Dan Quinn Presser: All three phases, there’s a real edge and a toughness about the Detroit Lions

Dan Quinn speaks to the media after practice

The Washington Commanders held the first full practice today, after light walkthroughs the previous two days. They are preparing for a divisional playoff game against the Lions in Detroit on Saturday Night. Dan Quinn said they are solid in all three phases, and there’s a real edge and toughness about them. “If you love competing, this is your kind of game.”

Quinn also gave some injury updates before the report was released later in the day. Bobby Wagner suffered an ankle injury vs the Buccaneers, but he played 100% of the snaps on defense. He didn’t practice Tuesday and Wednesday, but was limited today, and will be good to go Saturday night. Zane Gonzalez kicked the game-winning field goal against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but then showed up on the injury report with a hip injury. He’ll also be playing in the next playoff game.

Dan Quinn

Opening statement:

I know we normally hit our captains first, but that’s already been established so we can get rocking. All week I’ve been talking about a cool and huge opportunity for us and a good week of prep, excellent opponent, well coached, but going into a really cool environment. And if you love competing, this is your kind of game, man. So, had a good week, like I said, with preparation and now we get to take the show on the road.

Competition:

Bobby Wagner’s ankle injury:

So, he did a good job on the rehab part of it of things, but getting a chance to see him yesterday some, through the rehab and in today’s practice, he looks strong.

How many times per week he integrates winning time moments:

We do some Wednesday, so we do four a week that we’ll integrate things. So, some is part of a walkthrough on a Wednesday, usually Thursday we do some type of two-minute against one another. Like last week we did second possession of an overtime. And then Friday’s are usually reserved for last types of plays. 12 seconds, no timeouts. Joe may do a four-minute, Kliff may do end of the game and then tomorrow, some special teams related ones that goes in. So, Wednesday’s, Thursday’s, Friday’s, and then Saturday’s, it’s the whole team, but more of a special teams emphasis on that.

Has he ever had a season where winning time moments show up as much as they have this season:

Not in this fashion where so much of the last game to go. So, to have the work put in allows that to take place. But it’s a confident group. They have had to go through the hard things together to gain that confidence. I wish all resilience would come when it was sunny and nice, but that’s just not how shit goes down. It comes in the hard moments and the hard losses and the lessons.

And so, we’ve heard us talk a lot on ‘Tell the Truth Monday’s’, what’s the lesson that we have to take and then apply it and we have become stronger by having some of those hard lessons. That’s the honest truth to it. And so, it gives us confidence knowing that we have been in the hard stuff. So, it’s like, okay, we learned, it’s hard, it sucked, but this is how we gotta improve.

The benefits to having an aggressive gameplan against Detroit:

I would say the risks are doing things that you don’t normally do on a consistent basis. So, that would feel, what’s the word? Like if you’re trying things that you’ve never really done before, that would be a risk. Every game has, ‘What do we have to do to win this game?’ And so, not all of those are the same.

So, when you put all three of the units together and the coaches together, they also have a connection to say, this has to happen, this has to happen for us to play well, but we don’t put one side, ‘Hey, you got to do this and you’re on your own.’ It’s always all connected.

Aggressive gameplans and on communicating that to the team:

With the staff, we start on Tuesday’s, the first part of the plan and then we meet each day as a group and the message that we want to have, the connection. So, it goes from my spot, to the coordinator, to the assistant coaches. And then once I start hearing it back from the players, then I know each level down of communication and it coming back up. That’s when we really hit our marks. So, if I say something in a staff meeting and I hear a player saying it back at practice, then I knew the communication hit all the levels.

Evaluation from Quinn and Whitt Jr. from their matchup against Detroit last season:

We definitely wanted to watch it. And so, you can take some things about play calling, featuring players, but it is different year to year. They’ve had a fantastic year, just utilizing guys in different ways. The production I think is what just absolutely jumps out to you for different players. And so, sometimes you may see one player just absolutely off the charts, but when it’s spread so much that’s a big difference. And that’s what makes their offense such a unique challenge.

How P Tress Way and Detroit Lions P Jack Fox can impact the game:

Well, I think the field position is the critical part of it, and how does that look as you’re changing field position? Both these guys can really hit the long ball to change field position or to drop one inside the 10 yard line. And so, the field position to me is a big piece of this. The average drive starts, and those two certainly are at the upper echelon of what they do. So, like you said, maybe it’s not the volume, but the success of the times that it’s done, both sides.

Trying to keep the team even-keeled going into this game:

Well, I think we probably acknowledge it first, at the start of the week to say, ‘Hey, this is the whole week, where it is.’ And sometimes I’ll take, I’ll give you 30 seconds, a big picture, and then all there is, is just this Saturday and this is how we’ll go to get there. What is the Wednesday going to look like? The Thursday? The Friday? And then I said, ‘I don’t even really need you to think about the game yet. There’s so many things for us to get right before we even get to there.’

And so just bringing us back to that day, to that practice, to that walkthrough, oftentimes I’ll push really hard on the communication and that was one of the topics I hit. Because we went not as fast on our first day, but I wanted to make sure the communication was loud and at full speed. So, we just try to say, what do we have to do to win this matchup and be disciplined enough not to look ahead and look ahead, meaning even to Saturday when it’s on a Tuesday. It’s just, man, what do we got to do to nail the game. And I think if we do that and have enough discipline to do that together, that’s a really good thing.

And there’s been a great leadership amongst the players that they’re also able to share in that message where the ship of leadership now is going to the players. And so, what used to be a you is now becoming us. And so, stay on this, stay on this, quizzing each other, staying on the game plan. To me that’s what the message has been. And that has been even three or four weeks ago when I talked about base camp, you don’t think about the summit, you just got to make it to the next stop. And then, there, now that we can see the sight line, it’s still far away. It’s just this matchup against Detroit.

What he’s seen from Detroit that doesn’t pop up on the stat sheet:

They got a lot of stats, that’s a good one to ask. I would say the play style doesn’t show up on a stat sheet, but you can see it and feel it, in terms of the physicality that they play with, the aggressive nature that they play with. Not just a fourth down attempt, although they’re the highest, but just challenging people. They play a lot of man-to-man. They’re aggressive, so that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, but you do see it when you watch him play. And we certainly have a lot of respect for that. All three phases, there’s a real edge and a toughness about them.

Any concern with K Zane Gonzalez’s hip injury?:

Nope. He’s doing good.

How thankful he is to have Gonzalez here:

Yeah, he’s a real pro and I was excited for him and for some of the other guys getting their first playoff experience. ‘Okay, good, alright it’s still football.’ And so, for him and some of the other guys to go through that, that’s a really big deal. I often look to Tress and Tyler and, man, you couldn’t have had a better battery to work with than those two. They are absolutely pro’s pro’s. And so, that type of support goes a long way, and it adds to your confidence. But yeah, he’s somebody that, when you get your moments and you get a chance to deliver, it’s a big deal.

What he remembers from interviewing with General Manager Adam Peters until the time he got the job:

What I remember most, worry, I guess, like I really wanted the job. So, I was like, ‘Shit, I hope they call.’ I had a sense in visiting with them, I came to Georgetown and we had our interview there, at a hotel there. And so, leaving there, I just knew these are the type of guys that I want to work with. And over the last 11 months, they’ve proven that and then some. To say that was my instincts at the time, to say this is the type of environment that I’d want to be a part of and the people that I’d like to work with. And so, that’s what I would say the in-between time was.

What made last offseason the right time to pursue a head coaching job:

Just the opportunity of the people, like I said, I think maybe way back, ‘Hey man, I like doing hard shit with good people.’ And these guys have proven to be great people, and that’s what you’re looking for when you’re absolutely putting your life’s work together with some other people. You want to make sure this is how we want to do it and do it together. And so, I feel that kind of support from Adam every day. And every time Josh and I are together, we feel that. And so, that’s a big deal.

Why it’s important to stick with the running game even with lack of success:

Well, I think it speaks to Kliff and Joe and Larry, whatever we have to do to win the game. And that’s the thing that’s the most important part of it. And so, the fact that Kliff’s been in this chair, he can recognize that. And so, all of those guys knowing their part, and the most important part is winning. And if that means using some time and the clock on certain spaces, then we’ll do that even when it’s hard. But man, those three and the staff in general, they have brought a lot of insight and just the mindset to say, ‘Man, they’re down for it and whatever we have to do to win.’ That’s a really cool feeling as the head coach knowing that there’s no pushback or anybody on their own agenda. It’s just this is what we got to do to win.

Jeremy Chinn’s development as a leader in the secondary:

Yes, and you’re exactly right, he has developed into that space and seeing others here, I think Bobby has been a good, I’m not going to say influence, but a connector for him and really high standards of what it can look like and how to do it. And so, I just had spoke to him walking off the field, I said, ‘Man, your communication this week has been so on point.’

And there’s a confidence that comes with that, and other people feel that. If you’re on the field and you give good and correct information to the guys around you, man, you want to talk about lifting others up, that’s a really big deal. That’s one of the best things you can do as a teammate. And so, to see that type of communication where, not only is he leading himself, but he’s also giving the indicators and the things for others, that’s when you can play really good defense.

Did he know about Gonzalez’s OCD:

Yes.

Does he talk to Gonzalez about it:

No, but I am super happy that he was able to discuss that. And if that is a chance for him to assist one other person, I think that takes just a lot of courage and tells you a lot about who he is, not just as a ball player, but as a man. And so, moments like that, when you find out, all these guys and coaches and everybody, everybody’s dealt with something coming up and through and that’s their story, but I’d much prefer them tell their story. And so, I thought it was great that he was able to talk about that.

This team embracing the moment more than others and on why that’s the case:

We do embrace it for sure. I think it’s because of the volume of times we’ve been in it. I think that, the experience into those spots, like I talked about earlier, the hard fights doing it together, you do gain confidence from going through that. And they’ve been in a lot of close games, not just over the last month or so, but really the entire season with the exception of the first game. And you do grow together, and these guys have really bonded and connected and they trust one another, and I think that’s a big deal. If you have that kind of trust, then the commitment grows and their connection grows, and so the trust of themself, they trust one another, that’s a big deal. Not every team has that.

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Zach Ertz

Turnover battle:

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Nick Allegretti

Playoffs:

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Bobby Wagner:

Ankle injury:

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Practice notes

Detroit week:

Bobby Wagner: