Daily Slop – 31 May 24: A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch

A collection of articles, podcasts & tweets from around the web to keep you in touch with the Commanders, the NFC East and the NFL in general

Commanders links

Articles

The Athletic (paywall)

How Nick Saban’s mentorship helped Dan Quinn learn his authentic coaching self

“It was like going to get your PhD in football,” Quinn recalled. “The details he went through. Knowing every part of the program he touched.”

Quinn’s first job in professional football — defensive quality control coach — came in 2001 with the San Francisco 49ers in the final years of Bill Walsh’s prolific tenure. Promotions to assistant head coach and defensive coordinator occurred over two stints with the Seattle Seahawks, under Jim Mora Jr. and football impresario Pete Carroll. In between, Quinn joined the Miami Dolphins for Saban’s lone attempt at tackling an NFL head-coaching job.

“I went there with Nick, and it was different in a good way for me,” Quinn said during a March interview, steps inside the posh Orlando Ritz-Carlton, the site of the league’s spring meeting. He learned from Saban “how to start a program, how to set standards” from a defensive-oriented coach whose first taste of pro football came in the early 1990s under the man who would become his NFL counterpart on the GOAT scale, Bill Belichick.

“I think you really have to be authentic to yourself because if you don’t, I think people can really see right through that,” said Quinn, a four-year defensive line starter at Division III Salisbury (Md.) University. “And ballplayers specifically, a lot of them have been bulls—ted their whole life. They were great (high school) players, got recruited (and heard) a lot of bulls—. In the NFL, they want to make sure this person can help me get better.”

Saban has achieved that successful teacher reputation and then some. Look at NFL rosters loaded with his former players for proof. His ability to stick with his approach and mindset regardless of circumstance made an impression on Quinn.

“I always felt like he was never rushed. He just stayed in rhythm, and that’s not an easy skill to have. I just saw it over and over again. He always had a plan for how to do it,” Quinn said. “I learned a lot from him.”

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Commanders.com

Brian Robinson Jr. eager to learn from Austin Ekeler, Anthony Lynn

Brian Robinson Jr. is in the best shape he’s been heading into his third season, and that could mean trouble for the rest of the NFL.

He’s also just 25 years old with plenty more to learn, both about the league and his own capabilities. He’s in luck, though, because the Washington Commanders have provided him with decades of experience that he can rely on in 2024.

Like many positions on the Commanders’ roster, the running back group has gone through significant changes to match head coach Dan Quinn and general manager Adam Peters’ vision. Antonio Gibson is in New England, and Randy Jordan accepted a job with the Tennessee Titans. In their place are Austin Ekeler, one of just seven players in NFL history to record at least 30 rushing and receiving touchdowns, and Anthony Lynn, a former head coach who has coached running backs for a combined 18 years.

Robinson, who has led the Commanders in rushing yards over the past two seasons, is eager to soak up as much information as possible from them.

“Austin is…a great leader, a great competitor, a great veteran,” Robinson told the media May 22. “He’s a guy that young guys can easily lean on, ask questions.”

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Sports Illustrated

Commanders Week 1 Game ‘Something to Look Forward To’ Says Buccaneers CB

One Tampa Bay Buccaneers defender is looking forward to facing the Washington Commanders in Week 1of the NFL Season.

When Washington opens the regular season on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers there will be at least one defender looking forward to seeing Daniels, but not from a disrespectful place, rather one of competing against a worthy opponent.

“This league is starting to turn a lot to mobile quarterbacks. You have those spectacular arms, but those guys that can beat you – just move the pocket and still be able to read defenses is a big thing,” Buccaneers cornerback Zyon McCollum said on the Hear The Cannons podcast Wednesday. “I think going against the mobile quarterback early will be really, really good, especially because of the mobile quarterbacks we’ll face throughout the year, but going into the Commanders game, they have Arizona’s (former coach Kliff Kingsbury as their) OC, so you got to watch film of that scheme and then watch the Commanders for their personnel…(Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels) is a rookie quarterback, he still got a lot to prove as does everybody, but we’ll see throughout preseason how he progresses. It’s definitely something to look forward to. I mean it’s really big, especially for our outside linebackers being able to contain and then us knowing that we’re going to have to stay in coverage for two, three more seconds than normal.”

“It’s really big, especially for our outside linebackers being able to contain and then us knowing that we’re going to have to stay in coverage for two, three more seconds than normal.”

– Zyon McCollum, Bucs Cornerback

McCollum is entering his third season in the NFL and is expected to win the starting cornerback job opposite Jamel Dean for the upcoming season.

That means he’d draw the duty of guarding either Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin or Jahan Dotson for the majority of their Week 1 contest, and given Dean’s established reputation it’s likely McCollum would also get more designed targets headed his way.

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Podcasts & videos

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NFC East links

Deadspin

Giants WR Darius Slayton ‘satisfied’ with adjusted contract

New York Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton participated in voluntary organized team activities this week after his contract was adjusted.

Slayton had been away from the team while seeking a revised deal or a new one with the team.

Per ESPN, Slayton has an opportunity to earn an additional $650,000 in incentives in addition to the $1.5 million already included in his contract. It was not known what he needed to accomplish in order to collect on the new incentives.

“I’m satisfied. We got done what we needed to get done and just looking forward to playing ball,” said Slayton, who will compete in the final season of his two-year, $12 million deal. “We just adjusted my contract this year a little bit. Just tried to make it a little bit more lucrative. Business is business and I’m here.”

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NFL league links

Articles

Pro Football Talk

Sam Howell adjusting to backup role again

[Sam Howell] now is the backup to Geno Smith, though the Seahawks showed a measure of confidence in Howell by not drafting a quarterback last month. Smith and Howell are the only quarterbacks on the roster for now.

“In this league, to be able to play, you’ve got to compete and that’s what I’m willing to do, no matter what the situation is, no matter who the starter is,” Howell said Thursday, via Tim Booth of the Associated Press. “If I’m the starter, I’m coming to compete every single day,” Howell said. “Geno has been great. I’ve learned a lot from Geno, and he’s a great player. I have a lot of respect for him and everything he’s been through in his career.”

The biggest lesson the 2022 fifth-round pick learned last season is how costly his mistakes can be for the football team. He threw 21 interceptions, lost two fumbles and took 65 sacks.

“I think I could play some smarter ball. I think there were times where we were down big in some games, I was a little too aggressive just trying to make something happen trying to get us back in the game,” Howell said. “The turnovers are just way too high for what I wanted and what the team needed. I think that’s definitely something I can take from last year.”

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Washington Post (paywall)

Bears to follow Jets as involuntary stars of ‘Hard Knocks’

The team’s chairman wanted any other franchise on the HBO docuseries. The show is headed to Chicago anyway.

For the second straight year, the NFL is overriding a team’s stated preference and putting it on “Hard Knocks.”

The Chicago Bears can only hope that having HBO film their training camp leads to a better outcome for them than for 2023’s New York Jets.

With a brand-new quarterback — who happened to be the No. 1 overall pick in April’s draft — looking to helm a weapons-rich offense for an original NFL franchise that had yet to appear on “Hard Knocks,” there’s little mystery why Chicago was an appealing choice. The NFL and Warner Bros. Discovery announced the selection Thursday, and the Bears’ five-episode arc will stream from Aug. 6 to Sept. 3 on Max.

“We are honored to feature such an iconic NFL franchise on Hard Knocks,” NFL Films senior director and supervising producer Shannon Furman said in a statement. “The Chicago Bears have a talented roster, coaching staff, and front office all determined to match the expectations of a hungry fan base.”

Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren said in a team-released statement that the spotlight would “provide our passionate fans across the world the ability to experience this unique and critical time in the history of our franchise.”

Not provided by Chicago on Thursday were any thoughts from Bears Chairman George McCaskey, who earlier this year reiterated his desire for another team — any other team — to be the focus of “Hard Knocks.”

“We’re told there is some interest in other teams being on the program, and we welcome that interest,” McCaskey said in March at NFL owners meetings in Orlando.

Those comments echoed remarks McCaskey made in March of 2023, when he said, “We feel there are a number of teams that have compelling stories to tell on ‘Hard Knocks.’”

Asked then if the Bears were among those teams, McCaskey replied, “31 others.”

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