,
we got.
Speaker 4 (16:11):
Time for two more. Let's go Candy and then Ben.
Speaker 5 (16:16):
Hey, coach, you've kind of touched on this a little
bit in some of your responses to others questions. But
you know, last year we talked a lot about in
earlier this year as well, a lot about the commander's
standard and what it means to be a Washington commander. Yep,
so now that you all have gone through and going
through some adversity here, Yes, what have you kind of
really seen as very important to that kind of framework
(16:40):
of what it means.
Speaker 4 (16:40):
To be a Washington commander.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Yeah, so much of it is mindset, Candy, Isn't it
about when you're going through the hard things to say, right,
how's this mindset going to be? And when I was
kind of referring to like the little things, it's not
like you're you want to heighten them, and it's not
a matter of letting them slip. It's a matter of
like the extra attention that it goes. And really there
doesn't have to be any thing that's too small to
go into that. The things that come to the top
(17:03):
of my mind for me are kind of the winning
time moments and the focus during there. That's a big
piece of this to make sure whether that's a fourth down,
a two minute, an end of the game, those ones
to where it goes from focus to the hyper focus
and you've got to practice it. And I like the
competition at practice. So having more guys back into the practice, Candy,
(17:25):
that that's a big deal for me because now that's
more competition, more spaces to go do that, and so
that's a big deal. But yeah, there's definitely as much
gets revealed in the difficult times, and you want to watch.
You want to you know, see how certain people are
reacting and knowing, okay, there's a person that's down for it.
You know, when the chips are down and they're like
(17:46):
absolutely going for it. You do learn a lot. It
sucks to go through it. There's no if sands or
butts about it. But what I'd said earlier, you show
me like a strong, confident team and there's an excellent
chance they went through through something challenging, something tough along
the way. I think that's teams, that's people, that's a
lot of things that go through it. But I want
(18:08):
that warrior mindset, looking for the competition, you know, at
every space, and knowing that somebody is ready to get down,
like every time we go thank you.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
Go ahead, Ben, Hey Dan, if I heard you correctly
earlier and like you were saying that, you guys are
obviously focusing on winning this game and not worrying about
playing younger guys more than normal. Whatever you think you
need to do to win this game. You had the
opportunity in the last game to play Johnny k Newton
a bit more with Daran out, but he's still kind
of didn't play the majority of the snaps to Kim Law,
(18:40):
what do you kind of need to see from Johnny
understanding that Duran and and Devon are playing well, what
do you need to see more from him this year
or down the stretch to a bit more playing time,
but to feel comfortable or more confident with him going forward.
Speaker 1 (18:53):
Yeah, I would say it's one of the strengths of
the defense is the DTS and Johnny's right in the
middle of that. I like Ben that he's been disruptive,
you know, as a pass rusher getting up field to go,
and so that to me was a big piece of it.
Sometimes the game plan works out that way, like you know,
you're playing more of a you know, five down front
or how do you want to go about it? But
(19:14):
there was nothing you know, regarding game planning more or less.
But I do love the quickness that he's playing with
and the disruption, and I think he's a guy that
can cause havoc and so that's what I want to see,
uh this week and every other you know, you know,
over the rest of the season. To him doing those
things together. We're good for one more if you want,
(19:36):
Charlie dealer's choice. Nope, nope only no repeats ahead, Ni
clarifying Charlie.
Speaker 3 (19:44):
Yeah, you mentioned Howard that you changed some roles. Were
these like formal changes or is this referring to just
leaning more on Brian Johnson and Dave Gardy.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Or yes, informal and Nikki? Yeah, sorry, I should have
clarified that. Yeah, just I'm the staff. What can shift
in a game when I'm with the defense? How do
I go back in a meeting? You know who might
hit on one topic differently than I might have. So
they're small shifts, but ones that I needed too because
I knew for me to be at my best, these
few things could go to other people as well, so
(20:16):
I should have clarified that earlier. With that said, I
will see everybody else on Wednesday, all right, Thanks guys,
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